Financial Breakfast: Morning News Summary for January 3, 2012
Posted in: Earnings, News, Futures, Upgrades, Commodities, Downgrades, Forex, Management, M&A, Events, Global, Econ #s, Economics, Pre-Market Outlook, Markets, Analyst Ratings, Trading Ideas, General, Best of Benzinga
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
This is your Benzinga news summary and trader's outlook covering headlines from overnight and today's pre-market session.
• The Wellington Fund, created in 1928, was the first mutual fund to include stocks and bonds.
Benzinga's Top News
- UK Manufacturing PMI rises to 49.6 in December, better than analyst estimates of 47.3; however, still below 50, representing a contraction in the sector.
- The Markit euro-zone manufacturing PMI surged to 46.9 in December, versus 46.4 in November, confirming an earlier, preliminary estimate.
- Molycorp (NYSE: MCP) secures 78% of phase 1 rare earth production in customer agreements and XSORBX production.
- The FOMC Minutes are due at 2:00 p.m.
Domestic Pre-Market Trading
- U.S. Equity Markets trade higher as Dow futures trade up about 218 points.
- U.S. Dollar trades about 0.62% lower.
To see more pre-market news, click here.
Overseas Trading
- European markets are mixed in afternoon trading. Britain's FTSE 100 added 1.25%, Germany's DAX gained 1.03% and France's CAC 40 lost 0.44% on the session.
- Asian stocks ended the session higher. China's Shanghai added 1.22%, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.67%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 2.4%
- UK Manufacturing PMI rises to 49.6 in December, better than analyst estimates of 47.3; however, still below 50, representing a contraction in the sector.
- The Markit euro-zone manufacturing PMI surged to 46.9 in December, versus 46.4 in November, confirming an earlier, preliminary estimate.
To see more overseas news, click here.
Upgrades/Downgrades
- JP Morgan upgrades Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) to Overweight
- Piper Jaffray upgrades American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) to Overweight
To see more of today's upgrades, click here.
- Goldman Sachs downgrades SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Neutral
- Bank of America downgrades Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND) to Underperform
To see more of today's downgrades, click here.
On the Economic Calendar
- Construction Spending, ISM Manufacturing, and ISM Prices Paid are set to report at 10:00 a.m. ET
- The FOMC Minutes are due at 2:00 p.m.
To see more economic news, click here
Earnings
-
No Major Earnings this Morning
To see more earnings announcements, click here.
Corporate News
- Molycorp (NYSE: MCP) secures 78% of phase 1 rare earth production in customer agreements and XSORBX production.
- Pioneer Drilling (NYSE: PDC) acquires Go-Coil for $110M in cash.
To see more corporate news, click here.
Commodities
- Precious metals are trading higher, with gold posting gains of about 1.7%
- Energy futures are trading higher, with crude oil posting gains of about 2.6%
- Natural Gas futures are higher by about 2.2% and copper is trading higher by about 1.7%
To see more commodities news, click here.
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