Amsterdam

Amsterdam shares close higher, tracking Europe; Rodamco rises
The AEX closed 3.12 points or 0.62 pct higher at 509.22, after trading in a range of 507.00-510.87. Government bonds traded lower while the euro stood at 1.3142 usd versus 1.3126 usd late on Friday. The AEX has not reached levels like this since the end of April 2002, as the index initially took its lead from Asian markets and tracked European indexes with Wall Street closed for President's Day. Gainers on the AEX were led by Rodamco Europe, which put on 2.95 pct to 111.50 eur due to continued merger and acquisition speculation, traders said. Fellow property group Corio led gainers on the midcap, rising 3.35 pct to 74.88 eur, while Vastned Retail climbed 2.43 pct to 78.56. ABN Amro was the biggest mover by volume on the AEX, rising 2.09 pct to 25.93, based on continued merger and acquisition talk, traders said. Among other financials, Aegon gained 1.31 pct to 15.42, Fortis rose 0.73 pct to 34.51 and ING added 0.23 pct at 34.13. KPN rose 1.99 pct to 11.81 following an upgrade to 'overweight' from 'neutral' by JP Morgan. Nutreco rose 2.93 pct to 53.06 after acquiring BASF AG's animal feed blends operations in eight countries. Fellow food-related issue Numico rose 1.46 pct to 41.11 ahead of results expected Wednesday. Another notable midcap gainer included Heijmans, which rose 2.57 pct to 43.88 after unit Heijmans Infra won a contract worth over 85 mln eur from the Dutch Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management. Techs traded mixed, as Philips rose 0.20 pct to 29.59 after the company said it will recommend the reappointment of CEO Gerard Kleisterlee for another four years at its next AGM. Philips also said it has invested 400 mln eur in the last five years in green products and that is plans to up that investment by 100 mln eur yearly over coming years. By contrast, ASML shed 0.96 pct to 19.59 eur and Getronics slid 1,48 pct to 7.33 after Ordina CEO Ronald Kasteel denied on Dutch television on Friday that he had any interest in acquiring Getronics. Analysts said Ordina could still be interested in parts of Getronics. Ordina was the second biggest decliner on the midcap, falling 1.40 pct to 17.61. LogicaCMG rose 2.34 pct to 2.62 eur following an upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' at Deutsche Bank. DSM put on 0.55 pct to 35.04 after the company bought a stake in Harland Medical Systems of the US for an undisclosed amount. Among oils, SBM Offshore strengthened 0.40 pct to 27.90 and Royal Dutch Shell traded flat. Reed Elsevier was the strongest decliner on the AEX, falling 1.60 pct to 14.15 after a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' at CitiGroup. Akzo Nobel was another of the few AEX decliners, off 1.15 pct to 46.24. On the midcap, Pharming shed 2.72 pct to 3.57, still suffering from Friday's release of "disappointing" full year results, analysts said.