Market news round up, upgrades & downgrades courtesy of Cantor Index

UK Corporate Announcements

Derwent London announces H1 revenues of £63.2m from £63.5m and a pre-tax profit of £26.5m and saw property values up 3.3%

Carrillion announces an H1 pre-tax profit of £64.1m on revenues of £2.156bn and expects to report full year trading in line with the forecasts as it has 92% 2012 revenue visibility

Spirax Sarco Engineering announces H1 revenues of £313m up from £307m and an adjusted pre-tax profit of £59.3m just under the consensus of around £66m seen

Kenmare Resources states that it expects significant production improvement in H2

Soco International announces H1 revenues gained to a record $263m and that it averaged 12,197k b/d in H1

Stagecoach states that its total profitability has stayed good as it details 12 week UK business revenues gained 4.1%

BHP Billiton announces a full year net profit of $15.4bn ahead of estimates of $14.6bn seen and states that the long term outlook for copper remains strong, but also details that it will now not meet a December deadline to approve copper and uranium mine expansions at its Olympic Dam operations and will instead investigate less capital intensive alternatives

UK Market News

The Times suggests that ‘plunging tax receipts’ could cause the government to introduce a new wave of government spending cuts this autumn, while The Telegraph writes on how business leaders have been calling for Chancellor Osborne to do more to invest in infrastructure to boost growth

The Institute of Directors states that more than 40% of business leaders delayed at least one investment  or employment decision this year over macro economic uncertainties

The FT suggests that US authorities are also investigating RBS over possible violations of Iran sanctions

Glencore has flagged up that its deal with Xstrata could yet fall through, and that it was not a ‘must do’, as it puts pressure on the Qatari SWF to accept its all share offer

BT is in talks with ITV to allow for Premier League football matches to be shown on ITV for the first time

FTSE 100 Ex dividends (net): Carnival PLC, CCL, (.25), InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, IHG, (13.50), InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, IHGA, (.205), Prudential PLC, PRU, (8.40), CRH PLC, CRH, (.185), Standard Life PLC, SL/, (4.90), Eurasian Natural Resources Corp PLC, ENRC, (.065) Estimated FTSE 100 Dividend Impact: 2 points

FTSE 250 Ex dividends (net): Brewin Dolphin Holdings PLC, BRW, (3.55), St James’s Place PLC, STJ, (4.25), UBM PLC, UBM, (6.70), Fidessa Group PLC, FDSA, (12.50), Capital & Counties Properties PLC, CAPC, (.50), Taylor Wimpey PLC, TW/, (.19), Catlin Group Ltd, CGL, (9.50), Mondi PLC, MNDI, (.089), Utilico Emerging Markets Ltd, UEM, (1.375), BlackRock World Mining Trust PLC, BRWM, (7), Witan Investment Trust PLC, WTAN, (6)

FTSE Small Share Ex dividends (net): BlackRock Latin American Investment Trust PLC, BRLA, (.05),  F&C Capital & Income Investment Trust PLC/Fund, FCI, (2.05),  Scottish American Investment Co PLC/fund, SCAM, (2.45),  Xaar PLC, XAR, (1)

UK Analyst Upgrades

Aggreko Raised to ‘Top Pick’ at RBC Capital

Antofagasta Raised To Overweight From Neutral At Jpmorgan

Cairn Removed From Least Preferred Oil & Gas Shares At Ubs

Enrc Raised To Neutral From Underweight At Jpmorgan

UK Analyst Cuts

Afren Removed From Most Preferred Oil & Gas Shares At Ubs

Anglo American Cut To Underweight From Neutral At Jpmorgan

Enrc Cut To Neutral From Buy At Citi

Enrc Pt Cut 30% To 365P At Barclays, Stays Underweight

Glaxosmithkline Cut To Underweight From Neutral At Jpmorgan

Kazakhmys Cut To Underweight From Neutral At Jpmorgan

Kingfisher Cut To Hold From Buy At Deutsche Bank

Wood Group Cut To Neutral From Buy At Ubs

UK Insider Buying

Jkx Oil & Gas Plc, (JKX), 1 insider(s) bought 5,490 shares, £0.87

UK Insider Selling

Big Yellow Group Plc, (BYG), 4 insider(s) sold 634,132 shares, £3.04

Rsa Insurance Group Pl, (RSA),  insider(s) sold 77,500 shares, £1.13

Major European Companies Reporting

BHP Billiton PLC, R, 3.12,  Carillion PLC, S1, 0,  Delhaize Group SA, S1, 0,  Derwent London PLC, S1, 0.251,  Heineken Holding NV, S1, 0,  Heineken NV, S1, 1.245,  Nobel Biocare Holding AG, Q2, 0.12,  Spirax-Sarco Engineering PLC, S1, 0.591,  Sydbank A/S, Q2, -1.395,  Vestas Wind Systems A/S, Q2, -0.255,  Vienna Insurance Group AG Wiener Versicherung Gruppe, Q2, 0.89

