Every morning we puts out a news report with the latest news in global stock markets, company news, and global economic news.
Market Levels
* US: Dow Futures: 13428.00 (0.55%), S&P 500 Futures: 1439.20 (0.35%), NASDAQ Futures: 2805.50 (0.48%)
* Europe: CAC: 3403.57 (1.43%), DAX: 7296.25 (1.10%), FTSE: 5805.29 (1.09%).
* Asia-Pacific: Australia: 4388.60 (0.04%), China: 2086.17 (0.00%), Hong Kong: 20840.38 (0.00%), India: 5718.80 (0.27%), Japan: 8796.51 (-0.84%).
* Metals: Gold: 1770.40 (-0.20%), Silver: 34.39 (-0.54%), Copper: 3.74 (-0.48%)
* Energy: Crude Oil: 91.86 (-0.36%), Natural Gas: 3.41 (2.65%)
* Commodities: Corn: 7.60 (5.47%), Soya Bean: 15.87 (1.77%), Wheat: 8.94 (5.17%)
* Currency: EUR/USD: 1.2888 (0.23%), GBP/USD: 1.6137 (-0.19%), USD/JPY: 77.9900 (0.06%)
* 10 year US Treasury: 1.737% (0.009)
Financial and Economic News Update
U.S. stock-index futures rise: U.S. stock-index futures are pointing to a higher on Monday ahead of PMI data due at 9 A.M. ET and ISM Manufacturing due at 10 A.M. ET. Sentiment was also improved by better-than-expected factory output data from China. The Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ were all trading close to half a percent higher.
European markets in the green: European markets are trading significantly higher with the German DAX (INDEXDB:DAX) trading 1.1 percent higher at 7296.25, the FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) was up 1.1 percent at 5805.29 and the CAC 40 (INDEXEURO:PX1) jumped 1.4 percent to 3403.57. The euro zone blue-chip ESTX 50 PR.EUR (INDEXSTOXX:SX5E) (Euro Stoxx 50) was trading 1.1 percent higher.
Asian markets end mixed: Asian markets closed mixed on Monday with Japan’s NIKKEI 225 (INDEXNIKKEI:NI225) down 0.8 percent to 8,796.51. The HANG SENG INDEX (INDEXHANGSENG:HIS) and the SSE Composite Index (SHA:000001) (Shanghai Composite Index) were closed for a public holiday. The S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) index closed up just 1.6 points at 4,388.6. The benchmark Indian 30-share BSE SENSITIVE (INDEXBOM:SENSEX) index ended 0.3 higher.
Company News Update
U.S.
* General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) is recalling about 41,000 cars sold in warm-weather states including California, because of concerns that a plastic part might crack and cause a fuel leak.
* Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) will be in focus today after Barron’s reported on Sunday that the investment bank’s shares could rally at least 25 percent in the next year amid an improvement in capital markets activity.
* United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL), Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) and US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE:LCC) may be active in trade today after the International Air Transport Association increased its 2012 profit forecast for the industry.
* Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B)-owned MidAmerican Wind agreed to acquire two California wind projects from a unit of Terra-Gen Power.
* Internet recruiting service Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:MWW) advanced 2 percent after DealReporter said the company may receive a takeover bid from private-equity firm Symphony Technology Group LLC and a partner.
* 3M Co (NYSE:MMM) agreed to buy ceramic armor maker Ceradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRDN) for $35 a share, a 43 percent premium to its closing price of $24.43 a share on Friday.
* The U.S. Defense Department has awarded a 50-50 joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) and The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) a contract valued at $1.17 billion to provide satellite launches, according to a Reuters report.
* Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE:HON) has agreed to acquire a 70 percent stake in privately-held Thomas Russell Co.
* Activist investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management LP has reduced its stake in Baltimore asset manager, Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM), by 12 percent, securities filings showed late on Friday.
* Auto-parts supplier Visteon Corporation (NYSE:VC) has named Timothy D. Leuliette as its new chief executive officer and president
* Toy maker Jakks Pacific, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAKK) lowered its full-year financial outlook, citing low domestic sales and higher costs. The company now expects adjusted full-year earnings of between 68 cents per share and 74 cents per share, down from its earlier forecast of between $1.04 per share and $1.08 per share. Revenue forecast was also cut to between $690 million and $700 million from the earlier range of $720 million to $728 million.
* Janney Montgomery Scott has upgraded movie studio, Dreamworks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ:DWA) to “buy” from “neutral.”
* Golf equipment maker Callaway Golf Co (NYSE:ELY) was upgraded to “strong buy” from “market perform” by analysts at Raymond James.
* Morgan Stanley has cut beer maker, Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP) to “underweight” from “equal weight.”
Europe
* Diversified miner Xstrata PLC (LON:XTA)’s board members recommended shareholders back Glencore International Plc (LON:GLEN)’s revised $33 billion offer on Monday, paving the way for the creation of a mining giant with a $70 billion market capitalization.
* Finnish phone maker Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) is expected to announce a deal that will give Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL)’s customers access to its mapping services, the Wall Street Journal reported.
* EADS NV (EPA:EADS) shareholder Lagardere said on Monday the terms attached to its planned merger with Britain’s BAE Systems plc (LON:BA) were unsatisfactory and called on management to show how the transaction will create value for the Airbus-maker.
* Commodities trader Glencore International Plc (LON:GLEN) has pulled out of talks with Italian authorities over a possible sale of a plant being closed by U.S. aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA), according to a Reuters report.
* French bank Credit Agricole SA (EPA:ACA) will inject a further 550 million euros into its Greek bank Emporiki under a deal to sell it to Alpha Bank by the end of this year.
* Carlos Tavares, the chief operating officer of French car maker Renault SA (EPA:RNO) said that the company is considering a complete closure of factories amid the drastic slowdown in the European automobile market.
Asia-Pacific
* Japanese steel companies, Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Industries formally merged on Monday to form the world’s second-largest steelmaker. The
newly formed entity, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp (TYO:5401) ended the day 1.3 percent lower.
* BHP Billiton Limited (ADR) (NYS:BHP) (LON:BHP) (ASX:BHP) expects copper production to grow at about 10 percent a year through mid-2015, saying that long-term demand for the metal from countries such as China and India should remain strong.
* Japanese mobile carrier Softbank Corp (TYO:9984) has agreed to acquire smaller rival eAccess Ltd (TYO:9427) in a $1.84 billion deal, the Nikkei business daily said on Monday.
* Chemicals maker Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd. (TYO:4114) slumped the most since October 1987, after Japanese media said two acrylic acid storage tanks and one toluene tank at its western Japan factory exploded on Saturday afternoon.
* Australian iron ore producer Arrium Ltd (ASX:ARI) surged 25 percent after rejecting a 1.01 billion Australian dollar ($1.04 billion) takeover offer from a consortium led by Noble Group Limited (SGX:N21) and POSCO (ADR) (NYSE:PKX)
* Japanese shipping group Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (TYO:9101) fell 0.7 percent after slashing its first-half operating forecast by 18 percent from an earlier estimate, citing weak business conditions.
Economic Calendar for Monday, October 01, 2012:
09:00 A.M. ET: Markit Manufacturing PMI (September)
10:00 A.M. ET: Construction Spending (MoM) (August)
10:00 A.M. ET: ISM Manufacturing PMI (September)
10:00 A.M. ET: ISM Prices Paid (September)
11:00 A.M. ET: 4-Week Bill Announcement
11:30 A.M. ET: 3-Month Bill Auction
11:30 A.M. ET: 6-Month Bill Auction
12:30 P.M. ET: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks.
