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

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UK Corporate Announcements

JD Wetherspoon announces a full year profit of £44.5m on sales of £1.2bn just ahead of the expectations and aims for a reasonable year

Domino Printing states that it stays cautious about market conditions and that confidence amongst Chinese manufacturers has fallen

UK Market News

In what will naturally be a ‘risk-on’ day today the BAE EADS story will take a back seat, but UK press does detail how BAE System has set out various conditions on any merger with the European giant, including the importance of its independence from political interference

Hikma Pharm will be eyed after an FDA advisory panel voted against the use of its blood pressure drug for a broad population of patients, with the FDA due to make its full decision by November 9th

RBS details that it must sell its Direct Line unit by the end of 2014 under the EU rulings, and states that the planned IPO will be all secondary, to sell shares to institutional investors

The FT suggests that BT has decided not to use set top boxes supplied by Pace, and has had to delay the rollout of its YouView service as it acquires replacements from Korean supplier Humax

The UK sells up to £2.5bn in bills at 11:10

UK Analyst Upgrades

DS Smith Added To Ubs’S Uk 1St Xi, Replaces Bae

National Express Raised To Buy Vs Neutral At Citi

Stagecoach Cut To Neutral Vs Buy At Citi

UK Analyst Cuts

Kazakhmys Pt Cut To 800P Vs 925P At Nomura, Stays Neutral

Daily Mail Cut To Equalweight Vs Overweight At Barclays

UK Insider Buying

Ncc Group Plc, (NCC), 1 insider(s) bought 5,000 shares, £8.9

UK Insider Selling

Computacenter Plc, (CCC),  insider(s) sold 19,529 shares, £4.01

Fidessa Group Plc, (FDSA), 1 insider(s) sold 3,000 shares, £14.62

Jupiter Fund Managemen, (JUP),  insider(s) sold 200,000 shares, £2.5

Ncc Group Plc, (NCC), 2 insider(s) sold 191,909 shares, £8.9

European Market Summary

Eurozone finance ministers meet in Cyprus today the first time they have come together since the German courts gave conditional for Germany to participate in the ESM, and as the IMF states that Greece will need a third international bailout

After pressure from Germany initial EU plans for a single EU guarantee scheme to cover all the €5tn in eurozone bank deposits has been dropped from discussions

German Finance Minister responds to talk from France about Spain and states that Spain would be ‘daft’ to request a full bailout, stating that any such request risked another round of financial market turmoil

The FT writes on how Deutsche Bank has been seen trying to find technology partners, as it looks to save on middle and back office costs by sharing technology within the industry

S&P 500 Companies Reporting

None Detailed

S&P 500 Ex Dividends (gross):-  Ecolab Inc, ECL, (.20)

Major US Stock Movers After Hours

Western Digital announced after hours that it was cutting its full year revenue forecasts, and also details plans for a $1.5bn share buyback, the stock fell around 2% after hours on the news

Analogic gained over 7% in late trading as it announces Q4 numbers ahead of the forecasts

US Market News

The Fed delivered on the expectations yesterday detailing it would undertake $40bn MBS purchases a month and increases its economic outlook forecasts for 2013 and 2014

The Dow closed up over 200 points higher yesterday at 13,539, and it has moved to within touching distance of its all time high is at 14,198

The FT details how yields on Mortgage Backed Securities came off 24 basis points late yesterday as investors looked to move into the market ahead of the buying from the Fed

The VIX has fallen back down to 14, down 11%, and back to the summer lows and the traditional buying areas

Overnight Market News

Asian markets have also been buoyed by the moves in the US

Shares in Fraser & Neave have moved above the price offered by Sirivadhanabhakdi as the market awaits a higher offer from Heineken

Zhengzhou Coal Mining is reportedly looking at a Hong Kong listing in October, and is already sounding out potential interest on a $600m float, to build upon its existing listing in Shanghai

Fortescue has posted large falls in recent days in Australian trading after market speculation that it was in financial difficulties, and it even asked the exchange to suspend its shares as states it continues to seek a restructuring on its debt, and it also stated overnight that talks with banks ‘progressed significantly’

FX Summary

S&P details that it has lifted its rating on South Korea to A+

Chlie has left its interest rates unchanged overnight at 5%

The Swiss National Bank chairman has stated that there was no alternative to the franc ceiling

The Japanese government also is quick to respond to US QEIII stating that it would intervene in the market, adding pressure to the Japanese central bank to ease monetary policy

The dollar moved to a fresh four month low against the euro on the Fed news

Pimco suggests that the RBA needs to cut rates if the Aussie dollar does not track commodity prices

Commodity Summary

Commodities have gained to five month highs on the QEIII moves, as US interest levels are seen largely unchanged through to end 2015, gold for example gained 2.2% yesterday

Economic Data Due

10:00 Eurozone August CPI, 0.4% exp. -0.5% previous

13:30 US August CPI, 0.6% exp. 0.0% previous

13:30 US August Advance Retail Sales, 0.8% exp. 0.8% previous

14:15 US August Industrial Production, -0.1% exp. 0.6% previous

14:55 US September Uni of Michigan Confidence, 74.0 exp. 74.3 previous

Economic Events

EU-27 Finance Ministers in Cyprus