Market Updates: Alcoa (NYSE:AA), Citigroup (NYSE:C), Sears Holding (NASDAQ:SHLD), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP)

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) was cut to hold from buy at Citigroup (NYSE:C) which maintained a $17 per share target on the aluminum producer. Citigroup stated that the stock appears to be fairly valued, and foreign exchange headwinds may prevent Alcoa from meeting earnings expectations. Citigroup expects fourth quarter adjusted earnings of 3 cents per share and 2010 earnings of $1.05 per share.

Sears Holding (NASDAQ:SHLD) disclosed that December same-store sales rose 0.4% on the strength of sales at its Kmart stores which were responsible for a 5.3% jump. That increase offset a 4.3% decline in its Sears stores. The company stated that it expects to earn $385 million to $465 million, or $3.36 to $4.06 per share, in the fourth quarter. This would surpass analyst estimates of $315 million, or $2.60 per share. For the year, Sears expects to report net income of $190 million to $270 million, or $1.61 to $2.29 per share, exceeding analyst estimates of $183 million, or $1.38 per share. –Daily Finance

Municipal bond returns rose 14.45 percent last year as demand for a shrinking supply of tax-exempt securities overwhelmed concerns about growing budget deficits, according to indexes compiled by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC). U.S. states are facing a combined $193 billion of budget deficits this fiscal year, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported on December 23st. –Bloomberg

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits edged higher last week, though the less-than-expected gain should support expectations that the beleaguered job market is bottoming out. Supporting that view, total claims lasting more than one week continued their recent descent. In Thursday’s weekly report, the Labor Department stated that initial claims for jobless benefits rose 1,000 to 434,000 in the week ended January 2nd. That was better than Wall Street expectations for an 8,000 gain.

J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP) said today that its December sales at stores open at least one year dropped 3.8%. Analysts, on average, had expected sales to decline 4%. Total sales for the five weeks ended January 2nd fell 2.4% to $2.89 billion. The retailer also adjusted its fourth-quarter earnings forecast to a range of 77 cents to 82 cents per share, compared to its prior view of 70 cents to 85 cents per share. For the full year, it sees earnings of $1 to $1.05 per share. -MarketWatch
-Roundup provided by Jutia Group