In the markets, S&P 500 storming to a new record-closing high, thanks to strong earnings from the Bank of America and encouraging U.S. data. Mike Ingram, Market Commentator from BGC Partners says he was surprised that the market got quite so spooked following poor payroll numbers and suspects there could be an IMF rally next week. Despite an element of caution, he adds there still seems to be forward momentum in equities going into 2014.

SHOWS: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) (JANUARY 16, 2014)

1. BGC PARTNERS, MARKET COMMENTATOR, MIKE INGRAM, SAYING:

JOURNALIST ASKING MIKE INGRAM: 'Is that payroll number a distant memory now?'

MIKE INGRAM: 'It certainly seems so, Axel. And to be honest with you, I was rather bemused that the market was quite so spooked about it at the end of last week. Yes, a distant memory and of course, everybody was calling the rally that we saw in markets yesterday, the World Bank rally, on that basis. IMF due to also up their global growth forecast next week. Perhaps we'll have an IMF rally next week too.'

JOURNALIST: 'So have investors stopped fretting about pre-earnings announcements?'

MIKE INGRAM: 'I still think that earnings - this is going to be an earnings - this earnings season is going to be pivotal. I mean after all in the U.S., we're now at about 17x forward earnings. That's quite a challenging level, perhaps less of a problem in Europe although they still need to come up with the goods over the course of 2014. So as I say, I think there is still an element of caution out there, but there still seems to be forward momentum in equities going to 2014. Not quite the breakneck speed in 2013 but it's still going forward.'

JOURNALIST: 'Sure. I mentioned the autos. I mean these numbers do look good. Yes, we're coming from a very low base. What does this suggest to you?'

MIKE INGRAM: 'Well there's a few things going on here, Axel. First of all, I mean the car park in Europe has aged. The average age of a car now in Europe is about seven and a half years old. Some of these are just falling over. There are- a lot of the automakers are putting some really good deals in place. And in Spain, for instance, you've got- scrappage scheme was re-introduced in October. So all these things are helping to drive these sales numbers forward, and as you say, the largest monthly increase in almost four years.'

JOURNALIST: 'And I want to get a word from you on the retailers as well. When we look at it generally, it's been a pretty mixed bag. What's your take generally on the sector and investing in this sector?'

MIKE INGRAM: 'Well it's interesting, isn't it, I mean how times have changed. In 1990s until - I don't know five, six, seven years ago, it was all about the race for space, the large formats. Now it's all about downsizing and convenience stalls. And we see this in the Carrefour numbers which were out this morning and of course, some in the UK such as Tesco are still dealing with that real estate legacy rather badly, I have to say, at this point.'

JOURNALIST: 'I just want to get one final word on the periphery. I mentioned it in the auto story, it seems to be the story of the year so far, this drop in peripheral bond yields. We see it continue in Spain as well now.'

MIKE INGRAM: 'Yeah. It's been absolutely huge. We've seen 30- to 40-basis-point compression in yields since Christmas. It's been driving some of the cyclical stocks in particular in Spain and Italy and there's been signs over the last few days this is broadening out into Portugal and Greece as well.'