4:15PM Nasdaq Declines on tech stocks sell-offs.

DOW 11,253.24 UP 43.47
NASDAQ 2,299.56 DOWN 12.28
S&P 1,305.33 UP 2.31

- Yields on 10-year bond fell 4.648% and for 30-year bond dropped to 4.679%.
-Home builders, energy explorers and service providers rose for the second day.

-Crude rose 2% or $1.49 to $63.58. Gasoline, heating oil and gas gained a fraction.
-Gold gained $1 to $555.40 per ounce and silver fell 80 cents to $10.342.

-Pakistan, Indonesia and Mexico led emerging markets gainers.

Bond yields fall, tech stocks decline and home builders rise for the week.
Report on Consumer Price Index for February month suggested a rise of 0.1% after having jumped 0.7% in January supported early rise in three broad averages. The S&P 500 and Dow remained near multi-year high however did lose most of the gains near the close. Home builders and interest rate sensitive stocks advanced in sympathy. Rise in energy price dampened most stocks in the transportation sectors including railroads, airlines and trucking companies however, energy related stocks. Housing starts fell 7.9% in February less than what market had expected and economic report from Philadelphia Fed suggested that inflation is under check. Market for the most of the day operated under the belief that economy is growing without serious inflation problem. Treasury advanced on the economic report and on the news that the U.S. has carried out its biggest air assault on Iraq since the invasion in 2003. Bear Stearns reported higher earnings as reported by Lehman Bros and Goldman Sachs but all three stocks fell during the day. Bear Stearns also reported a fine of $250 million for fraudulent market timing and late trading of mutual funds.


3:00PM Emerging markets climb higher for the third time this week.
Russia managed to gain 0.32% and Turkey lost 1.44% today. Asian emerging markets were led by substantial gains in Pakistan, Indonesia and India generating returns of 2.84%, 2.36% and 0.71%. Markets in Taiwan and Thailand were under pressure and sold-off by 0.21% and 0.17%. Thailand Prime Minister expressed a possibility of stepping aside ‘temporarily’ till the date of election to satisfy critics of the current regime. Tech stocks in Taiwan suffered profit taking. Mainland telecom operator China Mobil reported earnings rise of 28% after the close on Thursday. The stock has advanced in the recent days in Hong Kong. Bank of East Asia rose 2.9% and New World Development after the earning release rose 4% on Thursday in Hong Kong.

In Latin America Mexican market rose 0.71% near close on the strength in home builders, consumer banking and telecom stocks. Ara and Homex (HXM: chart), two home builder stocks advanced 3% and 1% respectively. Cemex, (CX: chart) largest cement maker rose 3% and soft drink bottler Fomex (FMX: chart) rose 1.6% in ADR trading in New York. Brazil traded lower 0.45% near close however, land-line telecom operator Telemar, small jet air craft maker Embraer rose 1% and 0.4% and steel companies Geradu and Usiminas rose 1% and 0.4%. New York listed ADR CVRD (RIO: chart) and Petrobras (PBR: chart) were fractionally lower and TAM Airline (TAM: chart) and Gol Air (GOL: chart) traded near unchanged.


2:00PM Indian market trades near record high.
Indian market continued to scale new high as the Sensex index in Mumbai increased 77.02 and ended the day with10,878.74 points. Indian market up for the year is up more than 15% so far. The S&P CNX Nifty rose 0.98% or 31.25 points to a record high of 3,226.60. The turnover at BSE on Thursday dropped to Rs. 4,450 crore compared to Tuesday’s turnover of Rs. 5,334 crore. The top gainer for the day was Zee Telefilms with its share price up by 15.14% to Rs. 219. The other top gainers were VSNL, Reliance Industries, Dabur India and Tata Power. Ranbaxy Laboratories led the top five losers, followed by L&T, Tata Tea, National Aluminum Co. and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratory.

12:30PM European markets closed near the flat line.
European markets closed near the unchanged mark. A strong performance from supermarket group Casino Guichard and steelmaker Corus Croup managed to limit losses in oil, healthcare and insurance stocks. The German DAX 30 declined 0.01%, the French CAC 40 fell 0.04%, while London FTSE 100 rose 0.5%.

