9:00AM U.S. stock futures turned sharply lower on weak dollar.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a steeply lower opening on Friday, hurt by concerns over the dollar''s weakness versus the Japanese yen, and a downbeat outlook from Dell. Overseas markets made a mixed performance. The Shanghai Composite climbed 1.2%, recovering from the heavy drop, while the Nikkei 225 slipped 1.4% in Tokyo. European stock markets reversed from earlier gains to turn negative.

Among pre-market highlights, computer maker (DELL: chart) traded 3% down after reporting 33% profit decline in Q4. Again in the tech sector, Novell (NOVL: chart) shares dipped 3.9% in the pre-open after posting an unexpected quarterly loss and a 5% revenue decline. The retailers are expected to come under pressure, as Gap (GPS: chart) reported a 35% profit decline, reflecting weak sales and executive shake-ups. The company lowered its earnings forecast. On the side of the gainers, Dow component American International Group (AIG: chart) added 1% after the insurance giant reported higher net income. The company also announced a buyback plan which will allow AIG to repurchase up to $8 billion in stock. AIG said it will lift its common stock dividend nearly 20% a year. S&P 500 futures dropped 9.50 points to 1,395.40 and Nasdaq 100 futures slumped 22.75 points to 1,735.00. Dow industrials futures slid 77 points to 12,175.


8:30AM Asia finishes lower on Friday with Japanese stocks continuing the slide.
Asian markets finished mostly lower on Friday. The Nikkei 225 stock index lost 1.35%, to finish at 17,217.93. Sony dived 5.5% on weakness in the dollar versus the yen. The electronics company agreed overnight to end a $100-million patent battle with U.S. Immersion over vibration technology for game controllers and other products. Sanyo Eletric fell 2.6% on news that Lenovo Group and the Japanese consumer-electronics maker are recalling about 205,000 batteries used in Lenovo ThinkPad notebook computers.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index in China gained 1.2% to close at 2,831.53. Among the most actively traded companies, property developer China Vanke advanced 2.7% after shedding 5% in the previous session. Citic Securities, which was down 5.6% Thursday, surged 5.5% and Air China added 4%, regaining most of the 5.2% loss a day earlier.

The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose 0.49% to 19,442.01. China Mobile rose 0.5% after investment bank UBS raised its target price for China biggest mobile operator by subscribers. China Unicom was up 1.6% and China Netcom climbed 1.7% after both fell 8% during the past four sessions.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, slipped 0.2% to 1,414.47, the Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange shed 0.1%, to close at 7,670.77, while Australian stocks suffered their fourth straight day of losses as the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index dropped 0.4% to 5,786.0.


8:15 AM Dell reported 33% profit drop in Q4.
Dell Inc. (DELL: chart) reported disappointing Q4 results, blaming weak sales of laptops and notebooks. The computer maker posted 33% net income drop to $673 million, or 30 cents per share, compared with $1.01 billion, or 43 cents per share a year earlier, as revenue fell 4% to $14.4 billion. The biggest revenue shortfall was in mobility products and desktop PCs, accounting for 58% of Dell''s revenue. Mobility products, including notebook computers, fell 2% to $3.8 billion. Desktop PCs posted an 18% drop in units year-over-year. However, quarterly earnings beat analyst expectations for earnings of 29 cents per share. Although Dell once again released weak financial results, it looks determined to solve the numerous problems and gain its once strong positions back, as well as its customers’ confidence. Dell also mentioned several turnaround plans, including streamlining operations, shortening product development cycles and developing new approaches to manufacturing and distribution. The computer giant still faces an accounting SEC probe, customer service complaints, several shareholder lawsuits and stiff competition from rivals. Dell’s shares slipped 3.1% in pre-market trading.


8:00AM NY-7:00PM Mumbai Sensex loses over 2% in a large-cap sell-off.
The Sensex on BSE finished 273.42, or 2.08%, lower at 12,886.13. The market-breadth was very weak as there were almost two decliners for every gainer. For 922 stocks that advanced, 1668 stocks declined and 48 stocks were unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, seven advanced and 23 declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,006.94, lower than Rs 4,397.01 crore on Thursday, while on NSE, the turnover was Rs 8,960.58, compared with Rs 10,061.04 crore on Thursday.

Economic news

Annual wholesale price inflation rate at the end of February 17 declined to 6.05%. In the previous week it was at 6.63%. In the week until February 3, inflation hit a two-year peak of 6.73%, forcing the RBI to increase the Cash Reserve Ratio by another 50 basis points to 6%.

The Cabinet on Thursday approved the merger of the public sector carriers Indian Airlines and Air India. The new airline company will be among the top 10 airlines in Asia and almost three times the size of its nearest rival, Jet Airways. The new entity will also have six different business units comprising maintenance, repair and overhaul, Jet shop, ground handling, engineering, cargo and low cost air services.

Trading highlights

Reliance Industries was the most-active stocks with a turnover of Rs 186.15 crore followed by Tata Steel and Tech Mahindra.

Advancers

Hero Honda led the gainers rallying 3.7% to Rs 692. Hindustan Lever surged 1.7% to Rs 179, and Ranbaxy advanced over 1.2% to Rs 347. Rising global prices for sugar futures boosted sugar stocks. Bajaj Hindustan gained 2.4% to Rs 178.80, Balrampur Chini Mills rose 2.6% to Rs 62.10, and Bannari Amman Sugar gained 2.2% to Rs 680.

Hindalco advanced 0.5% to Rs 137.9, ahead of the company board meeting on Friday to consider a preferential issue of shares.

Decliners