Market Update: Citigroup (NYSE:C), Palm (NASDAQ:PALM), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT)

Citigroup (NYSE:C) said it hired Keshav Sanghi and eight others to boost its India equity business, according to an e-mailed statement from the bank. Sanghi, who joined Citigroup as deputy equity head in India, was earlier the chief executive officer at Reliance Equities International Pvt. “India is a high priority market for the Asia Pacific region,” Nikhil Nagle, head of equities at Citigroup Global Markets India, was quoted as saying, according to the statement.

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Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) shares dropped some 6% ahead of the bell after Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) downgraded the stock to underperform from buy and slashed the price target to $10 from $20. Separately, Macquarie cut Palm to neutral from outperform, also with a $10 target. Palm was initiated with a hold at Stifel Nicolaus, and at RBC Capital, its target was lowered to $18 from $25.In other news, Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter profit surged 54% to $936 million, or $1.24 a share. Sales rose 3.7% to $19.7 billion while credit card revenue declined 14% to $462 million. Results beat analyst estimates of earnings of $1.16 a share. –Daily Finance

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) swung to a profit of $342 million, or 20 cents per share, from a loss of $54 million, or 3 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales in the quarter ended Jan. 31 decreased 0.3% to $14.6 billion. Improved demand for kitchen, bath, paint and flooring products led to unexpected comparable store sales gains -MarketWatch

California, owner of the worst credit ranking among U.S. states, plans to tap bond markets for $4 billion in March to finance infrastructure improvements, a spokesman for State Treasurer Bill Lockyer said. The sales-a pair spaced several weeks apart—would come at a time that the Golden State’s budget is bleeding about $20 billion in red ink through fiscal 2011 and when some portfolio managers have cautioned that investments in California debt are turning riskier. –The Wall Street Journal