BASF CEO raises outlook in Reuters interview, shares jump

Shares of global chemicals powerhouse BASF jumped 2 percent after its chief executive told Reuters in an exclusive interview on Sept 24 that he was raising his outlook for 2010 sales and that the company was set to beat expectations for third-quarter results. Shares in BASF, a company worth more than 40 billion euros, immediately erased previous losses after the interview hit the wire and rose strongly in unusually heavy volume. Bloomberg and Dow Jones were forced to pick up the story with a credit to Reuters. A major investment bank called one of the reporters within minutes of the snaps to request more details. Brokerages including Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and Citi alerted their clients to the interview in research notes the same day, as did Bernstein Research and BHF Bank the following day. Day two also saw BASF shares rise to the top of Germany`s bluechip index DAX with traders citing upgrades to analyst estimates triggered by the report. German business dailies Financial Times Deutschland and Boersen-Zeitung picked up the story with Reuters credit.