Italian turmoil reaches stock markets

Italian electoral uncertainty (as the general elections failed

to provide a clear winner) badly affected markets worldwide, leaving the Asian stock exchanges trembling. The Japanese composite Nikkei lost over 1.5 percent a day after the benchmark index hit multi-year highs. Meanwhile, the Hang Seng dropped 0.6 percent in Hong Kong.

US markets recovered on Tuesday though. Notable moves came from retailers, with department store Macy’s on the front foot gaining 3.7 percent as its fourth-quarter results beat estimates. At a rise also Ralph Lauren (1.4 percent) and Target, that closed up by 1.3 percent.

Brean Capital initiates coverage on American Apparel with a 'Buy' rating and a two dollars price target calling it an "unsinkable brand", reported 'The Street Insider'. “We believe the company is now set to begin to register material operating gains in 2013 and beyond; as such, while our price target may appear aggressive, we believe, as American Apparel registers further operating and store efficiencies, that our projection will prove conservative and more than justify our target price."

Still in the US, Dillard's posted record fourth-quarter and fiscal 2012 earnings on the back of a robust sales performance combined with gross margin improvement as well as prudent cost control measures. Dillard's posted fourth quarter earnings per share of 2.87 dollars, adding 29.9 percent from 2.21 dollars a year earlier but missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2.90 dollars. For fiscal 2012, the company reported earnings of 6.32 dollars per share, up 50.1 percent.

Finally, Macy's was big news posting earnings of 1.83 dollars per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2012 while diluted earnings per share were 2.05 dollars. In the full fiscal 2012 Macy’s earned 3.24 dollars per diluted share. Earnings per diluted share were 3.46 dollars for fiscal 2012. For the 52 weeks of fiscal 2011, Macy's earned 2.92 dollars per diluted share, compared to 2.88 dollars for fiscal 2011.