The main US equity averages are now being called to open down by roughly 0.5 per cent on average. That following some negative news-flow on the political front in the Eurozone periphery and Friday´s large move higher on Wall Street.

Likewise, speculation regarding the possibility that Chinese authorities may soon decide to move towards a more neutral stance may also be a factor weighing on investor sentiment.

That comes at a time when some strategists are critical of the very large (5%) gain seen in US equities during the month of January, as they believe they have outpacing growth by too large a margin.

Time will tell, in any case this past Saturday the President of the Federal Reserve of St.Louis, James Bullard, told Bloomberg that if data remained strong then he would favour moderating the pace of quantitative easing.

Oracle is to acquire Acme Packet for approximately $1.7bn.

About 73% of the 256 S&P 500 components which have released results this earnings season have exceeded projections, with 65% having beaten on the top-line, Bloomberg data shows.

Chevron is seeing some selling pressure following a downgrade from analysts UBS. Similarly, JP Morgan has today downgraded Wal Mart.

AB

Related share prices