Morning roundup

UK markets closed lower on Friday on renewed Eurozone concerns.

US equities gave back recent gains on Friday after Microsoft posted its first quarterly loss in 26 years.

Asian equities are trading lower this morning amid concerns of a continued slowdown in China, according to a central bank official. 

UK: Nationwide Housing Prices.

US: Chicago Fed National Activity Index

UK: Dialight; Domino’s Pizza; Hammerson; Microgen; XP Power, Dragon Oil; Volex.

US: Baidu; Coca-Cola; Halliburton; McDonalds; Texas Instruments;

Oriel Securities has BSkyB, Virgin Media mand Talk Talk on a Sell recommendation ahead of earnings this week.

Oriel Securities has BT as a ‘Top Pick’ out of the telecom sector.

Bank of America Merril Lynch has cut IG Group from Buy to Neutral.

Jefferies has cut Morgan Crucible to a Hold.

Jefferies has raised Stagecoach to a Buy.

GBPUSD: Cable pulled back sharply from the 1.57 area and looks set to re-test the lows at the 1.54 level over the coming days.

EURUSD: The Euro is curently the worst of a bad bunch as it pushes sharply lower.  Expect ‘natural’ support at the 1.20 area but  any buying/ short covering could be short-lived.

Dow Jones: The Dow continues to pullback within its main upward trend. A retracement to 12600 is possible before any meaningful rally.

FTSE 100: The FTSE is approaching support at 5600 but a break lower does not bode well. The weekly chart is looking like a high has been posted and therefore, lower prices are likely in coming weeks