Financial Breakfast: Morning News Summary for April 2, 2012

Benzinga’s Top News

• Coty Proposes to Acquire Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) for $23.50 in Cash; Total Value $10B
• Unemployment in the 17-nation euro zone climbed to 10.8% in February, versus 10.7% in January
• The UK manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index surged to a 10-month high in March, in which PMI climbed to 52.1 in March, versus a revised 51.5 in February.
• March Chinese PMI rises to 53.1, better than the 50.8 expected reading. Markets reacted mixed, as this better than expected reading may lessen the likelihood of further easing in China.

Domestic Pre-Market Trading

• U.S. Equity Markets trade lower as Dow futures trade down about 8 points.
• U.S. Dollar trades about 0.12% lower.

Overseas Trading

• European markets are mixed in afternoon trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.03%, Germany’s DAX gained 0.2% and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.26% on the session.
• Asian stocks ended the session mixed as well. China’s Shanghai added 0.45%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.26%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.16%.
• Unemployment in the 17-nation euro zone climbed to 10.8% in February, versus 10.7% in January
• The UK manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index surged to a 10-month high in March, in which PMI climbed to 52.1 in March, versus a revised 51.5 in February.
• March Chinese PMI rises to 53.1, better than the 50.8 expected reading. Markets reacted mixed, as this better than expected reading may lessen the likelihood of further easing in China.

Upgrades/Downgrades

• Brean Murray Carret & Co. Upgrades Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) from Hold to Buy, Maintains PT at $65
• JP Morgan Upgrades Kohls (NYSE: KSS) from Underweight to Neutral, Raises PT from $42 to $55

• Bank of America Downgrades Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) from Buy to Neutral, Maintains PO at $235
• Bank of America Downgrades Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) from Buy to Neutral, Lowers PO from $30 to $20

On the Economic Calendar

• 10:00 a.m. ET – Construction Spending (MoM)
• 10:00 – ISM Manufacturing Prices
• 10:00 – ISM Manufacturing Index
• 11:30 – 6-Months Bill Auction
• 11:30 – 3-Month Bill Auction

Earnings

• Global Payments (NYSE: GPN) Reports Q3 EPS $0.83 vs $0.84 Est; Revenues $533.5M vs $529.34M Est

Corporate News

• Coty Proposes to Acquire Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) for $23.50 in Cash; Total Value $10B
• Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KERX) Announces X-PECT Phase 3 Clinical Trial Did Not Meet Primary Endpoint
• AVI BioPharma (NASDAQ: AVII) Announces Eteplirsen Meets Primary Endpoint, Demonstrating a Significant Increase in Dystrophin

Commodities

• Precious metals are trading lower, with gold posting early losses of about 0.31%
• Energy futures are trading lower, with crude oil posting early losses of about 0.49%
• Natural Gas futures are higher by about 0.42% and copper is trading higher by about 0.67%

Benzinga’s Morning Radar

Technical Levels for Futures and Forex

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