Fugro down on weak stock market | Financial

At a quarter past four, the AEX index was 2.2% lower at 559.2 points. Technical analyst Nico Bakker points out that the resistance remains unaffected at 575 points. “The top end of the market is therefore boarded up. If the average line holds at 555, there are again short-term buying opportunities towards 575. Below 555 means a serious weakening of the technical picture. ”

The AMX fell 1.4% to 839.4 points. The price signs in London (-2%), Frankfurt (-2.5%) and Paris (-2.2%) also turned deep red.

Of American stock exchanges scrambled up after a firmly lower opening. After 45 minutes of trading, the Dow Jones index was 0.8% lower and the Nasdaq index had lost 1.1%.

It turned out at half past two 898,000 Americans applied for unemployment benefit last week. That is 53,000 more than a week earlier 825,000, while an almost equal number was expected. The mood was already bad, as US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reported Wednesday evening that a new corona support package is unlikely to be in place before the November 3 presidential election. Koen Bender, director of Mercurius Vermogensbeheer: “This makes it clear once again that the main motive for the stock markets is stimulus in the short term. The longer it takes for Joe Modaal to receive support, the more dangerous it becomes. Companies are better off idling than going bankrupt, because that destroys much more capital. ”

Bender thinks that if Donald Trump loses the election, the bailout package won’t come before Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. “Perhaps Trump is still trying to quickly reach an agreement with the Democrats, who want a much wider support package. It is entrusted to him to claim this as a victory. ”

The ongoing rise of the corona virus in many European countries is also worrying Bender, especially because it is leading to stricter measures. For example, France has declared a public health emergency and additional measures in Germany seem inevitable due to the record number of new corona infections. “The longer the lockdown lasts, the more damaging to the economy. I argue for hard financial consequences for offenders, who after all ensure that taxes have to be raised for a long time to reduce the debts. ”

On the Brexit front, another important deadline threatens to be missed. The moment will expire on Thursday for which, according to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, an agreement must be reached on a trade agreement with the European Union before the departure of the British. However, both parties have barely come together during months of negotiations.

Unibail shoots up

Royal Dutch Shell was at the bottom in the AEX with a minus of 4.9%, partly in response to the decline in the oil prices by 3-4%. The cyclical agency Randstad zdeed 4%.

It weighs heavily in the index ASML fell 3.9%. On Wednesday, investors already reacted negatively to the quarterly figures of the chip machine manufacturer.

ABN Amro limited the loss to 0.7%. The Public Prosecution Service has almost completed the money laundering investigation against the banking group. According to De Telegraaf, this allows negotiations about a settlement with the bank to start. Analysts suspect the settlement for ABN Amro will amount to about € 400 million.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield was a positive outlier with a plus of 13.8%. A group of shareholders led by former Unibail boss Léon Bressler has launched the attack on the retail property fund’s plan to issue shares worth € 3.5 billion. Bender calls this a risky strategy. “Unibail is in dire straits and if the share issue does not go ahead, the risk of bankruptcy increases considerably.”

Food delivery service Just Eat Takeaway won 1.6%. Wednesday’s well-received quarterly figures have led to many price target increases by analysts.

In the AMX went Fugro 12% down. In response to speculation in the market, the soil researcher reported that he was in talks about a refinancing, including a share issue.

SBM Offshore and engineering firm Arcadis followed with minuses of 3.4% and 3% respectively.

Smallcap TomTom, which came out with uninspiring quarterly figures on Wednesday, fell 5.3%.

The supplier of software for customer contact centers won the local market CM.Com 3%, after the publication of firm growth rates for the third quarter.

AND (+ 7.4%) announced to change its company name to GeoJunxion. The navigation specialist will focus more on specific route information, such as areas with environmental zones.

RoodMicrotec rose 0.4%, because the chip company is confident in a positive result in the second half of the year.

–