Takeover talk lifted InterContinental Hotels, up 1.2%, as speculation continued that the Barclays brothers would team up with a private equity group and bid for the company.

Royal Dutch Shell rose 0.5 % and BP gained 0.6% as the oil price rose and ABN Amro talked up the long-term possibility of consolidation.

Decliners

Scottish & Newcastle dipped, losing 0.9% as expectations for a potential bid for the company from European rivals died away.

Vodafone lost 0.5% after the telecommunications group admitted that Indian laws would prevent it from owning all of the 67% shareholding in Hutchison Essar that it said in February it was planning to acquire for 5.6 billion pounds.

Electronic cable firm Volex was down 6.9%, announcing it is pleased with progress since interims last November, although the weak dollar and high copper prices mean full year figures will be slightly below expectations.


9:15AM Asian markets finished mostly lower with Japan leading the region lower.
Asian markets ended lower on Thursday. Japanese Nikkei 225 average closed 0.3% lower at 17,491.42. Oil company Inpex Holdings dipped along with other energy-related shares as crude-oil prices declined below $65 a barrel in the wake of the resolution of the U.K.-Iran crisis. Shares of Inpex shed 2.8% in Tokyo. Among export-related shares, Honda fell 1.4%, while Toyota Motor eased 1.1% in Tokyo.

Hitachi Construction Machinery advanced 1.6% as the company is on track to pay a higher year-end dividend for the business year beginning April 1 than its planned dividend for the just-completed fiscal year.

Chinaese benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.8% to 3,319.14. Singaporean shares hit a second straight record high on buying in select market large-cap on strong earnings expectations. The benchmark Straits Times Index ended up 12.94 points, or 0.4%, at a record 3345.86 points.

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.

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