Börse & Märkte

Stocks Soft Ahead Of Inflation Data; Vodafone Shares Drop

Stocks are softer this morning despite the firmer session on Wall Street overnight with the DJIA hitting another record close. US economic fundamentals appear better placed, helping equities and the US dollar but speculation that we are in for tapering next month is mounting, curbing some of the enthusiasm in other parts of the world.

Asian markets fell overnight and European markets this morning are on the weak side; economic data on the light side with only UK inflation, PPI and RPI data releases which are published a day ahead of the BOE’s November Inflation Report.

Importantly for the euro zone, fresh inflation data from Italy and Portugal will be scrutinized after the ECB cut rates last week due to the threat of deflation. This week, we have euro zone industrial production and GDP figures for the Q3. Out of the US, look out for Empire State manufacturing and industrial production figures on Friday.

On the corporate front, Vodafone shares are lower in London after the telecom company reported organic revenues falling short of market expectations in Q2. Europe remains challenging for the company, particularly the peripheral nations but management are somewhat optimistic on the economic outlook over the next two year.

Vodafone said that after the $130billion sale of half of its Verizon Wireless stake, the company will return $84billion to shareholders and beef up the balance sheet. The bright spot in the report however is Vodafone’s £7billion investment programme called Project Spring which is aimed to allowing Vodafone to upgrade its networks and bolster its business in key areas around the world amid rising competition.

In recent days, there’s been talk of AT&T looking to Vodafone as a candidate although there has been no comment by Vodafone management today – however the success of Project Spring may just be enough to convince AT&T to make a move.