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

04 Jan 2013

Cantor Opening Call

UK Corporate Announcements

Marshalls states that it has taken steps to reduce its fixed costs and debt, and details that full year revenues fell 7% to £309m
Johnson Service today confirms its full year targets
Costain states that it finished the year in line with the forecasts

UK Market News

BP has stated that Halliburton continues to deny a significant role in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, as Transocean details it is to pay $1.4bn to settle federal claims on the spill
Bloomberg details how much of Wall Street and the City forecasted 2012 incorrectly, with most being too negative, leaving Goldman’s Lloyd Blankfein statement that ‘the real risk was being too pessimistic’ one of the best calls on the market last year
At 11:10 the UK is due to sell £2.5bn in Bills
We would also like to take this opportunity to highlight our own debate on the euro next Wednesday, 9th, January, at the Bloomberg auditorium, this should be a lively and informative event and is open to all who register, not just Cantor clients. If you would like to attend please click here http://www.cantorcapital.com/landing/debateregistration to register your interest

UK Analyst Cuts

FTSE 100 Movers

European Market Summary

French press suggest that Eurotunnel want to manage the Calais, Boulogne ports
German unemployment gained by less than expected in December, gaining 3,000, under the forecasts of around 10,000 seen
BMW sold more cars in the US last than Mercedes for the second year in a row, buoyed by its new 5 Series line
The FT suggests that Italy’s central bank has suspended cash machine services in Vatican City on the grounds that the state has not complied with international rules on money laundering

Major US Stock Movers After Hours

Accuray came off over 20% as it announces a restructuring and that 13% of its jobs will be cut

S&P 500 Companies Reporting

US Market News

Geithner has reportedly been signalling that he intends to leave the Obama administration, possibly this month ahead of any final debt ceiling ‘reckoning’
The US press digests the latest set of FOMC meeting minutes, with several on the board backing a halt or cut in QE well before the end of 2013
The FTC is to close an antitrust probe of Google as Google agrees to allow other websites to decide if they want their content to be displayed in Google search results, and also as the FTC ends their investigation by concluding Google did not manipulate its search results to hurt its rivals
Bloomberg details how analysts on Apple have diverging views for 2013, with the range of forecasts between gains up to $1,100/share, and falls to $270, a spread which will keep the market nervous as fund managers often feel that if they get Apple wrong, they will under-perform their peers

Overnight Market News

Asian markets have come off a little overnight seemingly on some concerns on the Fed meeting minutes
Sony is reportedly in talks with at least two major US content providers for its planned Virtual MSO service, MSO (Multiple Systems Operator) offers streaming television through a broadband connection and has been seen as a potential major rival to cable TV

FX Update

A report by Peterson Institute for International Economics suggests that the currency wars has cost the US as many as 5m jobs in recent years
A Royal Bank of Canada index suggests that verbal intervention by global central banks has gained 400% since 2010

Economic Data Due

Economic Events

US Unemployment