STOCKS NEWS US-FCC approves AT&T bid to buy Centennial

Stocks on the move Real-time Equity news U.S. stock market report 0651 EST 06Nov2009-FCC approves AT&T bid to buy Centennial ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The U.S. Federal Communications Commission late Thursday gave final approval to AT&T Inc's $944 million bid to buy Centennial Communications Corp. The widely expected move comes three weeks after the U.S. Justice Department approved the deal on the condition that AT&T, the No. 2 U.S. wireless provider, divest Centennial operations in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.

The FCC granted the approval under the same conditions. For details, see Shares of AT&T, a Dow component, closed Thursday at $25.94 while Centennial closed at $8.46. Reuters Messaging: [e-mail] 0644 EST 06Nov2009-Crude oil edges higher ahead of jobs data ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ December crude futures rose modestly on Friday, ahead of the release of October non-farm payroll data. Many investors expect the data to show a slowdown in unemployment in the United States. For details, see The contract rose 0.3 percent to $79.86 per barrel. Reuters Messaging: [e-mail] 0638 EST 06Nov2009-Goldman upgrades Travelers, XL Capital to "buy" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Goldman Sachs on Friday upgraded both Travelers Cos Inc and XL Capital to "buy" from "neutral," saying insurance companies with strong balance sheets and large capital management programs would outperform over the next year. At the same time, Goldman downgraded Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd to "neutral" and RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd to "sell." Both were previously rated "buy." For details, see Shares of Travelers, a Dow component, closed Thursday at $50.64 while XL Capital closed at $16.59. Reuters Messaging: [e-mail] 0635 EST 06Nov2009-Economic indicators for Nov. 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Economic indicators on tap for Friday include the October non-farm payroll number and unemployment rate, wholesale inventory and sales data for September, September consumer credit data and October ECRI inflation data. For details, see Reuters Messaging: [e-mail] 0633 EST 06Nov2009-Earnings diary for Nov. 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Companies scheduled to report quarterly results on Friday include American International Group, Edison International and Scripps Networks . For details, see Reuters Messaging: [e-mail] Keywords: MARKETS STOCKSNEWS COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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