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

26 Feb 2013

Cantor Opening Call

  • The FTSE is seen opening down a significant 90 points lower today after US and Asian markets came off overnight on renewed European concerns
 

 
 

UK Corporate Announcements

  • GKN announces 2012 pre-tax profit of £588m up 68% with sales up 13% to £6.51bn
  • Elementis details full year sales of $757m from $760m with full year adjusted operating profit gaining 5%
  • Redrow announces H1 revenues of £257m up 10% and a pre-tax profit of £23m and in H1 the average home price gained 105 to £224k
  • Provident Financial announces its full year adjusted EPS gained 13.8% to 102p/share and that customer numbers gained 8.7% to 2.74m
  • Goals Soccer Centres reports a full year operating profit of £11.3m with full year sales up 7%
  • Imperial Tobacco states that it is to detail its cost program at an event today, where it sees further savings of £300m/year by 2018 and plans to grow dividends by at least 10%/year
  • Hiscox announces it plans an 89 for 100 share capital consolidation and a return of capital to shareholders
  • Croda states that it stays confident of further progress in 2013 as it announces full year revenues of £1.05bn just under the forecasts of £1.08bn seen
 

UK Market News

  • Mark Carney suggests that Banks should still do more to regain public trust including more radical reforms
  • Moody stays in the news as it cuts the UK government guaranteed debt of Lloyds and Barclays, but as with the downgrade of the US by S&P the actual impact on the markets remains limited as gilts outperform bunds
  • Polls suggest that the Lib Dems are set to hold onto the Eastleigh seat despite the recent scandals
  • Rio Tinto is due to meet with the Mongolian government tomorrow after weeks of disputes over control of the world’s largest copper and gold mine under construction
  • Reckitt Benkiser itself is being looked at by US Competition Authorities after the company’s efforts to put pressure on medicine regulators to block generic versions of its heroin substitute drug
  • BP will stay in the news as the trial starts and US prosecutors look for the maximum penalty which could be as high as $17bn
 

UK Analyst Changes

  • Bovis Homes Cut To Neutral Vs Buy At Citi
  • Hargreaves Lansdown Rated New Buy At Jefferies, Pt 1,000P
  • Hiscox Pt Raised To 506P Vs 444P At Nomura, Stays Reduce
  • Ladbrokes Pt Raised To 203P Vs 150P At Nomura, Stays Neutral
  • Lloyds, Swiss Re Removed From Socgen Premium List
  • Paragon Raised To Buy Vs Neutral At Bofaml
  • St James Place Rated New Hold At Berenberg; Pt 540P
 

UK Insider Buying

  • Ashmore Group Plc, (ASHM), 1 insider(s) bought 25000 shares, £3.6
  • Marks & Spencer Group, (MKS), 1 insider(s) bought 3000 shares, £3.77
  • Rsa Insurance Group Pl, (RSA), 5 insider(s) bought 239303 shares, £1.18
 

UK Insider Selling

  • Arm Holdings Plc, (ARM), 1 insider(s) sold 90000 shares, £9.24
  • Character Group Plc, (CCT), 2 insider(s) sold 94000 shares, £1.34
  • Genus Plc, (GNS),  insider(s) sold 21162 shares, £14.38
  • Young & Co’s Brewery Pl, (YNGA),  insider(s) sold 50000 shares, £7.73
 

FTSE 100 Movers
 
 

Major European Companies Reporting

  • Aalberts Industries NV, R, 1.391,  BASF SE, R, 5.337,  CRH PLC, R, 0.733,  Croda International PLC, R, 1.267,  Elementis PLC, R, 0.232,  Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co KGaA, R, 2.778,  Fresenius SE & Co KGaA, R, 5.41,  Georg Fischer AG, R, 35.951,  GKN PLC, R, 0.241,  Jyske Bank A/S, R, 10.898,  Kerry Group PLC, R, 2.349,  Mediobanca SpA, S1, 0.14,  Provident Financial PLC, R, 1.01,  SEB SA, R, 4.297,  Teleperformance, R, 2.304,  Vivendi SA, R, 2.009,  William Demant Holding A/S, R, 21.118
 

European Market Summary

  • As expected the Italian election results are suggesting a divided parliament as voters have rejected the Monti austerity and that yet another vote may be needed
  • Peugeot states it sees China turning into its biggest market as Europe stays soft
  • Denmark details it is to cut its corporate tax rate to 22% to increase competitiveness
  • Italy sells €8.75bn in 183 day bills at 11:00am
 

Major US Stock Movers After Hours

  • Autodesk came off 2% as it announced Q4 EPS ahead of the forecasts but then lowered the outlook for Q1
  • Caesars Entertainment fell around 10% after hours as it announces a large write off on Hurricane Sandy on Atlantic City
 

S&P 500 Companies Reporting

  • American Tower Corp, Q4, 0.77,  AutoZone Inc, Q2, 4.75,  Ecolab Inc, Q4, 0.889,  Edison International, Q4, 1.038,  Expeditors International of Washington Inc, Q4, 0.43,  First Solar Inc, Q4, 1.757,  Home Depot Inc/The, Q4, 0.646,  Macy’s Inc, Q4, 1.986,  MetroPCS Communications Inc, Q4, 0.09,  priceline.com Inc, Q4, 6.533,  Range Resources Corp, Q4, 0.29,  Sempra Energy, Q4, 0.963,  Tenet Healthcare Corp, Q4, 0.708,  Vornado Realty Trust, Q4, 1.077
 

US Market News

  • VIX has gained the most since August 2011, on the back of the Italian elections and UK downgrade, and as VIX futures volumes hit a fresh record high
  • Goldman details that it is cutting its three month forecasts on gold to $1,615 from $1,825 and also cuts its 12 month targets stating that the recovery in the US economy was gaining momentum and investment holdings as a result were being amended
  • The FT suggests that Goldman usually cuts around 5% of its ‘weakest’ staff this time of year, but that the cuts may be deeper this year
  • Yahoo’s Marissa Meyer has banned employee’s of the company from working remotely from home
 

Overnight Market News

  • Singapore is planning to increase taxes on luxury properties as it continues efforts to curb house price speculation
  • Dish Networks continues to pressure the FCC stating that regulators should get more information on Japanese based, Softbanks’s $20bn move for Sprint Nextel
 

Economic Data Due

  • 15:00 US February Consumer Confidence, 60.6 exp. 58.6 previous
  • 15:00 US January New Home Sales, 380k exp. 369k previous
 

Economic Events

  • Bank of England’s Miles speaks in London
  • Bernanke testifies to Senate Banking Committee
 

US New Homes Sales
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