STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-European shares fall as banks weigh

LONDON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - STOCKS NEWS Reuters Results diary

Stocks on the move [HOT-RTRS] Real-time Equity News [E] [WEU/EQUITY]


07:41GMT 27Aug2008
European shares fall in early trade, banks weigh

European shares fall in early trade, as weaker banking stocks outweigh the impact of energy shares that gain on a rise in crude prices.

The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares is down 0.4 percent at 1,166.89 points, Britain's FTSE 100 <.FTSE> falls 0.1 percent, Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> down 0.6 percent and France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> drops 0.6 percent.

Banks are the top weighted sectoral loser on the index, with Natixis <CNAT.PA> down 5.7 percent, Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> falling 1.2 percent, Dexia <DEXI.BR> shedding 1.1 percent and Fortis <FOR.BR> dropping 1 percent.

'Financials have been under a little bit of pressure...I still think the oil price is one of the fundamentals the market is watching at the moment in terms of its effect on inflation and sentiment,' says Henk Potts, equity strategist at Barclays Stockbrokers.

Oil rises for a third straight session to near $117 a barrel on growing fears over Tropical Storm Gustav, heading towards oil and natural gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico.

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07:36GMT 27Aug2008
BSkyB jumps as Goldman adds to Conviction Buy

Shares in British Sky Broadcasting <BSY.L> rise 1.8 percent, topping the FTSE 100 leaders board as Goldman Sachs adds the stock to its Conviction Buy List in a major review of the European Media sector.

The broker says it believes BSkyB shares are structurally solid and trade at a significant cyclical discount, while trimming its target price for the stock to 593 pence from 770 pence.

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07:30GMT 27Aug2008
Bayer gains on setback for rival drug

Bayer <BAYG.DE> shares rise 0.7 percent, outperforming a 0.9 percent fall in the European healthcare sector <.SXDP>, as prospects for its blood clot preventer Xarelto are boosted by a setback for a rival product.

Bristol-Myers Squibb <BMY.N> and Pfizer <PFE.N> no longer plan to seek marketing approval next year for their apixaban medicine, which failed its primary goal in a late-stage trial.

Further clinical trial results with apixaban are still awaited but analysts say the setback will consolidate Xarelto's first-mover advantage. Both drugs work by blocking a protein called Factor Xa.

Morgan Stanley analysts say their risk-adjusted Xarelto sales forecast for 2014 of 1.2 billion euros ($1.77 billion) now looks conservative.

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07:30GMT 27Aug2008
Henkel top DAX gainer after Credit Suisse upgrade

Shares in German consumer goods group Henkel <HNKG_p.DE> rise 3.1 percent to 27.50 euros, topping the DAX <.GDAXI> leaderboard, after Credit Suisse upgrades the stock to 'neutral' from 'underperform'.

'Less risk, more reward is how we would characterise our change of view,' Credit Suisse says in a note, adding that the Henkel share could be worth up to 40 euros.

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07:24GMT 27Aug2008
Natixis hit by rights issue discount talk

Natixis <CNAT.PA> falls sharply in early trade on growing speculation that the bank will announce a 30-40 percent discount price for its previously announced 3.7 billion euro ($5.44 billion) rights issue in coming days.

French newspaper La Tribune cited unnamed analysts on Tuesday as saying that Natixis could give a discount of at least between 30-40 percent for its rights issue price.

Natixis officials could not be immediately reached for comment on the report.

Natixis shares were down 5.5 percent at 5.65 euros by 0715 GMT. The DJ Stoxx European bank sector <.SX7P> was down 0.6 percent.

'They desperately need the money so a discount sounds feasible,' said a fund manager who holds Natixis shares, declining to be named.

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06:14GMT 27Aug2008
Futures point to mixed open; oil eyed

European stock index futures point to a mixed open, with higher oil prices set to weigh on the broad market. Futures for the DJ Euro Stoxx50 <STXEc1> are flat, for Germany's DAX <FDXc1> down 0.3 percent and for France's CAC <FCEc1> up 0.2 percent.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index rose 0.2 percent on Tuesday.

Brewer Heineken <HEIN.AS> posts results below forecasts. Later in the session, investors will eye U.S. durable goods data at 1230 GMT.

Oil rises for a third straight session on growing fears over Tropical Storm Gustav, heading towards oil and natural gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico.

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Heineken <HEIN.AS>

Antofagasta <ANTO.L>

Voestalpine <VOES.VI>

AP Moller Maersk <MAERSKb.CO>

CNP Assurances <CNPP.PA>

Scor <SCOR.PA>

Randstad <RAND.AS>

Cimpor Cimentos <CPR.LS>

Grifols <GRLS.MC>

Baloise <BALN.VX>

G4S <GFS.L>

Serco <SRP.L>

Segro <SGRO.L>

Taylor Nelson Sofres <TNS.L>

Taylor Wimpey <TW.L>

Tullow Oil <TLW.L>

Autogrill <AGL.MI>



No major U.S. companies due to report



1230 U.S. new orders

1230 U.S. durable goods

1600 U.S. midwest manufacturing



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Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE STOCKSNEWS

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