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

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UK Corporate Announcements

Bunzl announces an H1 revenue of £2.61bn up 7% and an adjusted pre-tax profit of £165.1m and sees continued good growth ahead

Cairn Energy reports an H1 net cash position of $927m and states it is re-balancing its business to deliver growth

Yule Catto announces H1 pre-tax profit of £56m on sales of £603m and states that its full year expectations have remained unchanged, but sees no meaningful recovery in trading over the next 12-18 months

G4S announces H1 sales of £3.9bn just marginally under the forecasts, and details that restructuring is to result in a headcount reduction of around 1,200, and as expected details it is to post an exceptional £50m charge on its Olympic operations

Regus reports an H1 operating profit of £34.2m from £15.2m with revenues up 7.6% to £608m

Lamprell announces H1 revenues of $528m from $383m and states that under performance was a disappointment and details an H1 net loss of $47.1m from the profit of $18.6m

Chemring announces that it is cutting its full year operating forecasts, and declines to comment on bid interest talk


UK Market News

The FT details on how foreign involvement in UK takeovers has reached a new record of 70%

The Guardian suggests that Chancellor Osborne may be moved on after the next reshuffle

AstraZeneca announces that Pascal Soriot is to be its CEO from October


UK Analyst Cuts

Glaxosmithkline Cut To Neutral From Buy At Ubs

Debenhams Cut To Neutral From Buy At Bofa

Kingfisher Cut To Underperform From Buy At Bofa


UK Insider Buying

Costain Group Plc, (COST), 1 insider(s) bought 4,000 shares, £2.22

Sdl Plc, (SDL), 1 insider(s) bought 7,500 shares, £6.58

Xp Power Ltd, (XPP), 1 insider(s) bought 37,122 shares, £10.7


UK Insider Selling

Astrazeneca Plc, (AZN), 1 insider(s) sold 58,259 shares, £29.68

British American Tobacco, (BATS),  insider(s) sold 1,700 shares, £33.07

Fuller Smith & Turner -, (FSTA),  insider(s) sold 2,937 shares, £7.13

Senior Plc, (SNR), 1 insider(s) sold 5,617 shares, £2.01


Major European Companies Reporting

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, S1, 0,  Banca Popolare di Milano Scarl, S1, 0,  Banco Popolare SC, S1, 0,  Bouygues SA, S1, 0,  Bunzl PLC, S1, 0.325,  Bureau Veritas SA, S1, 0,  Cairn Energy PLC, S1, 0.055,  Credit Agricole SA, S1, 0,  DE Master Blenders 1753 NV, R, 0.367,  G4S PLC, S1, 0.101,  L’Oreal SA, S1, 2.723


European Market Summary

European market confidence gained a touch yesterday as German finance minister states that Germany and France will create a working group to strengthen the euroarea’s fiscal and monetary union, although volume on the Dax was around 40% under the 30 day average

Reports suggest that SocGen traders may get a 20-30% increase in salaries as part of any reported move to London from Paris

Julius Baer details that its clients personal information has again been compromised, the third time in a decade, as state authorities continues efforts to catch up with tax evaders
Spain is due to sell 84 and 168 day bills today

Credit Agricole announces it is closing its riskiest investment banking activities and is weighing offers for its Greek Emporiki unit, but announces Q2 earnings just ahead of the forecasts


S&P 500 Companies Reporting

None Scheduled

S&P 500 Ex Dividends (gross):-  Equifax Inc, EFX, (.18),  Goldman Sachs Group Inc/The, GS, (.46),  Home Depot Inc/The, HD, (.29),  Weyerhaeuser Co, WY, (.15)


Major US Stock Movers After Hours

Depomed gained over 5% after hours as it announces a key licensing deal with J&J

PVH the Calvein Klein owner, lifts its full year outlook and gained 3% on the news


US Market News

Apple gained to a fresh record market cap after its shares gained on the Californian patent dispute case with Samsung, while Samsung lost around $12bn from its market cap, coming off 7% as Apple details it is seeking a ban on 8 of Samsung’s devices in the US

IBM announces that it has agreed to buy social business company Kenxa for $1.3bn

The CFTC fines Russian based SMP Bank over alleged wash trades on yen options contracts, which could have disrupted market prices

Fed Reserve of Dallas President Richard Fisher has endorsed a paper which suggests that ‘ultra easy’ monetary policy can backfire as near term benefits can be outweighed by the longer term costs

The energy drink sector is in the news as the NY attorney general subpoenaed several makers, such as Pepsico on concerns that they over selling the benefits


Overnight Market News

The South China Morning Post details how China’s Securities and Futures Commission has started legal action after Ernst & Young has refused to provide details on a listing candidate citing state secret concerns

The paper also writes on how the deputy police chief in Guangzhou has been arrested as the anti-graft moves against high profile figures continues

Japan has trimmed its economic forecasts citing personal consumption, homebuilding and industrial production


FX Summary

Brazil’s real has come off the most for a couple of weeks on expectations that the central bank will keep up the pace of cuts in the cost of borrowing, as economists cut their outlook for economic growth for the fourth week in a row

The Swedish krona has moved up to near six month highs against the dollar after retail sales data come in higher for July than expected, the currency also posted a 12 month high against the euro this month


Commodity Summary

US petrol pump prices gained after a storm system in the Gulf of Mexico disrupts refinery output


Economic Data Due

09:00 Eurozone July M3, sa, 3.3% exp. 3.2% previous

15:00 US August Consumer Confidence, 65.5 exp. 65.9 previous

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