Europe chems shares rebound after heavy losses

07 October 2008 10:26  [Source: ICIS news]

By Hilde Ovrebekk

LONDON (ICIS news)--Stocks in European chemicals companies began to recover on Tuesday after making heavy losses on Monday as the markets fell sharply.   

Wacker Chemie’s share price, which plunged 19.23% to €79.56 on Monday, was up 4.51% at 08:07 GMT on the Xetra exchange at €83.15.

At the same time, Rhodia’s stock was up 3.10% at €9.30 after falling 11.55%, while Lanxess shares recovered by only 0.61% to €16.50 after a 10.04% drop the previous day.

The Dow Jones Eurostoxx index was up 1.10% at 08:03 GMT, with shares in chemicals majors BASF and Bayer up 0.85% and 1.99%, respectively.

The FTSE 100 index of UK-listed companies, which tumbled 7.9% on Monday to a four-year low, climbed 100 points in early trading in London before falling back to 4,607.46 at 08:03 GMT, only 0.40% up on the previous close.

Shares in oil major BP was 1.11% up at 434.50 pence, while oil and chemicals firm Shell’s shares were 1.49% higher at 1,501 pence.

Johnson Matthey’s stock fell 0.17% to 1,172 pence.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) warned on Tuesday that Britain was already in recession and could face a prolonged downturn.

It warned the UK government and monetary policymakers that they must act immediately to boost market confidence in order to avoid a prolonged recession.

EU finance ministers were set to meet for talks in Luxembourg on the global financial crisis on Tuesday.

UK Chancellor Alistair Darling was likely to urge ministers not to risk worsening the crisis by taking unilateral action to protect their own banks which could have damaging repercussions for other member states.

The Bank of England meets on Thursday to make its next decision on interest rates while G7 finance ministers and central bankers will meet on Friday in Washington.

Asian stocks trimmed their losses in early afternoon trade on Tuesday after an initial plunge in tandem with US markets’ tumble overnight as global recession fears continued to rattle investor confidence.

The US Dow Jones fell below 10,000 points for the first time in four years on Monday.

To discuss issues facing the chemical industry go to ICIS connect

By: Hilde Ovrebekk
+44 20 8652 3214

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly