US markets under pressure, European bourses advance

MARKET OUTLOOK

- US: US markets were under pressure week-on-week due to the growing fears of a possible credit crunch but also weaker than expected job figures. Shares from utilities, automobile and components, food and staples retails and telecom services managed to outperform the market, while energy, insurance, media and banks lost ground. From a technical point of view, all indexes broke below key support levels. This calls for a further decline in the forthcoming days.

- EUROPE: Markets advanced this week as several European leaders reported strong profit results, beating analysts' expectations. All sectors were up this week, except oil and gas and media. Technically, the short term outlook still remains bearish. Today's bearish gap calls for a continuation of the decline.

COMPANY PREVIEW

Xstrata (GBp 2991 ; -3.17% ; XTA ; XTA.L)

Tuesday, Xstrata is seen reporting 1H pre-tax profit of $4.51bn ($1.88bn last year). On July 23, the Co and employees at its Montreal metal refinery reached an agreement to end a strike. Separately, Xstrata spent $530m to develop a project in New Caledonia to help increase global supply of the metal. Moreover, at the same time, the Co's coal unit agreed to buy the remaining shares of Cumnock Coal.

Cisco Systems (USD 29.46 ; 1.69% ; CSCO ; CSCO.O)

In the US, Cisco Systems will post Q4 earnings on the same day. Q4 EPS is seen at $0.34 ($0.28 a year ago) on sales of $9.29bn ($7.98bn). At the end of July, Cisco Systems announced its plan to acquire VMware shares for $150m and confirmed that it intended to buy back approx. $5bn in stock.

ING Groep (EUR 29.57 ; -3.74% ; INGA ; ING.AS)

ING Groep is likely to release Q2 net income of E1.87bn (E2.01bn last year) on Wednesday. On July 27, ING Groep agreed to acquire Banco Santander's Latin American pension businesses for $1.3bn which would enable it to become the second-largest pension fund manager in the region. Earlier, the group declared that it planned to invest up to E400m in its South Korean life-insurance unit to expand its operations in the country (Munhwa Ilbo).

News Corp (USD 20.71 ; -1.62% ; NWS/A ; NWS-A.N)

Later, in the US, News Corp is scheduled to announce Q4 EPS of $0.27 ($0.23 last year) on sales of $7.31bn ($6.78bn). Last week, the Co agreed to buy Dow Jones and Co. for $5.6bn, gaining control of the Wall Street Journal.

Cardinal Health (USD 66.02 ; 0.95% ; CAH ; CAH.N)

Finally, on Thursday, Cardinal Health may publish Q4 earnings. Q4 EPS is expected to reach $0.86 ($0.86 last year) on sales of $22.55bn ($21.7bn). Last month, the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved $35m in compensation to Cardinal Health. In other news, the Co has completed its tender offer for VIASYS Healthcare and introduced enhanced tools and services designed to help independent retail pharmacies raise revenue and improve patient care.