Late Market Roundup

According to a report by Moody's Investors Service, the European speculative-grade default rate has dropped to 5.8% in Q2, from 7.3% in Q1 and 7.4% in the year-ago period. The trailing-twelve-month global speculative-grade default rate has fallen to 6.1%, as compared to 10% in the last quarter. Moody's Investors Service expects the global speculative-grade default rate to drop to 2.4% by the end of this year and to 1.8% by Q2 2011. The fall in the rate depends on Moody's default rate forecasting model. The Federal Reserve has scheduled the third "small value" auctions of term deposits on July 12, the results of which will be declared on July 13. The auctions are likely to ultimately become a method to tighten the monetary policy. The Fed auction will offer $2 billion in 84-day term deposits. The auction’s settlement date is July 15 and the deposits will mature on October 7. The Fed has allowed the participating institutions to submit up to three competitive bids. Merck & Co MRK is still planning to reduce its workforce by 15% as a part of its ongoing integration with recently-acquired Schering-Plough. MRK has also announced that it will hire for certain strategic businesses, as and when required. Merck is also phasing out its operations at 8 research sites, along with 8 manufacturing facilities, across the globe as a part of the restructuring plan. The trading in US Tech stocks was mixed today, as investors are prepping themselves for the earnings season. The top gainers in the sector were Priceline.com Inc PCLN and Sonic Solutions Inc SNIC. PCLN was driven by an upgrade in rating from “below average” to “buy” by analyst Sandeep Aggarwal of Caris & Co. The analyst has also raised his price target from $180 to $230. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.