High turnout as France's conservatives choose presidential candidate

Hello Dear Viewers,

You know about, PARIS French conservative voters turned out en masse on Sunday to choose their candidate for next year's presidential election in a tight primary race whose winner is seen as likely to make the Elysee Palace in 2017.

Sunday's primary vote will produce two candidates for a Nov. 27 run-off, with the foremost candidates being two former prime ministers, Alain Juppe and Francois Fillon, and ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy. The result was expected late on Sunday.

With the French left in disarray under the deeply unpopular President Francois Hollande, pollsters suggest that the center-right nominee to emerge after the head-to-head will defeat the National Front's eurosceptic, anti-immigration leader Marine Le Pen in the final round of the election next May.

"We're really tired of Hollande. We need a change," voter Marion, a lawyer, said outside a polling station in central Paris.

Juppe, a moderate conservative campaigning on an inclusive, "happy identity" platform, had for months appeared on track to win the nomination of the Les Republicains party and its center-right allies.

But over the past week the contest has been transformed into a tight race between Juppe, Sarkozy and Fillon, who served as prime minister under Sarkozy from 2007 to 2012.

Juppe, whom Sarkozy has for weeks accused of being held "hostage" by centrist allies, lost his lead in opinion polls to his rivals to the right on the political spectrum. Sarkozy has sought to tap into populist sentiment while Fillon is proposing tough measures to shake up the economy.

A Harris Interactive opinion poll on Sunday showed a majority of those surveyed considered Fillon and Juppe had fought the best campaign.

The race for the presidency is shaping up as new tests of strength between weakened mainstream parties and rising populist forces.

Polls show that whoever wins the conservative ticket should beat Le Pen, because she needs a 50 percent vote to become president and her party has never polled much more than 30 percent.

But after Britain's vote to quit the European Union and Donald Trump's surprise U.S. election win this year, few are prepared to write off her chances entirely.

Should Sarkozy or Fillon emerge as Le Pen's conservative opponent, polls and analysts suggest however that her electoral chances could be higher than if she faces Juppe, who is seen as having a wider voter appeal than his two rivals.

HIGH TURNOUT

A lot could hinge on turnout, with polls saying a high level would favor Juppe.

More than 2.5 million votes had been cast by 1700 local time according to a count conducted in 70 percent of the more than 10,000 polling stations.

Thierry Solere, president of the committee organizing the vote, called that a "considerable turnout" with two hours still left to vote and queues visible at a number of Paris polling stations.

There are other uncertainties in Sunday's vote, in which four more candidates, whom polls forecast have no chance of winning, also took part.

It is the first center-right primary to be held in France, and anyone who pays 2 euros ($2.12) and signs a form showing support for the party's values can take part.

That means voting patterns are to some extent untested, leaving potential for tactical voting by left and far-right supporters as well.

"I am not at all on the Right, I'm very much on the Left and I really want to block Sarkozy and I know that the Left won't get to the second round (of the presidential election) so I just want to stop Sarkozy and Marine Le Pen," one voter, Emeline, said. Thanks.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks jittery after election-linked selling; oil prices weak

Dear Viewers,

NEW YORK Global equity markets were jittery on Friday, even as Wall Street clung to modest gains as investors looked past worries about the outcome of the U.S. presidential election to snap an eight-day losing streak.

Oil prices remained weak on skepticism about whether OPEC members will adhere to planned production limits, boosting concerns about low inflation and sending U.S. Treasury prices higher.

A dismal outing for Asian and European share indexes weighed on MSCI's 47-country "All World" index .MIWD00000PUS, which was down 0.31 percent, but the index was supported by Wall Street.

U.S. stocks found favor with investors after eight straight days of losses, the longest losing streak since 2008, which sent the S&P 500 index down 2.9 percent.

"Investors are buying anything that looks like a dip and that is because the fundamentals continue to be pretty good even though I think there is a lot of anxiety about next week’s election," said Kate Warne, investment strategist with Edward Jones in St. Louis.

"With the pullback, I think investors are seeing some bargains out there."

An upbeat jobs report helped soothe nerves. U.S. employers maintained a strong pace of hiring in October and boosted wages, which could effectively seal the case for a December interest rate increase from the U.S. Federal Reserve. [nLNN4MEC7Q]

"This was a very good report. With the hourly wage number beginning to accelerate, the Fed will have all the cover it needs to raise rates in December," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania.

Economists also said the upbeat employment report could provide a boost to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton against her Republican rival Donald Trump as the race to the White House tightens and becomes increasingly bitter and divisive.

Investors have been unnerved by signs the race is tightening; Clinton had until recently been thought to have a clear lead.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 8.15 points, or 0.05 percent, to 17,922.52, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.76 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,090.42 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 0.68 point, or 0.01 percent, to 5,059.09.

