4:00PM NY; 9:00PM Frankfurt; 2:30AM Mumbai - GLOBAL MARKETS

Markets in New York trading rose sharply higher on the Fed decision to leave target rates unchanged at 5.25%. Morgan Stanley rose on earnings but FedEx fell on weaker than expected earnings. Metro Group of Germany, discount retailer, reported a doubling of profit in 2006. U.K. issued a surprise cut in personal and business taxes. China Mobile profit rose 23% in the year 2006 and Malaysia issued guidelines for foreign exchange trading.

Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.532% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.702%.

Gold gained $4.700 to close at $652.200 a troy ounce, silver increased 13.7 cents to end at $13.370 a troy ounce and copper advanced $26.000 to close at $6671.000 per ton.

Oil gained 14 cents to close at $56.730 a barrel and heating oil lost 1.970 cents to finish at 166.870 cents a gallon. Natural gas increased 6.3 cents to close at $6.910 per MMBtu. Gasoline went down 1.600 cents to end at 194.210 cents a gallon.

Gold gained $4.800 to close at $663.700 a troy ounce, silver decreased 5 cents to end at $13.320 a troy ounce and copper advanced $25.00 to close at $6696.00 per metric ton.

Oil gained 36 cents to close at $59.610 a barrel and heating oil lost 0.410 cents to finish at 166.460 cents a gallon. Natural gas increased 25.6 cents to close at $7.166 per MMBtu. Gasoline went down 0.710 cents to end at 193.500 cents a gallon.

Asian markets increased to a record, recovering from their late February swoon that sparked a sell off in global financial markets. The advancers were led by India with an advance of 1.89%, Philippines with a gain of 1.68% and Singapore with an increase of 1.25%. the decliners were Thailand with a decrease of 0.33% and South Korea with a loss of 0.09%. Australia lost 0.17%.

European markets finished higher as gains from the real-estate sector offset caution ahead of a decision on U.S. interest rates and share declines from retailers Metro and Inditex. The advancers were led by Norway with a gain of 1.06%, Switzerland with an increase of 0.67% and U.K. with a gain of 0.59%. The decliners were Spain with a decrease of 0.09% and France with a loss of 0.02%.

Latin America markets finished higher but showed caution ahead of the interest-rate decision from the U.S. Federal Reserve. The advancers were led by Brazil with an increase of 2.65%, Mexico with an advance of 1.88% and Argentina with a gain of 1.80%. Canada advanced with an increase of 1.15% where the energy sector led gains.

2:30PM NY, U.S. Market Movers

AirTran Holdings (AAI: chart) shares gained 6.7% after a JPMorgan said the stock is priced attractively following an extended skid.

Fortress Investment Group (FIG: chart) raised $634 million when it completed its highly anticipated IPO last month. Fortress has $30 billion in assets under management: private equity, hedge funds and publicly traded real estate vehicles known as castles. Investors are betting that the hedge fund's IPO will open the floodgates for more hedge funds and alternative investment vehicles to go public. Last week speculation swirled that private equity giant Blackstone Group was preparing for a public offering of about 10% of the company. Reports speculated that the deal could value the company at anywhere from $20 billion to $40 billion. Shares of the company climbed 6%.

Fremont General Corp. (FMT: chart) is selling a $4 billion portfolio of sub-prime home loans to unnamed buyers, which should result in a $140 million pretax loss. Shares jumped 15.3%. The company said it's received a first installment of $950 million in the deal, with other sales agreements expected over the next several weeks.

GSI Commerce (GSIC: chart) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman Sachs. Shares climbed 13.5%.

ICF International Inc. (ICFI: chart) shares climbed 18.8% after the announcement that its fourth-quarter revenue more than doubled, driven by a large Hurricane Katrina-related contract. The company swung to a fourth-quarter profit of $9.21 million, or 65 cents per share, from a loss of $1.03 million, or 11 cents per share, a year earlier.

Stein Mart Inc. (SMRT: chart) posted essentially flat earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter, as higher expenses offset a more modest rise in sales. Net income came in roughly flat at $21.1 million, or 48 cents per share. Sales rose 8% to $461 million compared with $427.4 million in the same period a year earlier. Same-store sales rose 0.9%. Shares climbed 9.8%.

Telestone Technologies Corp. (TSTC: chart), which sells wireless network services and communications gear in China, shares surged 17.4% after it reported strong fourth-quarter profit and sales. The company reported net income of $1.6 million, or 19 cents per share, compared with $1.4 million, or 17 per share, a year ago. Sales jumped to $7.4 million versus $5.5 million in the year-ago period.

Velocity Express Corp. (VEXP: chart) signed a multi-year contract renewal, representing more than $13 million in annual revenue, with its largest financial services customer. The company didn’t name the customer. Shares jumped 19.2%.

WSI Industries (WSCI: chart) shares jumped 15.7% after the maker of parts for the avionics and defense industries said that its second-quarter net earnings increased to $155,000, or 6 cents per share compared with $69,000, or 3 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue climbed to $4.44 million versus $3.57 million in the same period a year earlier.