LONDON (ShareCast) - After yesterday's strong gains European stocks are taking a pause for breath.

Spanish oil firm Repsol is again out of sorts after the Argentine government's decision to unilaterally seize control of YPF, which is majority-owned by Repsol. Argentina's government has rejected Repsol's claim for $10.5bn compensation for the loss of its investment in YPF, saying it will determine its own estimate of what Repsol's 51% stake is worth.

Broker Nomura reckons the stock is still worth buying, though it has lowered its price target to €20 from €24.

Elsewhere in the oil and gas sector, petrol station operator Statoil Fuel & Retail is rising faster than UK petrol prices after Canadian firm Alimentation Couche-Tard launched an agreed bid for the company at 53 Norwegian kroner per share. The terms, which have been accepted by the target company's majority shareholder, Statoil, value Statoil Fuel & Retail at 15.9bn kroner.

Dutch brewer Heineken is building up a good head after better than expected first quarter revenue of €3.83bn; the market had been expecting revenue of €3.74bn.

Elsewhere in the Netherlands, ASML Holding, which makes machines used to manufacture computer chips, is lower after revealing a dip in first quarter profits.

German engineering group Siemens is also on the slide after a report in the German edition of the Financial Times said the group is set to abandon hopes of achieving its full year profit targets because of setbacks in its offshore wind energy generation business.

Luxury goods firm LVMH Moet Hennessy has been handbagged by the market despite first quarter sales coming in ahead of estimates. Revenue rose by a quarter to €6.58bn in the first three months of 2012 from the corresponding period of 2011, ahead of market expectations of €6.39bn. The group advised that the outlook for Europe "remains uncertain".

In broker action, Citi has lowered its price target for network equipment firm Alcatel Lucent to €1.30 from €1.50, while Credit Suisse sticks with its "underweight" recommendation and has a price target of €1.60.

German steel-maker ThyssenKrupp has been upgraded by Davy Research to "overweight" from "underweight".

In macro-economic news, the Bank of Sweden has left its key lending rate unchanged at 1.5%.


CAC 40 - Risers
Accor (AC) € 26.23 +1.51%
ST Microelectronics (STM) € 5.32 +0.74%
Danone (BN) € 53.28 +0.38%
BNP Paribas (BNP) € 31.10 +0.37%
AXA (CS) € 11.10 +0.23%
Safran (SAF) € 26.41 +0.21%
Pernod Ricard (RI) € 78.34 +0.18%
Sanofi (SAN) € 56.82 +0.11%
Unibail-Rodamco (UL) € 145.45 +0.00%

CAC 40 - Fallers
PPR (PP) € 124.50 -2.24%
Peugeot (UG) € 9.99 -1.38%
Michelin (ML) € 54.26 -1.35%
Vinci (DG) € 36.02 -0.99%
EDF (EDF) € 16.11 -0.95%
LVMH (MC) € 129.30 -0.92%
France Telecom (FTE) € 10.31 -0.87%
Cap Gemini (CAP) € 30.38 -0.83%
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) € 1.51 -0.79%
EADS (EAD) € 30.73 -0.76%

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