Crude oil prices retreated on speculations of steady oil prices between $50 and $60 a barrel. Light sweet crude April delivery fell 12 cents to $62.05 a barrel. Gasoline fell 4 cents to $1.787. Heating oil was steady at $1.779. London Brent for April delivery lost 42 cents to $62.52 a barrel. European gold lost ground Thursday. In London gold declined to $549.70 bid per troy ounce, down from $554.90. In Zurich the precious metal fell to $548.60 from $554.80. In Hong Kong gold lost 40 cents to $551.30. Silver closed at $10.10, up from $9.90. The U.S. dollar declined against other major currencies. The euro traded at $1.2141, up from $1.2070. The dollar bought 117.10 yen, down from 117.26. The British pound was quoted at $1.7537, up from $1.7475.


11:30AM Stocks traded in a narrow range.
Stocks traded higher Thursday morning, supported by upbeat economic data, prompting that the Fed Reserve wouldn’t raise interest rates aggressively. The Dow Jones was trading just below the highs of the morning. The Nasdaq hovered above the flat-line, currently up 4 points. U.S. Treasuries rose in price while yields fell. The benchmark 10-year note added 13/32 in price while the yield fell to 4.67% from 4.73% on Wednesday.

General Motors (GM: chart) was the most conspicuous mover to the upside within the Dow this morning, rising around 1.9%. Alcoa (AA: chart) climbed 1.8%, setting a one-month high. Wal-Mart (WMT: chart) advanced to 1.2%. Six Dow components moved to the downside with the largest decliner, Procter & Gamble (PG: chart), falling down around 1.1%. The stock dropped to a 6-week low, beneath its 50-day moving average. Banks and companies relatively sensitive to higher interest rates rose. Blue-chip manufacturer 3M (MMM: chart) gained 1.5% and Citigroup (C: chart), the largest U.S. bank, rose 0.8%.

On Nasdaq, Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM: chart) rose 2% on upgrade at Merrill Lynch. Shares of Bear Stearns (BSC: chart) bank reversed earlier gains on strong quarterly results and fell 0.4%. Ford Motor Co. (F: chart) fell 1.1% after J.P. Morgan cut its investment rating on the company to underweight. ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG: chart) fell 6.9% on restructuring plan and lowered dividend.


10:30AM Benign inflation data and housing starts data lifted stocks.
Stocks came off intraday highs, following the initial advance on benign inflation data. The Dow gained about 50 points, or 0.5%. The Nasdaq posted a gain of about 7 points, or 0.3%. Bonds edged higher, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.69% from 4.73% late Thursday. In economic news, fears of a declining housing market eased after the Commerce Department reported better-than-anticipated figures of 2.145 million new homes under construction in February. Market welcomed the latest consumer price index report, which showed consumer prices rising just 0.1% in February with the core CPI, with food and fuel prices removed, also up 0.1%. Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported that jobless claims unexpectedly rose with 309,000 new jobless claims filed last week. In corporate news, Ford Motor Co. (F: chart) fell on downgrade at Citigroup to underweight from equal weight. Bear Stearns Cos. (BSC: chart) advanced on record Q1 earnings. Regulators announced a $250 million settlement with the company over improper mututal fund trading. ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG: chart) fell 7% on a massive restructuring plan. The company also cut its quarterly dividend by 34%. American Italian Pasta (PLB: chart), pasta maker, surged 68% to stand out as one of the best performers in the early going, following an announcement that it entered into a new 5-year, $295 million senior credit facility. FARO Technologies (FARO: chart) was one of the biggest decliners in the early going, falling 18%, after the company delayed its 10-K filing and said it was looking into suspicious payments.


9:45AM Stocks opened higher on tame inflation.
U.S. stocks advanced at opening on consumer prices report which showed inflation at tame levels, easing concerns about interest rate increases and encouraging investors to extend recent gains. According to a Commerce Department report, inflation slowed sharply in February as food costs moderated and the price of gasoline, natural gas and other energy products significantly declined. The Dow and S&P 500 added to their multi-year highs, with the blue chip average up about 25 points. The Nasdaq rose about 6 points to 0.3%. At Wednesday close U.S. stocks rallied with the S&P 500 breaching the 1,300 mark for the first time since May 2001. On the earnings front, Bear Stearns (BSC: chart) posted better-than-expected earnings, following strong reports from Goldman Sachs Group and Lehman Brothers. Housing stocks advanced in the early going on falling treasury yields. Toll Bros (TOL: chart) rose 4.7%, Ryland Group (RYL: chart) 2.5%, Hovnanian (HIOV: chart) gained 2.1%, KB Home (KBH: chart) added 1.6%. Utility stocks also gained on activity in the fixed income market. The broker/dealer sector advanced, following the release of strong earnings from Bear Stearns.