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

AAON Inc. (AAON: chart), rooftop air conditioner and heater maker, said that its fourth-quarter earnings increased to $4.5 million, or 35 cents per share, compared with a year-ago profit of $2.3 million, or 18 cents per share. Sales climbed to $54.6 million against $48.9 million in the same period a year earlier. Shares climbed 8.9%.

CommScope Inc. (CTV: chart) shares jumped more than 8.3% to their highest since 2000, after the telecommunications equipment company raised its first-quarter sales outlook and received an upgrade from an analyst. Commscope said it now expects sales of $415 million to $425 million, above its earlier guidance of between $390 million and $410 million.

Critical Therapeutics (CRTX: chart) surged 23.3% after Merck KGaA affiliate Dey agreed to co-promote two of the Lexington, Mass., biotech''s zileuton asthma drugs, one of which is still awaiting approval by the Food and Drug Administration. Critical Therapeutics will additionally help promote one of Dey''s drug candidates, should it receive regulatory approval. The deal''s financial terms weren''t disclosed.

Lev Pharmaceuticals Inc. ((LEVP.OB)) jumped 13.5% after the company reported positive results of a late-stage trial for its proposed treatment of hereditary angioedema, or HAE. The company said that the primary endpoint of the phase III trial of its C1-esterase inhibitor was reached with a clinically and statistically significant reduction in the time to sustained relief of acute HAE symptoms. Lev now plans to submit a biologic license application for the therapy, which has orphan drug status, to the Food and Drug Administration in the second quarter.

1:00PM NY European markets closed sharply lower, led by banking stocks.
European stocks finished sharply lower on Wednesday, led by declines for banking stocks as U.S. worries about subprime-mortgage losses spread through the sector. Falling metals prices added to the pressure, dragging resource stocks down. Among firms in focus, European banks involved in warehousing considerably dropped. Shares in Deutsche Bank dropped 5.1%, Credit Suisse lost 4.3% and UBS shed 4.3%. European banks with a U.S. lending business also declined. Shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group slipped 4.5% and BNP Paribas gave up 3.5%. Insurers and fund managers were also notable losers. France''s AXA slid 5.1% in Paris, while U.K. hedge fund manager Man Group dropped 4% in London. The French CAC 40 tumbled 2.5% at 5,296.22, the German DAX 30 dropped 2.7% at 6,447.70 and the U.K.''s FTSE 100 slid 2.6% at 6,000.70.


9:45AM Wall Street opened mixed, helped by stronger dollar.
Wall Street opened mixed on Wednesday, gaining some ground after the recent sell-off. The market sentiment was boosted by strengthening dollar which rose vs. the yen on the back of narrower current account deficit. However, there was more evidence about the fallout in the mortgage lender market. H&R Block (HRB: chart) slid 2.4% after it warned that the meltdown increased its quarterly losses. Technology stocks opened broadly higher, pushing the tech-heavy Nasdaq higher. Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM: chart) rose 2.7% as it raised its quarterly financial forecast. In contrast, Juniper Networks (JNPR: chart) fell more than 2% after the company announced its chief financial officer resigned. Computer-memory chipmakers Micron Technology Inc. (MU: chart) rose 1% and Qimonda AG (QI: chart) rose 2%, lifted by upgrades from Citigroup, which boosted both companies to a buy. In the first minutes of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 40.38, or 0.33%, to 12,116.34. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index advanced 5.13, or 0.37%, to 1,383.08, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 6.94, or 0.30%, to 2,357.51.


9:30AM London equities trade down Wednesday with banks hurt the most.
The UK market was lower on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 was down more than 100 points, or 1.4%, to 6,060.2 in morning trade.

Advancers

Of the few advancers, most were from the retail sector. Talks that a private equity group was considering a bid for Kingfisher sent its shares 4.4% higher on extremely high volumes. Also fresh reports that the private equity consortium eyeing J Sainsbury was about to put its offer forward sent the grocer 1.3% higher.

Robust same-store sales growth at Argos made parent company, Home Retail Group, raise full-year guidance and sent its shares 3.9% higher. The other advancers included Gallaher, the tobacco group, up 0.1%.

PartyGaming, up 10.5%, was one of only a few mid-cap gainers lifted by talk that the Democrats in Congress could reverse the US ban on online gambling

Decliners

The biggest decliner on the market was HBOS, the mortgage lender, which was down 4 %, although the decline was worsened by the stock moving ex-dividend. Of the other banks, Royal Bank of Scotland was 3.6% lower and Barclays lost 2.9%.

Man Group, the listed hedge fund, dipped 4.2% while Amvescap, the fund manager with a high exposure to US markets, was 2.9% lower and venture capital group 3i was down 2.8% as investors once more felt less ready to risk. The mining sector was also badly hit, with Anglo American down 3.4% and Lonmin off 3.3%.


9:00AM U.S. stock futures pointed slightly lower, despite a lower-than-expected rise in import prices.
U.S. stock futures were indicating a slightly weak opening, as concerns over the troubled sub-prime mortgage business continued to weigh on global markets. Disappointing results from General Motors and Lehman Bros. also generated negative mood, helping to offset a smaller-than-expected rise in import prices. Import prices rose 0.2% in February, below expectations of a 0.7% gain. Excluding fuels, prices declined 0.2%, the biggest drop since July 2005. Among pre-market highlights, General Motors (GM: chart) said it swung to profit in Q4, earning $950 million on revenue of $51.2 billion. Earnings excluding non-recurring items were 32 cents a share, well off the average analyst estimates of earnings of $1.19 a share. It also announced it is refunding $1 billion to GMAC, due to losses at its residential mortgage business. The stock dropped 2.5% in pre-market trading.

Lehman Brothers (LEH: chart) reported fiscal Q1 results a day after its peer Goldman Sachs posted strong financial results. The company reported earnings increase to $1.15 billion, or $1.96 a share, from $1.09 billion, or $1.83 a share, a year earlier, coming in line with expectations. One off the companies badly affected by the subprime jitters, Accredited Home Lenders (LEND: chart) rallied 21% to $4.76 in the pre-open, rebounding from a steep drop of 65% on Tuesday. Among mortgage lenders, NovaStar Financial (NFI: chart) tacked on 2% ahead of the open and Countrywide Financial (CFC: chart) climbed 2.2%. S&P 500 futures slipped 1.70 points to 1,390.20 and Nasdaq 100 futures gave up 1.25 points to 1,743.00. Dow industrial futures slipped 25 points to 12,164.