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

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UK Corporate Announcements

Travis Perkins reports Q3 total sales fell 2.4% in Q3 and said sales had held up well despite the poor weather and the Olympics

Flybe announces that it has performed in line with the revised management forecasts

Hargreaves Lansdown states that it has made a pleasing start to the year and has made an excellent start to October

Morgan Crucible warns today that it now sees its full year materially below the previous forecasts as the slowdown in demand has been more pronounced

Computacenter announces Q3 revenues of £656m just up from £648m with UK revenues up 12% to £265m

Ceres Media warns that sales have been below the expectations and that trading conditions have remained difficult

UK Market News

British Gas is in the news on reports that it is set to announce high single digit increases to its gas bills for 12m UK homes

The UK business press reports on possible M&A talk around Informa

The Telegraph writes on how the chief at BAE Systems was politically ‘naive’ for misunderstanding the German political structure

The chief of the FSA states that the money printing program has run out of steam and that other stimulative measures need to be found

The UK is due to sell £2.5bn in Bills at 11:10

UK Analyst Upgrades

Eurasian Natural Resources Raised to Equalweight at Barclays

Standard Chartered Added To Ubs’S Key Calls List

UK Analyst Cuts

Antofagasta is a Trading Sell at Credit Suisse

Daily Mail & General Trust Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan

Kazakhmys Cut To Equalweight From Overweight At Barclays

Willis Group Rated Neutral At Goldman, Pt $39

UK Insider Buying

Alkane Energy Plc, (ALK), 1 insider(s) bought 250,000 shares, £0.22

Batm Advanced Communica, (BVC), 1 insider(s) bought 139,686 shares, £0.16

Hiscox Ltd, (HSX), 1 insider(s) bought 2,919 shares, £4.79

Westhouse Holdings Plc, (WHL), 2 insider(s) bought 97,927 shares, £0.17

Wilmington Group Plc, (WIL), 1 insider(s) bought 385,000 shares, £1.3

UK Insider Selling

Galliford Try Plc, (GFRD), 1 insider(s) sold 60,000 shares, £7.28

Lavendon Group Plc, (LVD),  insider(s) sold 25,000 shares, £1.44

European Market Summary

Coca-Cola Hellenic announces it is pulling its HQ from Athens to Switzerland in order to find easier funding, it is the second largest Coca-Cola bottler and makes up around 20% of the total market cap of the Athens Stock Market

S&P 500 Companies Reporting

JPMorgan Chase & Co, Q3, 1.191,  Wells Fargo & Co, Q3, 0.866

S&P 500 Ex Dividends (gross):- PNC Financial Services Group Inc, PNC, (.40),  Tyco International Ltd, TYC, (.15)

Major US Stock Movers After Hours

JB Hunt Transport gained 5% in late trading as it detailed a higher Q3 revenue than expected and despite EPS numbers just missing forecasts

Advanced Micro Devices came off around 10% after hours as it reduces its sales forecasts citing weak demand with the markets hoping this does not set the tone for the reporting season ahead

US Market News

Kraft Foods is reportedly looking for a buyer for its Breakstone’s dairy business

Nasdaq announces that its planned new derivatives exchange in London is targeting a 10% market share in its first year

In its latest court battle Samsung has won the battle to keep selling its newest Galaxy Nexus smartphones in the US while the legal battles continue with Apple

Overnight Market News

Singapore details that it is to keep its ‘modest and gradual’ currency appreciation as it details that Q3 GDP contracts 1.5% from Q2

China’s largest banks are reportedly resisting pressure to cut loan rates

Indian based Infosys, the IT consultancy and software services company, is down 7% overnight as it cuts its annual sales forecasts

Billabong announces that TPG has now withdrawn its takeover proposal

Japan’s Softbank is reportedly in talks to take a stake of as much as 75% in Sprint and would be seen to create a more viable US competitor to AT&T and Verizon, with its chief Masayoshi Son laying out his 300 year plan starting with investing in 5,000 companies by 2040

Bursa Malaysia details that it is looking to list the first retail Islamic exchange traded bond in December

Major Global IPOs Due Today

Workday Inc, (WDAY), 22.75m, USD 21 – 24

FX Summary

Peru has kept its central bank reference rate at 4.25%

The Singapore dollar gained 0.5% on the news from its central bank

Commodity Summary

Gold ETP Holdings have gained to a fresh record of 2,582.98t

Economic Data Due

10:00 Eurozone August Industrial Production, -0.3% exp. 0.5% previous

13:30 US September PPI, 0.7% exp. 1.7% previous

14:55 US October University of Michigan Confidence, 77.8 exp. 78.3 previous