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The growth of manufacturing in the euro area picked up slightly in July, thanks to the dynamism of the sector in Germany, show the final results of the monthly survey Markit.

The PMI final Markit purchasing managers stood at 56.7 against a flash estimate to 56.5 and 55.6 in June

So the tenth straight month that the index is above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction in activity.

"It seems that the improvement is reflected in the PMI in the euro area in July is almost entirely due to an acceleration of growth in Germany," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit.

The component output rose to 58.7 in July, up slightly from the initial estimate of 58.3 and 57.2 higher than the figure for the month of June

The employment rose to 51.1 against 50.4 in June, the highest since May 2008, again due to improved labor market in Germany.

BP wants to sell its network of Aral gas stations in Germany for about two billion euros, the German weekly reported on Saturday Wirtschaftswoche, citing banking sources.

The French Total, the Russian Rosneft and as the European Avia Service Station are among the possible buyers, the newspaper business.Rosneft is also interested in two refineries that BP has in Germany, says he.

BP, Rosneft and Total had no immediate comment.

The British oil giant recently announced its intention to sell for $ 30 billion in assets over the next 18 months to meet the cost of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sources close to the industry, the sale is deemed unlikely because the chain of service stations is included in BP's refining operations and disposals of assets of the company focus more on the upstream oil and gas fields and gas.

Aral is the market leader Germany with about 2,400 service stations operating under its brand, according to its website.BP acquired the chain in 2002 as part of a broader agreement with the German energy group E. ON

Motorola profit and publishes a quarterly sales above Wall Street expectations, greeted by a rise in its pre-market action.

The American group as it prepares to split into two operations in early 2011, has achieved the second-quarter earnings of $ 162 million or seven cents per share, against 26 million (one cent per share) for the same period the last year.

Excluding items, earnings per share came to nine hundred, while analysts were expecting EPS of eight hundred according to Thomson Reuters I / B / E / S.

Turnover fell to 5.414 billion dollars against 5.497 billion in the second quarter of last year, but it exceeds the market consensus, which gave 5.19 billion.

Motorola shipped 8.3 million mobile phones in April-June, 2.7 million smartphones equipped with the Android operating system developed by Google.

Analysts were expecting deliveries of 8.13 million units with 2.69 million smartphones by seven analysts polled by Reuters.

In the first quarter, Motorola had shipped 2.3 million smartphones for a total of 8.5 million handsets shipped.

The action group has risen by 3.5% in pre-market trade to $ 7.95.

The German inflation accelerated as expected in July, as estimated by the Federal Office of Statistics, harbinger of higher prices across the euro area.

Inflation has emerged at 1.1% yoy against 0.9% in June, an acceleration due in large part to rising fuel prices and fruit and vegetables, said the Office.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast an average price increase of 1.1% over one year.

On a monthly basis, the national index of consumer prices was up 0.2% in July, against 0.1% in June

Calculated the European harmonized standards (HICP), inflation German spring up 0.3% in July and 1.2% over one year.

The first estimate of inflation over the past month is calculated on the basis of published data from six Länder. Final figures will be released August 10.

The group of consumer products Reckitt Benckiser has published a net increase of 23% for the second quarter, above expectations and maintained its objectives.

The British, who announced last week its intention to purchase for 2.54 billion pounds his compatriot SSL, the makers of Scholl sandals and Durex condoms, had a net profit of 380 million pounds (455 million euros ).

Analysts surveyed by I / B / E / S expected the 363.4 million.Reckitt had said 365 million anticipated.

Reckitt said that if its takeover offer for SSL to succeed, he thought he could close the deal in the fourth quarter.

The proposed interim dividend up 16% to 50 pence.

The group said its performance was led by strong growth in developing markets and the success of new products

For the year, Reckitt, known for its detergent brands Cillit Bang and analgesic Nurofen, still expects revenues up 5% and operating profit up 10% on a comparable basis, c that is to say, at constant exchange rates and without regard to its subsidiary, Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals.

The main drug of this subsidiary is the Suboxone treatment against addiction to heroin, which has lost its exclusive license last October. Reckitt had said at the time that the profit of this product in the United States could decline by 80% with the introduction of generic competitors.

The euro briefly cut its losses against the dollar on Friday but has subsequently resumed its downward trend, while seven out of 91 European banks have failed this test of strength which they were submitted.

The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) announced that five Spanish banks (Civica Cajasur, Unnim, and Espiga Diada), a Greek bank (Atebank) and Germany's Hypo Real Estate had not been able to maintain a ratio of Tier 1 financial stability of at least 6% in the worst case scenario used.

