ULVR drops nearly 6 percent

European markets were mixed Thursday as London’s indexes saw gains but the rest of the region saw declines.

The FTSE 100 added just 0.01 percent to 4,228.93 in London, but the FTSE 250 managed a gain of 1.1 percent to 6,391.15.

Consumer goods giant Unilever (LSE: ULVR; Euronext: UNA; NYSE: UN) turned in the worst performance on the 100 as it dropped 5.93 percent after it abandoned its targets, citing uncertainties in the economy.

Banks were mixed, but gainers outpaced decliners in the sector as Lloyds Bank (LSE: LLOY) added 5.67 percent and Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS; NYSE: RBS PRM) gained 5.77 percent, while in the oil sector BG Group (LSE: BG) was 9.67 percent higher for the best performance of the session on the 100.

Most retailers were also higher, but the real estate sector was mostly lower as British Land (LSE: BLND) fell 4.95 percent and Land Securities (LSE: LAND) dropped 5.8 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.11 percent to 810.49 while the CAC-40 fell 0.09 percent to 3,066.29, the Dax was 0.39 percent lower to 4,510.49 and the IBEX dropped 0.65 percent to 8,440.2.

Banks were lower as Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) led losses on the Dax with a decline of 4.19 percent and Societe Generale (Euronext: GLE) had the worst day on the CAC-40 as it dropped 5.67 percent.

In the automobile manufacturing sector Volkswagen (FWB: VOW) was down 1.78 percent while Renault (Euronext: RNO) fell 1.91 percent and Peugeot (Euronext: UG) dropped 3.66 percent.

Steelmakers saw gains as ThyssenKrupp (FWB: TKA; LSE: THK) added 2.06 percent on the Dax and ArcelorMittal (Euronext: MT; NYSE: MT; BMAD: MTS; LuxSE: MT) was up 3.24 percent for the best performance of the day on the CAC-40, while chipmaker Infineon (FWB: IFX; NYSE: IFX) did the best on the Dax as it gained 5.07 percent.

Most Asia-Pacific markets were lower on the session.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.11 percent to 7,949.65 wile the Topix index fell 0.8 percent to 786.41 and the Mothers market dropped 1.27 percent to 334.63.

Technology shares were lower after US computer networking company Cisco Systems (NAS: CSCO) reported that earnings dropped by 27 percent in its fiscal second quarter and predicted that sales this quarter will likely fall between 15 percent and 20 percent from last year at the same time.

Camera and copier maker Canon (TYO: 7751; NYSE: CAJ) and electronics group Tokyo Electron (TYO: 8035) each dropped 3.2 percent.

The pharmaceuticals sector was also lower after Chugai Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4519) dropped 0.7 percent on a downgrade and reduced target share price from Nikko Citigroup.

Elsewhere in the sector, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4502) fell 3.4 percent and drug wholesaler Toho Pharmaceutical (TYO: 8129) was down 12 percent on a reduced profits target.

Shippers, however, were higher on hopes that China’s economy is beginning to recover as manufacturing and bank lending are both on the rise there.

Mitsui OSK Lines (TYO: 9104) was up 5.1 while Nippon Yusen (TYO: 9101) added 5.3 percent and Kawasaki Kisen (TYO: 9107) gained 7.9 percent.

The Straits Times Index was down 0.16 percent to 1,704.6 while in Australia the S&P/ASX200 fell 0.27 percent to 3,428.6 and the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 0.29 percent to 3,372.6.

In China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.46 percent lower to 2,098.02 while Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.61 percent to 4,363.25, the Sensex was down 1.21 percent to 9,090.88 in India and South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.46 percent to 1,177.88.

The Hang Seng added 0.88 percent to 13,178.9 in Hong Kong.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.91 percent to 8,029.3 in afternoon trade in New York while the Nasdaq Composite had added 1.51 percent to 1,537.88 and the S&P 500 had gained 1.33 percent to 843.32.

The retail sector was helped out by January sales reports that, while lower in most cases, were better than expected for some stores.

Overall, January US retail sales fell 1.6 percent, the fourth monthly decline in a row, but that was better news than the 2 percent to 3 percent decline which had been anticipated.

Wal-Mart’s (NYSE: WMT) same store-sales were up 2.1 percent in January as other discount and department stores declined.

Macy’s (NYSE: M) same-store sales were down 4.5 percent in the month, but a decline of 6.5 percent had been expected, while luxury retailers fared the worst, with Saks’ (NYSE: SKS) sales down almost 24 percent in January, worse than had been expected.

At around 2 p.m. in New York, Saks was up 1.27 percent while Wal-Mart had added 4.03 percent and Macy’s shares had gained 5.41 percent.

Story link: ULVR drops nearly 6 percent