European equity markets are set to end the week on a softer note today, although there has been little in the way of fundamental news to push shares in either direction. A downgrade of the utility sector by UBS and high bond yields in Spain are slightly tainting the picture, while the gains made in the markets through most of this week now offer some profit-taking opportunities to take the edge off. U.S. markets look likely to follow the European ones at the open, with early pre-market trade showing the S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC) set to open 0.3% lower.
Within this lackluster market, there are, as always, a number of individual names managing to hold on to some gain. Here are three ADRs that are set to beat the S&P today.
Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling (NYSE: CCH)
The Greek bottling company is making significant gains today, up 1.4% after the management of Coca Cola's head office said this week that they will be investing more money with their bottlers, including Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling, noting that the European market has performed better than expected. They also said the company's brand is getting stronger in Europe, although they believe economic growth on the continent is likely to be muted.
SAP (NYSE: SAP)
The software company is holding firm today, up 0.5% after saying earlier this week that it plans to invest 50 million Brazilian real to double the capacity at its Las Latin America lab in Rio Grande do Sul.
Last week the CEO of the company warned employees that if the company does not manage to reduce expenses, bonuses would be at risk, following on from a sales growth that came in lower than expected.
ASML Holding (NYSE: ASML)
Europe's largest maker of semiconductors is also making headway in Europe, up 0.4% as attention turns to forecasts of higher profitability after the company said Wednesday that reported orders beat analyst estimates; improving the outlook going forward.
ASML said that net bookings rose 10% in the second quarter, thanks to growing demand for smartphones and tablets, while the development of its new "extreme ultraviolet" production technology is set to go online toward the end of this year or early 2013.
Despite the ongoing eurozone troubles, this morning's European trading did provide some winners -- and perhaps some European buying opportunities. Indeed, legendary investor Warren Buffett has recently spent more than $1 billion buying the stock of a prominent European large cap.
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