Australian S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.3% to settle at 6,077.10 and South Korean Kospi index closed 0.1% lower at 1,482.04. In Australia, shares of Coles Group advanced 1%, extending sharp gains from the previous session, on speculation it could become the target of bidding war after Wesfarmers came forward with a $16 billion takeover offer.


9:00AM U.S. stock futures pointed a slightly weak opening. Jobs data weighed.
U.S. stock futures indicated a flat to lower market opening after five straight sessions of gains and ahead of three-day weekend. Economic data weighed on the sentiment after the Labor Department reported the number of jobless claims increased last week, indicating continued pressure on the economy. The new applications filed for jobless benefits rose by a seasonally adjusted 11,000, to 321,000, for the work week ending March 31. Investors were also digesting overseas monetary policy moves and a downgrade of Micron Technology stock. The company is expected to drag tech stocks down due to disappointing quarterly results, followed by brokerage downgrade. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.50 of a point at 1,448.00 and Nasdaq 100 futures eased 0.25 of a point at 1,819.00. Dow industrial futures declined 2 points to 12,593.

Shares of Micron Technology shares (MU: chart) rose 1.1% in pre-open trading, although it reported a Q2 net income loss, due to falling prices of memory chips. The company reported a wider-than-expected loss of 7 cents a share vs. estimates for a loss equal to a penny a share. Goldman Sachs downgraded Micron to sell from neutral, saying the company''s losses were likely to get worse. At the same time, Citigroup reiterated its buy rating and raised its price target to $17 from $15.50. Again in the sector, SanDisk (SNDK: chart) rose 1.4% after the company said it was forming a joint venture with South Korea''s Hynix Semiconductor to make NAND flash memory chips. Tech giant Yahoo (YHOO: chart) gained 1.2% ahead of the open, as Goldman Sachs raised its price target on the Internet services giant to $35 from $31.50, citing benefits from better-than-expected search growth and greater click-through rates. Rackable Systems (RACK: chart) dropped 7.6% ahead of the open after warning of a quarterly loss. Nokia (NOK: chart) and Qualcomm (QCOM)) settled a patent dispute as Nokia agreed to pay Qualcomm $20 million in Q2 for using its UMTS license.


8:15AM Constellation Brands posted 26% net income rise in Q4.
Constellation Brands Inc. (STZ: chart), wine and spirits producer and marketer, posted 26% net income increase in Q4, as strong wine sales helped offset a drop in sales of imported beer and competition in the British market. Earnings for the fiscal quarter rose to $70.2 million, or 29 cents a share, from $58.2 million, or 24 cents a share. On a comparable basis, it earned 35 cents a share, above expectations of 34 cents a share. Sales rose to $1.42 billion from $1.3 billion. For the year the company expects to earn $1.21 to $1.31 a share.

Micron Technologies (MU: chart) swung to a loss in Q2, pressured by falling prices of memory chips and weak demand from cell phone makers. The chipmaker said it lost $52 million, or 7 cents a share, compared to $115 million, or 15 cents a share a year ago, missing analyst estimates for loss equal to one penny a share. Sales totaled $1.43 billion, up 16.5% from the same time a year ago, but came in below expectations of sales of $1.46 billion a year earlier. The stock rose 2.15% in pre-market trading.


8:00AM NY-7:00PM Mumbai Sensex ends with a slight gain Thursday, inflation tame.
The Sensex on BSE finished 69.31 points, or 0.54%, higher at 12,856.08. The market-breadth was strong as there were two gainers for each decliner. For 1,658 stocks that advanced, 853 declined and 67 remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex 18 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3,169 crore, compared with Rs 3,230.85 on Wednesday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 6,946.16 crore, compared with Rs 6,971.64 crore on Wednesday.

Economic news

The wholesale price index in India advanced 6.39% in the 12 months to 24 March, down from the increase in the previous week of 6.46 but slightly above a forecast of 6.29%.

The group of ministers on special economic zones, which met today, decided to end compulsory land acquisition by state governments for special economic zones and limited their size to 5,000 hectares. The ministers also cleared 83 special economic zones with no disputes and increased their processing area to 50% of the land size.

The largest commercial bank in India, State Bank of India, intends to raise its interest rates next week tracking the RBI move to lift the cash reserve ratio and a key rate last Friday.

Telecom regulator TRAI ruled out mandatory sharing of infrastructure among mobile operators, proposing instead allowing active networks like antennae, feeder, cables and transmission equipments to be shared among them.

Trading highlights

Indiabulls Real Estate was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 176 crore followed by MindTree and IFCI.

Advancers

Tata Steel led the advancers, soaring over 6% to Rs 465 as steel companies have hiked product prices. Tata Steel crude steel production for the year 2006-07, crossed 5 million tons. The production of hot metal touched 5.55 million tons, crude steel at 5.05 million tons and saleable steel at 4.93 million tons. Reliance Energy surged 2.7% to Rs 501.

The cement sector advanced after dropping on Wednesday, as buying was intense at lower levels. The fall came after the government announced a reduction in import duties. Today Grasim rallied 2.4% to Rs 2,113. Gujarat Ambuja Cements was up 1.10% to Rs 106.10, ACC added 1.06% to Rs 722, and UltraTech Cement Company ended up 2.26% to Rs 693.

ICICI Bank and HDFC advanced over 2% each to Rs 839 and Rs 1,530, respectively, while HDFC Bank gained almost 2% at Rs 943. Cipla advanced nearly 1.5% at Rs 233. Maruti, Hindalco and SBI added 1.3% each to Rs 756, Rs 132 and Rs 948, respectively.