IDT Corp. (IDT: chart), telecom service provider IDT Corp. said Thursday its fiscal second-quarter net loss narrowed as costs fell. For the quarter the company posted a net loss of $27 million, or 33 cents per share, compared with a loss of $55.6 million, or 58 cents per share, during the same period a year earlier. Sales fell 10% to $512.5 million from $567.3 million in the year-ago period. Shares fell 10%.

Lumera Corp. (LMRA: chart), which makes polymer-based devices for the bioscience and electro-optics industries, widened its fourth-quarter losses to $3.13 million, or 17 cents per share, compared with $2.62 million, or 16 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue climbed to $1.16 million versus $240,000 in the same period a year earlier. Shares fell 16.7%.

NovAtel Inc. (NGPS: chart), maker of global positioning system receivers and components, reported fourth-quarter net income of C$5.14 million ($4.6 million) or 58 Canadian cents a share (52 cents), compared with C$5.13 million, or 58 Canadian cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenues climbed to C$19.2 million versus C$16.2 million in the same period a year earlier. Shares fell 8.7%.

PeopleSupport Inc. (PSPT: chart) tanked 38.1% on plunging fourth-quarter profits of $4.2 million, or 18 cents a share, including income tax benefits of 11 cents. Last year the Los Angeles-based outsourcer earned 65 cents a share with a 51-cent income tax benefit. Analysts at Friedman Billings, Piper Jaffray and JMP downgraded the stock.

1:00PM NY European markets closed higher, helped by U.S. jobs data.
European stocks closed higher on Friday, reversing from earlier gains, as in-line-with-expectations U.S. jobs data offset a disappointing outlook from Airbus owner EADS and a negative broker note on the pharmaceutical sector. EADS was the most notable French large-cap decliner, falling 4.6% after saying 2007 operating profit may be flat following a 94% decline in 2006 net income. Shares of GlaxoSmithKline lost 1% after Goldman downgraded the U.K. drug giant, and Novartis shares fell 2.1% as the broker left its rating at neutral. Among other stocks in focus, French supermarket retailer Carrefour rose 2.7% higher after recent losses. Alliance Boots surged 14% after the U.K. pharmacy chain said it''s received a takeover bid. The French CAC 40 closed up 0.3 % at 5,537.84, the U.K. FTSE 100 gained 0.3% at 6,245.20, and the German DAX 30 rose 0.1% to 6,716.52.

Crude oil prices reversed from steep advance in the previous session, due to profit-taking. Light, sweet crude April delivery fell 52 cents $61.30. Heating oil slipped to $1.7642. Natural gas fell 15 cents to $7.220 per 1,000 cubic feet. London Brent dropped 64 cents to $61.86. The U.S. dollar gained ground against its major currency rivals. The euro was quoted at $1.3118, down from $1.3182. The dollar bought 117.42 yen, up from 116.36. The British pound was quoted at $1.9281, down from $1.9339. European gold prices rose. In London gold traded at $651.20 per troy ounce, up from $647.50. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $650.40, down from $648.60. Silver rose to $12.97, up from $12.94.


11:30AM Stock averages traded off earlier highs.
U.S. stocks came off earlier highs as investors cashed in on earlier gains made on the back of February jobs data. The government reported signs of strength in employment but also a jump in wholesale inventories that indicated a lower demand. The Labor Department said that U.S. employers added 97,000 nonfarm workers and unemployment rate fell 4.5% from 4.6%. The three major averages erased most of their gains after the Commerce Department reported a 0.7% increase in wholesale inventories. While stocks advanced on the jobs report, bonds fell sharply amid reduced expectations the Fed Reserve will need to cut interest rates.

Tech shares posted gains in morning trading, boosted by semiconductors. Texas Instruments (TXN: chart) rose 2.1% on brokerage upgrade, while National Semi (NSM: chart) climbed 3.7% despite a Q3 profit decline. The chipmaker predicted Q4 sales increase between 3% and 6% over the third quarter. The company also expanded its existing stock buyback plan by $500 million. gained 0.4%. Telecoms also contributed to the tech strength, benefiting from news that telecom company AT&T (T: chart) and Yahoo Inc. (YHOO: chart) are negotiating potentially sweeping changes that could scale back their partnership. Shares in AT&T advanced 0.4%, while Yahoo dropped 5.3%.

Housing stocks posted some weakness, with Hovnanian (HOV: chart) helping to lead the sector lower after the luxury homebuilder reported a Q1 loss versus a year ago profit and forecast full-year earnings below its previous guidance. Shares of the company dropped 3.1%. Among stocks driven by analyst comments, VeraSun Energy (VSE: chart), ethanol producer, rose 5% on broker upgrade. Host Hotels (HST: chart) jumped 3.5% after Citigroup upgraded its rating on the hotel operator, citing the stock''s low valuation. Meanwhile, shares of EchoStar (DISH: chart) fell 2.5% after Credit Suisse downgraded its rating on the satellite TV company. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 17.87, or 0.15%, to 12,278.57. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was up 1.99, or 0.14%, at 1,403.88, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 3.20, or 0.13%, to 2,390.93. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note shot up to 4.58% from 4.51% late Thursday.