European shares slumped, weighed down by weaker drugmakers after two U.S. lawmakers called on federal antitrust regulators to open an investigation into possible price fixing.

Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 closed down 0.79 percent at 1,296.32.

Oil futures were on course for their biggest weekly percentage declines since January of just under 10 percent as signs of tensions resurfaced between Saudi Arabia and Iran that could scupper a key supply cut pact.

Riyadh told a meeting of OPEC experts last week that it could raise oil output steeply to bring prices down if Tehran refuses to limit its supply, OPEC sources say.

Brent crude LCOc1 settled down 77 cents, or 1.66 percent, at $45.58 a barrel, and U.S. crude CLc1 settled down 59 cents, or 1.32 percent, at $44.07.

The weakness in oil prices raised concerns about low inflation and boosted U.S. Treasury prices. Uncertainty about the election also enhanced the appeal of the lower-risk assets.

Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR were up 8/32 in price to yield 1.78 percent, after rising as high as 1.83 percent on the employment data.

While the solid U.S. jobs report supported expectations for a December Federal Reserve interest rate hike, it failed to stem losses for the U.S. dollar.

Nervousness ahead of next week's election has hit the greenback in recent days and the dollar index .DXY, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.1 pct, near a three-week low.

Gold steadied, heading for its biggest weekly rise since mid-September as jitters over the election offset the solid payrolls report.

Spot gold prices XAU= were little changed at $1,302.89 an ounce. Thanks.

UPDATE 2-Lockheed Martin's quarterly profit handily beats estimates

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Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), the world's largest defense contractor, reported a quarterly profit on Tuesday that handily beat analysts' expectations, as sales of its Sikorsky helicopters pushed total revenue up 14.8 percent.

Lockheed's shares were up about 7 percent in afternoon trading following the company's earnings conference call.

The company also raised its adjusted profit and sales outlook for the year.

Results from the Pentagon's No. 1 weapons supplier are often seen as a bellwether for the U.S. defense sector. Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) and Raytheon Co (RTN.N) are due to report quarterly results later this week.

The company said third-quarter sales in its rotary and mission systems business unit jumped 55 percent to $3.35 billion, which included about $1.2 billion from sales of Sikorsky military and commercial helicopters. Lockheed completed the $9 billion acquisition of Sikorsky from United Technologies Corp (UTX.N) last year.

Lockheed said sales in its aeronautics business, the biggest division, increased 6.8 percent due to higher net sales of approximately $300 million for the F-35 jet program due to higher aircraft production and sustainment activities.

Only 10 F-35 aircraft were produced this quarter compared with 12 for the same period last year. On their quarterly results conference call, management said a problem with the insulation in the F-35's fuel lines and fuel tanks, and the subsequent fix for aircraft still on the production line, was the reason for "lighter" F-35 deliveries this quarter.

Lockheed is developing and building F-35s for the U.S. military and eight other countries. With estimated development and procurement costs of $391 billion for the United States alone, the F-35 is the world's most expensive weapons program.

Lockheed's space systems division, the third largest unit at the Bethesda, Maryland-based company, delivered $185 million in additional operating profit for the quarter, a 70 percent increase over the same period last year.

According to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S calculations, the company's income from continuing operations was $3.27 per share, versus the average analyst estimate of $2.87.

Net income more than doubled to $2.40 billion, or $7.93 per share, in the third quarter ended Sept. 25, from $865 million, or $2.77 per share, a year earlier.

"Most investors who take a look at the trading chart will conclude that this result is more than enough for a stock that has underperformed sharply of late," Barclays analyst Carter Copeland said in a research note.

Lockheed's net income included a one-time special cash payment of $1.8 billion from the company's $5 billion tax-free deal to merge its information systems and global solutions business with Leidos Holdings Inc (LDOS.N) earlier this year.

The company said it expected 2017 net sales to increase by 7 percent compared to 2016. The company also said it expected business segment operating margins to be between 10 and 10.5 percent.

Lockheed raised its adjusted outlook 2016 profit forecast of $11.15 to $11.45 per share to $12.10 and said its forecast for adjusted sales of $45 billion to $46.2 billion had been raised to $46.5 billion.

Net sales rose to $11.55 billion from $10.06 billion a year earlier.


MANCHESTER, N.H./ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton slammed rival Donald Trump on Monday for saying that the week-old effort to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the control of Islamic State was going badly.


MOSCOW Two Moscow airport workers involved in a plane crash in which Christophe de Margerie, the CEO of Total, was killed had been drinking alcohol, Russia's aviation regulator said on Tuesday, saying the accident could have been avoided altogether.

 PARIS The sale of aerospace firm Thales's rail signaling business to transport company Alstom is no longer on the agenda, a government source told Reuters on Tuesday. Thanks.