Gokaldas Exports Limited, manufacturer of ready-made fashion garments, has reported 13.42% rise in net profit for Q3 compared to he same time the previous year. Total revenues in Q3 advanced 14.69% and stood at Rs 245.83 crore against Rs 241.35 crore in the same period a year ago. Although interest costs were higher and stood at Rs 5.48 crore in Q3 against Rs 3.68 crore for the comparable period a year ago, the company announced that this was on account of borrowing under the textile upgradation fund of Rs 60 crore.


9:45AM Market opened mixed. Merck and 3M weighed on the Dow.
Wall Street saw a mixed performance at opening on Tuesday, reflecting cautiousness ahead of the Fed Reserve''s decision on interest rates and notable declines for three blue-chip companies. The Dow was pressured by 6% decline for 3M Co. (MMM: chart) on a disappointing profit outlook. Merck (MRK: chart) also weighed on the blue-chip average, falling even after its earnings, excluding special items, matched forecasts. Merck & Co. said that its Q4 profit plunged 58% to $473.9 million, or 22 cents per share, down from $1.12 billion, or 51 cents per share a year ago. The drugmaker’s profit dropped, due to charges for restructuring costs, an acquisition and increased legal reserves, mainly for its withdrawn painkiller VioxxMerck. Fellow drug maker Wyeth (WYE: chart) lost1.9% amid disappointing earnings. Elsewhere, Colgate-Palmolive (CL: chart), fell 1%, despite a better-than-forecast profit increase.

Similarly Procter & Gamble (PG: chart) fell 1.4%, despite raising its earnings outlook. Investors weighed its organic sales growth, which came in at the lower end of its guidance. On the side of the gainers, photography and imaging company Getty Images Inc. (GYI: chart) rose 8%, despite a Q4 profit drop on restructuring and other costs. The company earned $30.3 million, or 50 cents per share, down 29% from $42.5 million, or 64 cents per share in the prior year. Excluding special items, the company earned $39.5 million, or 66 cents per share. Sales rose 10% to $203.5 million from $185.8 million. Analysts had expected earnings of 56 cents per share on sales of $195.9 million. The Dow fell 9.93, or 0.08%, to 12,480.85. The S&P 500 index was up 1.26, or 0.09%, to 1,421.88, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 3.08, or 0.13%, to 2,438.01. The bond market remained mostly unchanged as investors awaited a decision from the Fed Reserve on short-term interest. Bonds were mostly unchanged, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note flat at 4.87% from late Monday.


9:30AM NY-2:30PM London FTSE declines on weak performance by miners.
The FTSE 100 in London declined 18.6 points to 6,221.5 by mid-day on Tuesday.

Advancers

News that Sanofi-Aventis of France and Bristol-Myers Squibb of the US were in talks over a possible merger lifted the pharmaceutical sector. AstraZeneca gained 0.8%. British Airways advanced 1.6% on continued relief that the proposed strike has been called off.

Takeover talks continued to buoy food and drinks group Cadbury Schweppes, up 1.5%, and J Sainsbury, 0.8% higher. Woolworths, the retailer, gained 2.3% after it said it struck a deal to supply music, DVDs, games and books to Virgin Retail. Mortgage provider Kensington announced underlying profits increased by 17% to 65.2 million pounds last year, but it added that tough competition will result in slower profit growth this year. Its shares advanced 2.68%.

Decliners

Kazakhmys led the decliners in the mining sector, down 2.2%, despite posting a 9% rise in copper cathode production. Other miners also declined. Vedanta Resources shed 1.4%, Lonmin fell 1.5%, Xstrata retreated 1.3% and Rio Tinto dropped 1.1%.

Among mid-caps PZ Cussons shed 4%. The soap maker posted a 4.5% rise in first-half profit before tax and stated its guidance remained positive despite the impact of the continued weak dollar. IT software and services company EG Solutions announced it expects revenues to be up to 500,000 pounds lower than market expectations, resulting in a pre-tax loss for the year. Its shares plunged 27.33%.


9:00AM Market futures moved higher on strong earnings.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher opening on Tuesday, lifted by upbeat earnings results. Tuesday will see the opening of the Fed Reserve''s interest-rate decision making meeting. The Conference Board''s U.S. consumer confidence data for January is also due.

In pre-market earnings highlights, consumer products maker Procter & Gamble Co. (PG: chart) reported 12% profit increase in Q2, driven by solid sales of Gillette razors and Tide detergent. The company posted net income of $2.86 billion, or 84 cents per share, up from $2.55 billion, or 72 cents per share a year ago. Revenue rose 8% to $19.73 billion. Company’s second-quarter financial results beat estimates of 83 cents per share on $19.57 billion in revenue. The blue chip company lifted its annual profit guidance. Colgate-Palmolive (CG: chart) posted better-than-expected results, while Dow component 3M Co. (MMM: chart) posted 58% profit rise, which matched expectations excluding items. Another Dow component, pharmaceutical giant Merck (MRK: chart) reported quarterly earnings drop, while earnings excluding special items came in line with forecasts. Revenue rose above expectations.

After the Japanese market closed, Sony (SNE: chart) raised its full-year earnings forecast. The manufacturer said quarterly profit fell 5%, hurt by huge costs for launching its PlayStation 3 video game console. Group net profit at Sony Corp slipped to 159.9 billion yen ($1.3 billion) from 168.9 billion yen a year earlier. The electronics company said its sales jumped 9.8% to 2.61 trillion yen ($21.4 billion). In corporate news, Starbucks (SBUX: chart) was upgraded to overweight by J.P. Morgan. Shares of the coffee retailer rose 2.2% in pre-open trading. S&P 500 futures rose 3.80 points to 1,430.00 and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 4.75 points to 1,791.50. Dow industrial futures climbed 30 points to 12,555.


8:00AM 3M Co. reported soaring Q4 profit.
3M Inc. (MMM: chart), maker of industrial adhesives, said its Q4 net income soared 58%, including a $354 million gain from selling its pharmaceutical business. The company said its profit increased to $1.18 billion, or $1.57 a share, from $746 million, or 97 cents a share, earned a year ago. The latest quarter''s per-share figure includes 47 cents on the sale of the unit. Sales rose 9% to $5.78 billion. 3M’s quarterly results exceeded analyst expectations of earnings of $1.14 a share on revenue of $5.76 billion, on average. The company projected 2007 earnings in the range of $5.20 and $5.45 a share, or between $4.60 and $4.75 on an adjusted basis. The 2007 adjusted forecast includes 21 cents to reflect stock-option expenses. The average analyst forecast stands at $4.99 a share for 2007.


7:30AM Asian markets advance Tuesday with exporters leading gainers.
Asian markets mostly advanced on Tuesday. Japanese Nikkei Index ended 0.1% higher at 17,490. Japan Airlines rose 1.2%. Semiconductor companies and auto stocks enjoyed a good run, as Kyocera advanced 1.6% and Honda Motor moved up 1.5%. Sony closed 1.7% lower, though. After the closing bell, the company announced on Tuesday its group net profit declined 5.3% in October-December from a year earlier, on losses at its games division.