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:

• Vodafone Said to Plan Kabel Deal Completion as Soon as October

• Telecom Italia Goes Back to Square One With Spinoff Plan on Hold

• Severstal Names Vadim Larin First Deputy CEO, COO

• Sexual Favors Spur Glaxo’s $1.5 Billion China Sales, Police Say

• U.K. Conservatives, Labour Tie at 36% in Poll: Guardian

• Rio Tinto Train Derails in Mozambique’s Tete Province

• Impresa Says Ongoing Drops All Legal Action Against Company

• Northern Irish Police Say Bombs Thrown in Fourth Night of Riots

EARNINGS All times CET, estimates where available:

• Swedbank (SWEDA SS) 7am, 2Q adj. EPS est. SK3.36

• Gjensidige Forsikring (GJF NO) 7am, 2Q adj. EPS est. NK1.64

• Rio Tinto (RIO LN) 7am, 2Q production

• BTG (BTG LN) 8am, 2Q sales, IMS

• SKF (SKFB SS) 8am, 2Q adj. EPS est. SK2.88

• Michael Page (MPI LN) 8am, 2Q rev., trading

• Castellum (CAST SS) TBD, 2Q gaap EPS est. SK1.69

• Accor (AC FP) 5:45pm, 2Q sales

• L’Oreal (OR FP) aftermkt, 2Q sales

Asian stocks rose for the first time in three days as gains in Japanese shares offset declines in India and China, where central banks have been tightening monetary policy. Australia’s dollar and corn gained.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.3 percent to 135.31 as of 2:25 p.m. in Tokyo, where the Topix gained 0.5 percent. India’s S&P BSE Sensex slid 1.5 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3 percent. India’s rupee jumped 0.8 percent versus the dollar, while Australia’s currency gained 0.9 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures were little changed after the gauge rose to a record in New York. Corn gained 1.1 percent and gasoline advanced 0.4 percent.

Equities rallied as Citigroup Inc. posted a 42 percent increase in quarterly profit yesterday, stoking confidence in U.S. earnings. Johnson & Johnson and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are scheduled to report earnings today, among 76 S&P 500 company results due this week. India’s central bank raised two interest rates to bolster the slumping rupee, joining Brazilian and Chinese efforts to tighten liquidity. German data today is forecast to show investor sentiment improved this month.

The U.S. earnings season “seems to have started off quite well, and we need the fundamentals to come through to support where prices have gone over the past year,” Keith Poore, Wellington-based head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors Ltd., which manages more than $130 billion, said by phone.

About 73 percent of the S&P 500’s companies that have reported earnings have beaten analyst forecasts, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Fitch Ratings stripped Europe’s temporary rescue facility of its AAA rating after markets there closed, while U.S. inflation and industrial output data are due today.

Good day and happy trading!

Kristian Camenzuli