Trader Talk: An Analysis of the Markets this Morning

Good morning,

Markets are called to open higher this morning. This is what's happening today:

• Microsoft to Buy Nokia Devices Business, License Patents for $7.2b

• Asian Stocks Rise Most in a Month as Yen Falls

• Verizon Agrees to $130b Buyout of Vodafone Venture

• Vodafone Deal Vaults UBS M&A Ranking as Orcel Plots Turnaround

• Citic Resources Said to Weigh Offer for Glencore’s Bambas Copper Project

• America Movil Sells $2.b Hybrid Bonds as Debt Risk Falls

• SNB Will Cap Franc as Long as Conditions Warrant, Danthine Says

• Zurich Suicide Aftermath Threatens Ackermann’s Legacy

• U.K. Reversals Over Aircraft Carriers Cost at Least $115m

• Denmark Targets Too-Big-to-Fail Bank Bill as Early as Sept.

• OTP to Survive Any Hungary FX Loan Plan, CEO Csanyi Tells ATV

EARNINGS All times CET, estimates where available

• DS Smith (SMDS LN) 8am, 1Q sales, IMS

• Genus (GNS LN) 8am, FY adj. EPS GBP0.54

• Dechra (DPH LN) 8am, FY adj EPS GBP0.39

• Elekta (EKTAB SS) 1pm, 1Q EPS EU0.06

European stock-index futures rose with Asian shares before the release of U.S. manufacturing data. In the US, the Institute for Supply Management is expected to say factory output expanded a third month after gauges from the UK to China showed manufacturing is reviving Two of the Senate’s most vocal critics of President Barack

Obama’s Syria policy urged their colleagues to back use of military force, while saying the president has yet to fully explain his strategy.

Stock to watch: Microsoft

Microsoft Corp. will buy Nokia Oyj’s handset business for 5.44 billion euros ($7.2 billion) as the Finnish company exits a business it once dominated and the maker

of Windows moves into hardware to boost growth.

The deal includes paying 3.79 billion euros for the devices unit and 1.65 billion euros for patents, the companies said in a statement today. Nokia Chief Executive Officer Stephen Elop will step aside to return to Microsoft.

Microsoft has battled to stay relevant as consumers shift from using its core Windows software for personal computers toward mobile devices. Nokia is coping with cash-flow challenges stemming from weaker demand as its phones lose market share to handsets from Apple Inc. and manufacturers using Google Inc.’s Android operating system.

Good day and happy trading!

Kristian Camenzuli