Daily Market Update and Market Commentary, 9 Feb

Overnight Markets Dow Jones Index +5.22 FTSE 100 -14.33 S&P 500 Index +2.93 DAX 30 -5.44 NASDAQ Index +11.78 CAC 40 -1.54 Gold -$0.49/oz Nikkei +98.07 Silver +$0.02/oz Oil +$0.30/bbl COMMENTARY  - Expect a quiet session on local trade today, with little in the way of offshore impetus overnight. Local data today sees Japanese Machinery Orders and Chinese C.P.I. and P.P.I. Tonight sees U.S. Initial Claims and Wholesale Inventories.

European Equities

European stocks were slightly weaker overnight, but finished close to flat, with individual stock news driving trade. BHP fell nearly 3% overnight on a drop in first half earnings, while Vestas Wind Systems dropped 14% after announcing an annual loss four times worse than expected. On the upside, Banco Commercial rose on expectations of changes in upper management, while Statoil rose on a strong earnings result. Reckitt Benckiser rose about 3% on an upgrade for Q4 earnings, while Mobistar fell 9% on a soft earnings result. News in Greece overnight is that the Government has pledged minimum wage cuts and PM Papandreou met with the E.C. E.C.B. and I.M.F. overnight.

U.S. equities

With no major cues from local data or from European stocks, U.S. equities drifted for most of the session overnight. The upside is being capped by the ongoing stalling of the Greek debt deal, while the market is now at levels where bargain hunters are picking up the dips. On stock specific news, Sprint Nextel fell more than 2% on a soft earnings result, while Time Warner rose only slightly despite both beating expectations and raising its dividend by 11%. CVS Caremark rose about 1.5% after beating expectations, while a massive set of earnings numbers from Buffalo Wild Wings saw its stock up about 18%. Polo Ralph Lauren also had a great session, up 10% on a strong earnings result. Earnings numbers from Groupon, Cisco, News Corp and Visa are expected after the close.

Commodities

Oil futures were slightly firmer overnight, while Gold prices came back a bit.

Currencies

In the ebb and flow of international currency markets overnight, the Big Dollar was slightly firmer, while the Aussie is opening in Asia today at around the 1.0790.

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