3 Stocks Set to Beat the S&P Today
LONDON -- European stock markets are, with a few exceptions, trading higher today as a strong close on Wall Street and positive financial results from major banks boost sentiment. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke failed to give the desired shot of additional stimulus measures in the first part of his semiannual speech to Congress yesterday, instead merely outlining the options if the economy continues not to grow. Today's second half of the report is now expected to show much of the same. Premarket trade shows the U.S. is likely to be somewhat cautious initially, with the S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC) set to open 0.4% lower.
As always, there are some individual names that are managing to outperform. Here are three American depositary receipts that are set to beat the S&P today.
Credit Suisse (NYS: CS)
Credit Suisse is one of the best performers Wednesday, up 5.4% after it announced plans to increase capital by 15.3 billion Swiss francs this year and reduce costs by 1 billion francs by the end of 2013. CEO Brady Dougan said the moves, which will include the sale of 3.8 billion francs of mandatory convertible notes, will almost double the company's capital ratio from the levels of the first quarter of 2012.
This follows the promotion of CS's capital ratio by central banks, offering the market assurance that the bank's capital levels will be sufficient to bolster its loss-absorbing capabilities. Credit Suisse also said that Q2 net income increased 2.6% to 788 million francs.
France Telecom (NYS: FTE)
The telecom giant is trading 1.5% higher in Paris today amid news that the French government may consider reintroducing client fees on some mobile-phone hotlines for operators, including France Telecom. It is hoped that the reintroduction of fees will help boost call center jobs and investments.
This also follows news last week that the company won a joint court case with Vodafone (NAS: VOD) . An EU court ruled that the two companies should be able to claim money from Spain, as a tax that local authorities in the country placed on phone operators using infrastructure such as cell towers was deemed illegal.
ASML Holding (NAS: ASML)
The chip maker is up 1.7% in London after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter results. The company said sales in Q2 were 1.23 billion euros, while net profit for the quarter was 292 million euros -- both better than the majority of estimates. ASML chief executive Eric Meurice said he expects second-half results to be strong as well, thanks to demand for ultra-thin smartphones and notebooks.
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The article 3 Stocks Set to Beat the S&P Today originally appeared on Fool.com.
Karl Loomes does not own any share mentioned in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares of France Telecom. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Vodafone Group and France Telecom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.
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