- IMF may have to revise US growth forecasts
- White House criticises Republican´s political strategy
- Mostly positive economic data

Dow Jones Industrials: 0.37%
Nasdaq Comp.: 0.53%
S&P 500: 0.51%

The main US market averages are now rising moderately after having started the day lower. Once again it was better-than-expected macroeconomic data which buoyed equities.

More specifically, traders drew encouragement from a solid Chicago NAPM manufacturing sector survey reading for the month of February. At first glance some of the other economic data out today was somewhat ´mixed,´ although less so than may have seemed to be the case at first glance. Such was the case of the revised fourth quarter GDP statistics out this morning; the weak reading mainly reflected the effect of the cuts to federal spending linked to the so-called `sequestration,' and a running down in companies´ inventory levels.

Acting as a backdrop, at today´s White House briefing spokesman Jay Carney accused Republican´s 'political strategy' of impeding an agreement before tomorrow´s deadline for sequestration to come into effect.

Politicians from both sides of the aisle are expected to meet tomorrow to try and iron out an agreement, although expectations in the market place are low.

Perhaps explaining markets´ cavalier attitude towards the subject of sequestration, the International Monetary Fund today explained in its regular bi-monthly press conference that the effect of 'sequestration' - if fully implemented over seven months - would amount to a detraction of between five or six tenths of a percentage point from current forecasts for growth of 2%.

Shares of Groupon cratered by up to 27% after the release of its latest quarterly results. Fashion retailer JC Penney and Department store operator Sears Holding were other big losers after announcing weaker than expected same store sales numbers for the fourth quarter.

Mylan is to acquire the injectable medicine unit of India's Strides Arcolab for $1.6bn.

Inventory draw down not expected to be repeated

Gross domestic product expanded at an annualised rate of 0.1% in the last three months of 2012, slightly ahead of the 0.1% fall initially estimated but less than the 0.5% gain anticipated.

Commenting on today´s statistics, Barclays Research had this to say: "A sharp drop in disposable income is very likely in the first quarter, reflecting payback for the surge in dividend payments and the increase in the payroll tax rate. How this affects consumer spending growth will be one of the key dynamics in determining to what extent GDP growth rebounds in quarter one. The other will be the extent to which inventory levels are rebuilt; such a large drag from inventories is very unlikely to be repeated."

Initial weekly unemployment claims fell by 22,000 persons, to the 344,000 level, well below the 360,000 expected by economists.

The Chicago NAPM´s manufacturing sector index improved to a reading of 56.8 points from the 55.6 level before (Consensus: 54). All the sub-indices included in today´s report now stand above 'break-even' levels.

Treasury yields flat

10 year US Treasury yields are flat at 1.90%.

Front month West Texas crude futures are now falling by 0.39% to the $92.40/barrel mark on the NYMEX.

S&P 500 - Risers
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $52.00 +4.80%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $29.83 +4.41%
Limited Brands Inc. (LTD) $46.24 +3.91%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $191.18 +3.72%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $104.58 +3.50%
Dean Foods Co. (DF) $16.65 +2.90%
Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) $16.75 +2.67%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $56.80 +2.51%
CBRE Group Inc (CBG) $24.45 +2.34%
Expeditors International Of Washington Inc. (EXPD) $39.08 +2.25%

S&P 500 - Fallers
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) $18.17 -14.13%
Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) $13.81 -10.70%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $44.95 -5.31%
Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) $80.41 -2.75%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $17.64 -2.65%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $26.47 -2.11%
Priceline.Com Inc. (PCLN) $684.07 -1.70%
Constellation Brands Inc. Class A (STZ) $43.95 -1.57%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $51.51 -1.49%
Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) $86.71 -1.49%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $20.11 +1.72%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $46.80 +0.97%
AT&T Inc. (T) $36.18 +0.92%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $47.94 +0.91%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $68.67 +0.89%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $38.77 +0.83%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $117.39 +0.63%
3M Co. (MMM) $104.13 +0.54%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $54.76 +0.51%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $27.53 +0.45%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Boeing Co. (BA) $76.79 -0.74%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $201.04 -0.64%
General Electric Co. (GE) $23.28 -0.36%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $76.50 -0.33%
American Express Co. (AXP) $62.37 -0.21%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $76.16 -0.21%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $71.54 -0.17%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $20.87 -0.11%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $89.44 -0.10%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $53.82 -0.09%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) $52.00 +4.80%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $29.83 +4.41%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $104.58 +3.50%
Express Scripts Holding Co (ESRX) $56.80 +2.51%
Expeditors International Of Washington Inc. (EXPD) $39.08 +2.25%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $92.79 +1.93%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $58.81 +1.63%
Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $23.59 +1.57%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $21.49 +1.56%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $36.76 +1.55%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $44.95 -5.31%
Catamaran Corp (CTRX) $52.71 -5.10%
Facebook Inc. (FB) $26.36 -1.90%
Priceline.Com Inc. (PCLN) $684.07 -1.70%
Randgold Resources Ltd. Ads (GOLD) $83.13 -1.50%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $51.51 -1.49%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $34.11 -0.93%
Altera Corp. (ALTR) $35.57 -0.84%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $63.65 -0.83%
Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) $34.45 -0.66%

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