Vodafone Share News (VOD)

Markets started the new week on a positive note, though gains were trimmed by the close on Monday as traders refrained from taking too much risk ahead of the all-important policy decision from the Federal Reserve later this week.Global markets have been extremely choppy over the last month since Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested that the bank could begin 'taper' its quantitative easing (QE) programme if the economic recovery picks up.Though economic data has steadily improved over recent weeks, the majority of market participants don't expect the Fed to pull the plug on stimulus just yet. "Traders feel that the US economic recovery is still very much a work in progress and are hoping the Fed sticks to its pledge to not unwind prematurely," said Market Strategist Ishaq Siddiqi from ETX Capital.After hitting a high of 6,371 on Monday afternoon, the FTSE 100 finished at 6,330, a rise of just 22 points on the day, with investors nervously awaiting the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting which concludes on Wednesday.Senior Market Analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets said: "This easing of tension surrounding the taper has manifested itself in a slightly weaker US dollar, which appears to suggest that markets are coming around to the possibility that in the face of potentially weaker growth expectations, any tapering expectations are likely to be pushed out into 2014, making the imminent paring back of stimulus measures much less likely."FTSE 100: Aggreko gains ahead of Q2 update Temporary power and temperature control supplier Aggreko was making strong gains ahead of its second-quarter trading update tomorrow morning. While JPMorgan Cazenove kept its 'neutral' rating on the stock on Friday, analysts said that given the stock has underperformed so far this year and trades towards the bottom-end of the recent range, "a positive statement would be met with strength".Financial services giant Resolution was in demand after JP Morgan increased its target price from 273p to 302p as part of its review of the UK life insurance sector. While the broker said it prefers others in the sector - including Standard Life and Aviva - it said that Resolution's cost savings amid improving market conditions should underpin its strong dividend yield of 7.6% against the sector at 4.0%.Vodafone, which is currently mulling a bid for German cable group Kabel Deutschland, was also being lifted higher by M&A activity in the wider telecom sector after it was rumoured that AT&T is looking to buy Spanish giant Telefonica.Consumer products giant Reckitt Benckiser was a high riser after Citigroup reiterated its 'buy' rating for the stock, saying that the shares are cheap given that its pharmaceuticals division is "undervalued by the market".In contrast, ARM Holdings retreated as Numis analysts downgraded the microprocessor developer to 'reduce' from 'hold'. Similarly, Associated British Foods slumped after Nomura cut the food ingredients and retail group from 'neutral' to 'reduce', saying that the stock is too expensive now that the profit boom for Sugar and Primark over the past two years is no longer supported.Randgold Resources was a heavy faller today as gold prices declined. According to analysts at Societe Generale, continued large-scale gold ETF selling this year and the next will exceed higher demand for jewellery, bars and coins. As such, the broker revised lower its year-end gold-price target to just $1,200 an ounce, compared with current prices around $1,380.FTSE 250: Int'l Personal Finance jumps after upbeat broker commentEastern Europe-focused home-credit business International Personal Finance was the best performing stock on the FTSE 250 on Monday after analysts at Renaissance Capital named it as their top pick in the financial sector in that region. "We like the resilience of the business model, while we love its earnings growth (+20% earnings per share compound annual growth rate 2012-2015E) in a region offering little," the Russian broker said.Chip designer Imagination Technologies was trading lower ahead of its full-year results on Wednesday. The company underwhelmed the market today with the announcement of a licence agreement with tech group Cavium to provide its latest 'Release 5 MIPS architecture'.