Traders still waiting for OPEC decision

Hardcore bull Abby Joseph Cohen of Goldman Sachs has cut her equity rating by 5% to 65%, which is hitting the markets in New York. Cohen hasn’t soured on the fundamentals but valuations are spooking her.

Despite these signals, European stocks are mostly up on the backs of telecoms, including Nokia, Deutsche Telekom and Royal KPN. London’s FTSE has added 7.5 points to 6,695. This are stronger on the continent where France’s CAC 40 is up 77 points to 6,527. Germany’s DAX has gained 61 points to 7,953.

The ongoing discussions between Microsoft Corp. and the U.S. Department of Justice has that stock, and those of other computer stocks up though. Traders are expecting some sort of settlement from the case soon.

In Asia stocks were up. There’s plenty of trading in japan as traders dress up the books for yearend. The Yen was up against the dollar and Japanesee blue chips led the way. The Nikkei closed up 93 points to 20,374. In Hong Kong futures expiries drove trading up. The Hang Seng closed up nine points to 18,302.