9:45AM U.S. stock markets opened firmly higher.
Wall Street opened notably higher Friday, driven by upbeat February jobs report which helped ease economic concerns and offset bad news for the subprime mortgage market. New Century Financial (NEW: chart) tumbled 15% after the lender said that it stopped accepting loan applications because some of the subprime-mortgage specialist''s financial backers are refusing to provide access to financing. Industrial shares advanced, with Alcoa (AA: chart) rising 1.5%, Boeing (BA: chart), up 1.2%, and McDonald''s (MCD: chart), gaining 1%. Procter & Gamble also supported the Dow, rising 0.3%, as it affirmed its previous Q3 earnings projection of 72 to 74 cents a share. Yahoo Inc. (YHOO: chart) dropped 3.8% on news that the company and AT&T (T: chart) are negotiating sweeping changes that could scale back their partnership. Among other companies in focus, Texas Instruments (TXN: chart) rose 2.7% after a brokerage upgrade. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 58.16 points, or 0.47%, at 12,318.86. The Standard & Poor''s 500 Index was up 6.83 points, or 0.49%, at 1,408.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 12.60 points, or 0.53%, at 2,400.


9:00AM U.S. stock futures pointed higher on positive jobs data.
U.S. stock market futures shot steeply higher on Friday, boosted by in-line-with-expectations employment figures and continued narrowing in the trade deficit. Nonfarm payrolls rose 97,000 in February, in line with the average economist estimate of a gain of 100,000. The unemployment rate fell to 4.5%, vs. expectations of rate at 4.6%. According to another economic report, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed by 3.8% in January to $59.1 billion. The U.S. dollar rallied on the back of the economic data, rising 0.8% vs. the yen and 0.2% vs. the euro.

Positive news in the semiconductor sector also generated upward mood. National Semiconductor (NSM: chart) rallied 4.8% in pre-open trading after its 45% profit drop came in above analyst estimates. Also in the sector, Texas Instruments (TXN: chart) rose 2.4% to $32.45 following un upgrade to buy from hold on the belief that the chip industry''s inventory correction close to an end. Philips Electronics (PHG: chart) said that it would make a staged exit from its 16% stake in Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM: chart) through sales to Taiwan investors, U.S. shareholders and company share buybacks.

Outside the sector, New Century Financial (NEW: chart) dropped 5.7%. The company said that it stopped accepting loan applications because some of the subprime-mortgage specialist''s financial backers refuse to provide access to financing. S&P 500 futures erased earlier losses to trade up 7.30 points at 1,424.50 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 9.00 to 1,784.00. Dow industrial futures ran up 49 points to 12,425.

Non-farm payrolls increased 97,000 in February.
Friday morning, the Labor Department released its highly anticipated report on employment in the month of February, showing that job growth during the month came roughly in line with economist estimates. The report showed that non-farm payroll employment increased by 97,000 in February following an upwardly revised increase of 146,000 in January. Economists expected an increase of about 100,000 jobs compared to the increase of 111,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. The Labor Department said that the increase in employment came as job growth in service-providing industries more than offset a sharp decline in construction employment and a continued drop in manufacturing employment. Service-providing industries added 168,000 jobs in February following an increase of 120,000 jobs in January. The increase reflected job growth throughout much of the sector.

At the same time, the report also showed that goods-producing industries lost 71,000 jobs in February after adding 26,000 jobs in the previous month. Construction employment fell by 62,000 jobs, while manufacturing employment fell by 14,000 jobs. The Labor Department also said that the unemployment rate unexpectedly edged down to 4.5 percent in February from 4.6 percent in January. The decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged. The unexpected drop in the unemployment rate was partly due to a decrease in the size of the labor force, which fell by 190,000 in February after increasing by 199,000 in January. The report also showed that average hourly earnings increased by $0.06 or 0.4 percent to $17.16 in February. This increase followed gains of $0.03 in January and $0.08 in December. Average hourly earnings were up 4.1 year-over-year.


8:30AM Asian markets ended mixed with Tokyo higher and HK lower.
Asian markets closed mixed on Friday. Japan''s benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 0.43% to finish at 17,164.04. Daiei gained 9.8% and Aeon ended up 4.6% as the two retailers agreed on an alliance. Nikko Cordial advanced 3.1% on growing demand for Citigroup to raise its tender-offer price for the Japanese brokerage firm.