4:20PM NY; 10:20PM Frankfurt; 2:00AM Mumbai - GLOBAL MARKETS

U.S. stocks closed lower on higher oil price and worries related to sub-prime lending. Global deal making reached a feverish pitch today with five deals worth more than $125 billion were announced in Europe, the U.S. Brazil, and Mexico. AstraZeneca buys MedImmune for $15.6 billion, Arcelor Mittal received approval from Mexico to buy Sicartsa for $1.5 billion, Barclays agrees to buy ABN Amro for $91 billion and Bank of America acquires LaSalle Bank for $21 billion. In Brazil Carrefour agreed to buy local retailer Atacadao for $1.1 billion.


Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.650% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.828%.

Gold lost $1.600 to close at $694.200 a troy ounce, silver increased 9.5 cents to end at $14.050 a troy ounce and copper gained $131.000 to close at $7987.000 per metric ton.

Oil gained $1.780 to close at $65.890 a barrel and heating oil advanced 6.180 cents to finish at 189.430 cents a gallon. Natural gas increased 0.181 cents to close at $7.562 per MMBtu. Gasoline went up 5.330 cents to end at 219.070 cents a gallon.

Asian markets closed higher with Japan closing slightly higher and Hong Kong ending a bit lower. The advancers were led by Philippines with a gain of 1.97%, Indonesia with an increase of 0.91% and Taiwan with an advance of 0.85%. The decliners were Thailand with a loss of 0.20% and Hong Kong with a decrease of 0.05%. Australia advanced 0.08%.

European markets finished lower despite positive news from Swiss giants Novartis and Nestle and the banking sector dragged. The decliners were led by Spain with a decrease of 0.62%, Belgium with a decline of 0.39% and France with a loss of 0.36%. The advancers were Norway with a gain of 1.04% and Switzerland with an increase of 0.41%.

Latin America markets finished down. The decliners were led by Mexico with a loss of 0.78%, Argentina with a decrease of 0.55% and Brazil with a decline of 0.30%. There were no advancers. Canada lost 0.25% as banks were lower despite the industrials gained slightly.

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

Alanco Technologies (ALAN: chart) shares climbed 38.8% after data storage and tracking company said that it expects sales in its third quarter ended to more than quadruple from the year-ago period on the acquisition of StarTrak Systems LLC. The company said it expects sales of more than $4.4 million, versus revenue of $988,000 in the prior-year quarter.

Arch Coal Inc. (ACI: chart) said its first-quarter profit tumbled 53% because of soft conditions in the U.S. coal markets. Arch Coal earned $28.7 million, or 20 cents per share, compared with $60.6 million, or 42 cents per share, for the same quarter in 2006. Coal sales fell 10% to $571.3 million from $634.6 million in the year-ago period. Shares climbed 6.8%.

Bausch & Lomb Inc. (BOL: chart) shares surged 9.8% amid market chatter that the eye-care products maker could be taken private in a leveraged buyout. Bausch & Lomb, which last year made a worldwide recall of a popular contact lens solution, could not be immediately reached for comment. Bausch & Lomb has a market capitalization of about $3 billion.

Hasbro (HAS: chart) swung to a first-quarter profit on growth in its Marvel product line and core brands and said it was anticipating strong sales this spring and summer in movie-related products. Its shares rose 8.7%. The company reported a profit of $32.9 million, or 19 cents per share, for the last quarter versus a loss of $4.9 million, or 3 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 34% to $625.3 million from $468.2 million, beating Wall Street''s estimate of $507.9 million.

Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU: chart) was upgraded to buy from hold at A.G. Edwards. Shares climbed 6%.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD: chart) said it increased its existing share buyback program by $450 million and will now repurchase up to $750 million worth of its stock. Since acquiring Evergreen Resources in 2004, Pioneer has repurchased about 31 million shares. Shares climbed 6.8%.

Administaff Inc. (ASF: chart) shares fell 14.1% after the company said that its forecast for first-quarter earnings was below Street expectations, citing higher-than-expected healthcare costs. The company said it expects to post earnings of 30 cents a share for the quarter.

Whole Foods Market (WFMI: chart) shares climbed 2.7% and reached its highest level since the first half of March. The company started off as a small giant in Austin, Texas, decided to become a public company and now it''s a national presence.

Independent Bank Corp. (IBCP: chart) reported its first quarter earnings fell more than 60% from the previous year due to lower interest income. Net profit for the period 2007 was $4.67 million, or 20 cents per share, down from $12.34 million, or 53 cents per share, in the same period last year. Shares fell 13.9%.

Lee Enterprises Inc. (LEE: chart) said its second-quarter profit fell 18% as a surge in online ad sales failed to offset softness in print advertising. The company said net income dropped to $11.9 million, or 26 cents per share, from $14.4 million, or 32 cents per share, in the prior year. Revenue for the quarter slipped 2% to $261.7 million from $266.2 million in the previous year.