European Market Summary

The Irish Times suggests that Irish banks are second behind only Greece as the worst in Europe for lending to business

German press details how BMW is looking at a renewed push into scooters, after Audi is set to increase competition in the motorbike sector following its acquisition of Ducati

Spanish 10 year yields have fallen to 6.2% from nearer 6.9% in the past couple of weeks, but concerns remain that political squabbles could derail government efforts to cut to government spending by around 10% of its GDP

Germany sells up to €5bn in 2 year notes at 11:30

S&P 500 Companies Reporting

Hewlett-Packard Co, Q3, 0.98

S&P 500 Ex Dividends (gross):-  3M Co, MMM, (.59),  Carnival Corp, CCL, (.25),  Hershey Co/The, HSY, (.38),  Hershey Co/The, HSYFB, (.344), Robert Half International Inc, RHI, (.15),  Williams Cos Inc/The, WMB, (.3125)

Major US Stock Movers After Hours

Dell announced it is cutting its full year forecasts citing its PC business having deteriorated more than expected, and fell 5% in late trading

Intuit also came off, around 1.5% as it also disappointed on quarterly earnings, and as it trims its full year forecast

La Z Boy gained 7% as the furniture maker announces Q1 sales of $301m ahead of the forecasts of $290m seen

Hansen Medical announces it has received additional patents for Medical Robotic and gains over 10% after hours on the news

New York Times gained a little after hours, around 2%, after reports that Diller may offer around $300m for its About.com unit

Keytronic was one of the major gainers, up over 15%, as it announces solid Q4 numbers, well ahead of the forecasts

Career Education came off over 8% as it announces that its CFO has resigned

US Market News

The S&P has matched moves posted by the Dow and posted fresh multi year highs, as energy, technology and rebounding financial stocks offset more muted trading in the wider sectors

Carl Icahn states that he has withdrawn his offer to take CVR Energy private, stating that he would not pay more than $30/share, CVI fell 3% after hours on the news

S&P states that it has put Google’s rating on positive watch, and that it could be upgraded 1 notch

Todd Akin stays in the news after his ridiculous comments on rape and pregnancy and as he declines to stand down from the Missouri Senate race

Bloomberg details how the loss making US Postal Service lost around $750m through printing too many Simpson character commemorative postage stamps, with critics suggesting that if it cannot even gauge the levels of demand for stamps it illustrates how ineffectively it is being managed, it is expected to cost the US taxpayers $15bn this year

Overnight Market News

China Telecom announced overnight an H1 net profit of 8.81bn yuan from 9.62bn last year and states that it will not pay an interim dividend

The Shanghai Daily suggests that more Rare Earth’s were smuggled out of China illegally last year, than those exported officially

Vietnam’s banking sector came off overnight after the arrest of Nguyen Duc Kien who helped found Asia Commercial Bank, on concerns that it highlighted ‘vulnerabilities’ in the financial system overall

China’s Communist Party is looking to impose a new five year plan to deal with rampant corruption, as the issue is tarnishing its global reputation and ahead of the upcoming leadership transition which only occurs every decade

The RBA has denied suggestions that its governor misled parliament over which officials knew about alleged corruption at a note printing unit

The WSJ suggests that Nomura is looking at possible deep cuts in overseas operations

FX Summary

The dollar has firmed slightly against its peers ahead of the US housing market data out this afternoon and ahead of the FOMC Meeting minutes

Commodity Summary

Rubber prices have eased a touch after Japanese trade data showed a wider than expected trade deficit, increasing concerns that the eurozone issue continue to act as a drag on the global outlook

Gold prices have continued to rally from the recent correction, and currently has worked up to fresh three month highs, as talks over a fresh round of global QE continues

Economic Data Due

15:00 US July Exisiting Home Sales, 4.5m exp. 4.37m previous

19:00 FOMC Meeting Minutes

Economic Events

Bank of Canada Governor Speaks