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

Debenhams announces it sees a full year pre-tax profit in line with the expectations, and that its strategy is starting to work and that its modernised stores are performing well, and its profit is ahead of last year

JD Sports reports an H1 adjusted pre-tax profit of £556m up 26.4% and a pre-tax profit of £2.9m from £20.1m

Galliford Try announces full year revenues of £1.5bn and a full year pre-tax profit of £63.1m from £35.1m

UK Market News

The FT suggests that Airbus has been touted as a possible name for any combination of EADS and BAE Systems, although a French minister has stated that a lot of questions remain on any deal

Cable & Wireless has reportedly started talks to sell its group of remote island networks for as much as $1bn

Lonmin’s talks with striking South African miners are still ‘far apart’ according to a government mediator

UK Analyst Upgrades

Unilever Plc Rated New Buy At Berenberg; Pt Gbp27.00

Unilever Nv Raised To Buy From Hold At Berenberg

UK Analyst Cuts

Aegis Cut To Neutral From Buy At Nomura

Aviva Cut To Hold Vs Buy At Deutsche Bank

Dunelm Cut To Hold Vs Buy At Deutsche Bank

Electrocomponents Cut To Underperform Vs Sector Perform At Rbc

UK Insider Buying

Computacenter Plc, (CCC), 1 insider(s) bought 20,000 shares, £4.02

Sig Plc, (SHI), 1 insider(s) bought 116 shares, £1.07

UK Insider Selling

British Land Co Plc, (BLND),  insider(s) sold 30,000 shares, £1.38

Legal & General Group, (LGEN),  insider(s) sold 124,954 shares, £2.57

Premier Oil Plc, (PMO), 1 insider(s) sold 149,303 shares, £3.83

European Market Summary

The Irish Times suggests that the government could issue 40 year bonds to save state billions tied up in Anglo Irish Bank

ECB governing council member Coene has stated that rising bond yields may yet force Spain to ask for formal aid and submit to the ECB’s conditions for granting it

Spain is due to sell 12 and 18 month bills today, while the EFSF is to sell up to €2bn in bills

The trial of the former UBS rogue trader continues and details show how he lost over £125,000 with his own account at IG Index, an account he held outside of the banks rules

The FT writes that as much as $64bn is seen exiting Swiss banks as international authorities increase the pressure on tax evasion

S&P 500 Companies Reporting

FedEx Corp, Q1, 1.407

S&P 500 Ex Dividends (gross):-  International Game Technology, IGT, (.06),  Safeway Inc, SWY, (.175),  Tiffany & Co, TIF, (.32),  Total System Services Inc, TSS, (.10),  Xcel Energy Inc, XEL, (.27)

Major US Stock Movers After Hours

OxiGene gained a hefty 45% after hours as it announces it had been given the approval for a special protocol assessment on its thyroid cancer treatment

HNI fell around 10% after hours as it details softer demand on office furniture

Advanced Micro Devices also came off over 10% as it announces that its CFO is to leave to seek other opportunities

OCZ Technology also came off around 8% as its CEO announces that he has quit

US Market News

Apple’s shares gained to over $700 in after-hours trading, up to a fresh record as the initial iPhone sales numbers have met the high expectations, the stock is now up over 70% this year

Peregrine Financial’s CEO remains behind bars while the judge evaluates the flight risk over releasing him ahead of his trial, where he has already pleaded guilty to fraud

Overnight Market News

US based Dole Foods announces it is to sell assets to Itochu for $1.65bn in cash

Anti Japanese protests in China have gathered pace as the arguments over the disputed islands continues to impact upon the $340bn in trade between the two nations, September 18th is also the anniversary of Japanese occupation of parts of mainland China in 1931

FX Summary

The Sri Lankan Central bank has left rates unchanged

The Aussie dollar has weakened a touch after the release of the RBA meeting minutes, as they cited how officials were concerned that the strong currency could damage the economy, increasing talk of possible rate cuts ahead

Moody’s has cut its ratings outlook on Argentina to negative from stable

Commodity Summary

Oil posted some quite sharp falls intraday yesterday, around 2.4%, leading some to even suggest a major ‘fat finger’ event had occurred somewhere to trigger the selling, although the exchanges have played down the talk, leaving rumours on a possible strategic reserve release the major factor

Fortescue Metals gained yesterday after it secured $4.5bn in new loans, reducing fears that it would need to sell assets, or undertake a capital raising

Bloomberg details how Gold prices in recent months have continued a historically high correlation with inflation expectations, and a recent spike in inflation expectations is suggesting gold is due a move back to its all time highs, with moves to $2,000

Economic Data Due

09:30 UK August CPI, 0.5% exp. 0.1% previous

10:00 German September ZEW Survey -20 exp. -25.5 previous

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