• First round of presidential elections in France won right wing candidate Nicolas Sarkozy with 31.1% of votes.
According to expectations, in the second round he is going to meet socialist Segolene Royal who gained 25.8% of votes. Second round will take place on 6 May.
• Barclays is buying
ABN Amro for
USD 67bn. This the biggest acquisition in the banking sector. Merger will be done with transfer of shares, when each owner of one
ABN Amro share will receive 3.225 shares of Barclays. In addition,
ABN Amro sold LaSale bank to Bank of America.
• Strike in ETA Hlinsko company was cancelled. Management and trade unions reached an agreement on increase of wages by 4.9% and one-time bonus for period January-April in the amount of
CZK 1 900.
• Polish industrial production increased by 14.7% m/m in March. Production volumes increased by 11.3% y/y.
• New York Stock Exchange reached new historical maximum. After Friday’s opening Index Dow Jones rose to 12,945 points and reached its new historical maximum. Good economic results of
Google and
Caterpillar companies contributed to this record.