After an increase to 1.29 per dollar, the euro fell to 1.2845 dollars (-0.43%) to 4:25 p.m. GMT.

Last month fears about the debt crisis of the euro area and its effects on banks in the region had led the euro to its lowest level since 2006 at least $ 1.19. Since the European currency has recovered to slightly above the threshold of $ 1.30 earlier in the week.

The French consumer sentiment has stabilized at a low level in July after five months of degradation, according to the monthly survey of consumer confidence survey released Thursday by the INSEE.

The summary indicator of households' opinion on the economic situation remained unchanged at -39, its lowest level since May 2009.Seventeen economists polled by Reuters on average expected a further deterioration to -40.

The survey, conducted at the time of the announcement of the proposed pension reform and measures to reduce public deficits, shows that concerns about the future national fade a bit while still fears about the labor market.

"The impact of pension reform was probably fully integrated in the June survey," Judge Dominique Barbet, economist at BNP Paribas.

The index had dropped one point to -39 in June fell to their lowest level since May 2009, bringing to nine points to fall since the beginning of the year.

CONCERNS ON UNEMPLOYMENT

In July, households' opinion on their past personal financial situation has lost two points, with a balance cons -26 to -28 in June

Their opinion about their personal financial future (-20) remained stable, as well as their views on the advisability of making major purchases (-24).

However, the outlook for living standards in France, in decline since the beginning of the year, edged with a net increase of two points

-52.

The households' opinion on the level of past life in France remained stable at a very low level, with the balance to -71 compared to an average of -40 from the inception of the survey in January 1987.

Among the balances do not count in calculating the summary indicator, that the prospects of unemployment has stabilized at a high level (69), reflecting concerns still alive.

This balance, said Insee, was increased from eight to 89 points between January 2008 and June 2009 and then fell until October. He has since remained around 65 points, well above its long-term average is 33.

The balance measures the opportunity to spare jumped eight points to 19 in July, near its historical average (20), but opinion on the ability to save has the same time lost three points to -14.

Officers at INSEE interviewed approximately 2,000 households from June 29 to July 19.The survey did not take place in August, the next issue will be published in late September.

Wells Fargo, the fourth U.S. bank, on Wednesday posted a profit decline in the second quarter, but losses on commercial loans and consumer loans recede from the first quarter.

The bank reports a profit of 3.06 billion dollars (2.4 billion euros), earnings per share (EPS) of 55 cents, against $ 3.17 billion, or 57 cents a year bpa prev.

Analysts on average forecast EPS of 48 cents by Thomson Reuters consensus I / B / E / S. It was not immediately clear whether this compares to 55 cents bpa announced by Wells Fargo.

Alstom reported a sharp drop in orders received during the first quarter of the year, major projects that are difficult to find in the electrical field, but its sales came out slightly beyond expectations over the period.

The specialist in energy infrastructure and transportation have made the April-June quarter sales of 4.74 billion euros, down 1% from one year to another as reported and down 5 % as organic.

The nine analysts polled by Reuters expected the drafting of an average AC4.67 billion.

"The turnover (the division) Transportation progresses, while the (Energy Division) Power began, as expected, lower following a sharp drop in orders during the last year," said CEO of Alstom, Patrick Kron, in a statement.

If he observes a good place new orders for medium and small sizes on the three "major projects are difficult to reach because (…) customers continue to shift their investments in new power stations," Has added.

Orders received by Alstom have dropped by 36% to 3.07 billion euros in the first quarter on a reported basis and 38% as organic.

The group added that its backlog was still unchanged at 42 billion euros at June 30, thanks to a positive currency effect of 1.3 billion euros and represented 27 months of turnover business.

It also confirmed its forecast for an operating margin of between 7 and 8% for the year 2010/2011 and the next one, "based on a performance contract and a gradual recovery in demand. "

The action Alstom closed Monday at 36.85 euros, giving a market capitalization of nearly 11 billion euros. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has lost about 25% of its value, after a gain of nearly 17% throughout 2009.

Citigroup reported Friday a net profit of 2.7 billion dollars for the second quarter, down 37% year on year, due to lower revenue in the banking business.

Per diluted share, net income stood at 9 cents.

In the second quarter of 2009, net income was set at 4.28 billion dollars or 49 cents per share.

Analysts on average expected a profit of 5 cents per share excluding exceptional items for the second quarter, according to Reuters Estimates.It is not known if the EPS of 9 cents can be compared to the consensus of 5 cents.

The bank, which the U.S. government is a shareholder, said its credit losses are down for the fourth consecutive quarter.

In pre-market value fell by 2.2% to 4.07 dollars.