1:00PM New York – Nasdaq earnings jump three fold. MF Global IPO declines on the first day in trading in New York.

Nasdaq Stock Market Inc reported second quarter profit of $$56.1 million from $16.6 million a year ago on rising trading volume, higher number of company listing, and lower trading fees. Earnings per share jumped to 39 cent from 13 cents a year earlier. Revenue in the quarter jumped 30% to $558.2 million on increasing market share in NYSE listed stocks. At mid-day the stock traded 3.5% higher after rising as high as 5%. The company revised its annual income forecast to $171 million and $181 million from the earlier projection between $165 million and $175 million. Nasdaq revised revenue projection between $775 million and $790 million.

Man Group Plc, UK based hedge and private fund management group, raised $2.92 billion for IPO of MF Global Brokerage. MF priced its 97.4 million shares at $30, lower than its expected price range between $36 and $39. The stock dipped as low as $27.13 before settling at $27.73 after 29.4 million shares changed hands at 12:52 pm. The second largest IPO this year in New York valued the company at $3.64 billion with 80% of its stake trading on the exchanges and 20% controlled by Man Group. The company reported at the end of the fiscal year ending in March 31, revenue of $5.7 billion and earnings of $188 million.


10:00AM London is higher Thursday afternoon with mining leading the rally.

The benchmark FTSE 100 Index increased 1.19%, to 6645 in early afternoon in London.

BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group led shares of mining companies higher. BHP Billiton Ltd was 3.5% higher and Rio Tinto also advanced 3.5% as copper prices advanced for a second day in Shanghai on worries lower output from Chile, will further cut global supply as stockpiles decline.

Vodafone climbed 0.9%. The company announced it added 9.1 million subscribers in the three months through June, totaling 232 million subscribers.

Broker comments lifted few stocks. LogicaCMG gained 4.25 after UBS AG hiked its recommendation on the Anglo-Dutch computer-services provider to buy from neutral. Segro, the owner of five of the largest business parks in the U.K., climbed 2.3% as UBS also raised its recommendation on the shares to buy from neutral.

National Grid also benefited from broker comment as it advanced 1.5% after Dresdner Kleinwort hiked its recommendation on the owner of the U.K. natural-gas and electricity transmission networks to add from hold.

Colt Telecom Group, phone-service provider, surged 3% as it posted a second-quarter profit of 8.9 million euros, or $12.3 million, compared with a loss in the year-earlier period.

Dairy Crest Group, U.K. dairy producer, gained 4.1% as it said it had a strong performance in the first three months of the fiscal year, led by sales of products such as Cathedral City cheese and Utterly Butterly spread.

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline increased 1% as the company said advisers to the European Union recommended approval of a Glaxo’s vaccine that prevents cervical cancer.


9:30AM New York – Banks report earnings gains on higher fees and charges.

Market averages are expected to open higher this morning in New York trading on brighter outlook from IBM and better than expected earnings from banks. Three popular averages, Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq opened with over 0.5% gain in the morning trading.

Initial jobless claims at the end of last week dropped 8,000 to 301,000.

IBM (IBM: chart) reported earnings of $1.50 per share compared to $1.30 per share a year ago and is looking for annual earnings growth of between 14% and 15% from the previous growth rate of 13% to 14%. Network equipment maker, Juniper Networks reported 15 cents per share and revenue growth of 17%. Citrix Systems (CTXS: chart) reported earnings and sales but not the earnings per share. The company forecasted sales for the year between $1.34 billion and $1.36 billion. Avici Systems (AVCI: chart) reported 82 cents per share beating the estimates of low 21 cents per share. Motorola (MOT: chart) reported earnings per share of 2 cents.

Bank of America (BAC: chart) reported earnings, before the open, of $1.28 per share compared to $1.19 from a year ago and beating the estimates of $1.19 per share. The ever increasing fees to individual bank accounts and higher charges at the credit card division helped the bank to power the earnings. Washington Mutual (WAMU: chart) earnings per share jumped to 92 cents from 79 cents a year ago. First Horizon National Bank reported earnings of 17 cents per share.

Continental Airlines (CAI: chart) reported earnings of $2.03 per share beating the estimates of $1.71 per share. Dow Jones (DJ: chart) missed the earnings target of 44 cents and reported 25 cents per share. Genuine Parts (GPC: chart) earnings per share of 76 cents met the expectations. Pharmaceutical maker, Wyeth (WYE: chart) reported earnings per share of 87 cents beating the estimates of 86 cents.