German stocks - Factors to watch on May 4
FRANKFURT, May 4 (Reuters) - The DAX top-30 index .GDAXI looked set to open 0.8 percent higher on Monday, according to pre-market data from brokers at 0610 GMT.
Factors that may move German stocks on Monday:
VOLKSWAGEN (VOWG.DE), PORSCHE (PSHG_p.DE)
VW indicated 0.9 percent lower
Porsche indicated 1.1 percent higher
The Porsche and Piech families are set to decide on Wednesday over a possible sale of Porsche AG to VW with a ownership likely split along family lines. [ID:nL2014250] [ID:nL2085901]
Separately, the supervisory board chairman of German government rescue fund Soffin said he was against state aid for Volkswagen Bank (VOWGg.F). [ID:nL0454308]
VW's U.S. sales of cars and light truck fell 16.1 percent in April, Audi sales fell 9.3 percent and Porsche sales fell 35.3 percent. [ID:nN01335039] [ID:nN01335995] [ID:nN01319788]
Related news [VOWG.DE-E] [PSHG_p.DE]
DAIMLER (DAIGn.DE)
Indicated 1.2 percent higher
U.S. April sales fell 28.1 percent. [ID:nN01326318]
Related news [DAIGn.DE-E]
BMW (BMWG.DE)
Indicated 1.0 percent higher
U.S. April sales fell 38.4 percent. [ID:nN01290542]
Related news [BMWG.DE-E]
SIEMENS (SIEGn.DE)
Indicated 0.7 percent higher
Siemens and India's state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL.BO) plan to form a joint venture for making critical and super critical steam turbines in India, India's Economic Times newspaper said. [ID:nBOM69115]
Related news [SIEGn.DE-E]
RWE (RWEG.DE)
Indicated 0.6 percent higher
RWE's supervisory board elected Manfred Schneider as chairman. [ID:nL0693320]
Related news [RWEG.DE-E]
HYPO REAL ESTATE HRXG.DE
Indicated 1.1 percent lower
U.S. investor J.C. Flowers is confident that a government expropriation of Hypo Real Estate shares would be illegal and that he could fight a nationalisation. [ID:nL3005338] The government's offer to buy Hypo Real shares expires at 2200 GMT. [ID:nLU936673]
Separately, German business daily Handelsblatt reported, citing industry estimates, that Hypo Real Estate would post a Q1 loss of about 500 million euros.
Related news [HRXG.DE-E]
BILFINGER BERGER GBFD.DE
Indicated 0.6 percent lower
CEO Herbert Bodner told German magazine WirtschaftsWoche Bilfinger may acquire small- to mid-sized companies this year but that it was not interested in ThyssenKrupp's (TKAG.DE) industrial services operations. Bodner reiterated the company's 2009 target of an unchanged net profit vs 2008 and said Bilfinger would be working on ways to reduce energy costs.
Related news [GBFD.DE-E]
HEIDELBERGCEMENT (HEIG.DE)
Indicated 1.1 percent higher
Philipp Daniel Merckle, son of late industrialist Adolf Merckle, told German magazine Spiegel that the family empire his father oversaw can no longer be held together. The holdings include a majority stake in HeidelbergCement as well as Ratiopharm, Phoenix, and Kaessbohrer.
Related news [HEIG.DE-E]
FIELMANN (FIEG.DE)
Indicated 0.8 percent higher
CFO Georg Alexander Zeiss told German financial weekly Euro am Sonntag that the company is striving to make a profit in 2009 but did not give a specific target.
Related news [FIEG.DE-E]
SOLARWORLD (SWVG.DE)
Indicated 1.1 percent higher
SolarWorld reported Q1 EBIT of 39 million euros on sales of 176 million euros and confirmed its target of full-year 2009 sales of more than 1 billion euros. [ID:nWEA9780] [ID:nWEA9788]
Related news [SWVG.DE-E]
PLAMBECK NEUE ENERGIEN (PNEGnk.DE)
Indicated 16.7 percent higher
Plambeck reported a Q1 pretax profit of 5.3 million euros and reiterated its full-year 2009 forecast of a pretax profit of 29-32 million euros. [ID:nEuED24a]
Related news [PNEGnk.DE-E]
REPOWER (RPWGn.DE)
Indicated 2.5 percent higher
India's Suzlon Energy Ltd (SUZL.BO) raised its stake in REpower to 76 percent. [ID:nBOM75092]
Related news [RPWGn.DE-E]
QIAGEN (QGEN.DE)
Indicated 0.5 percent higher
Qiagen Q1. Adjusted net profit seen up 5.4 pct yr/yr at $39 million. [ID:nLR216766]
Related news [QGEN.DE-E]
KLOECKNER-WERKE (KLKG.DE)
Indicated 0.8 percent higher
Kloeckner-Werke has increased the number of staff on shorter hours and will postpone a planned wage hike, its chief told German financial weekly Euro am Sonntag. [ID:nL0583786]
Related news [KLKG.DE-E]
EX-DIVIDEND
BASF (BASF.DE), payout 1.95 eur/shr
Beiersdorf (BEIG.DE), payout 0.90 eur/shr
Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), payout 0.78 eur/shr
Software AG (SOWG.DE), payout 1.1 eur/shr
Duerr (DUEG.DE), payout 0.70 eur/shr
OVERSEAS STOCK MARKETS
Dow Jones .DJI +0.5 pct, S&P 500 .SPX +0.5 pct, Nasdaq .IXIC +0.1 pct. [ID:nN01339181]
Nikkei .N225 +1.7 pct (on Friday). [ID:nL1686800] Tokyo markets are closed May 4-6.
GENERAL MOTOR GM.N, OPEL, FIAT (FIA.MI)
German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said Fiat SpA (FIA.MI) -- and any other investor -- must present a solid long-term strategy to keep Opel plants open to obtain German government support. His comment came ahead of a Monday meeting with Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne. [ID:nL3165416] [ID:nL3400329]
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Renewable energy companies could be the lynchpin of a recovery for the German economy, according to a survey of 1,300 companies and 200 research centres made by consultancy Roland Berger. The study concluded that while the auto and engineering industries are cutting jobs, renewable energy companies want to increase their workforce by 30 percent.
GERMAN ECONOMIC DATA
March retail sales (real terms) -1.0 pct mth/mth, -1.5 pct yr/yr. [ID:nBAF001666] [ID:nLU991466]
April manufacturing PMI due at 0753 GMT; seen at 35.0 vs 32.4 in March.
ECONDE G7TODAY
European Factors to watch [WATCH/EU]
Diaries [DE/DIA] [WEU/EWQUITY]
Reuters Top News [ID:nTOPNEWS]
(Reporting by Tyler Sitte and Peter Starck)
