4:00PM NY; 10:00PM Frankfurt; 1:30AM Mumbai - GLOBAL MARKETS

Stocks in New York and Europe were modestly higher but in Latin America and Asia rose. NYSE Euronext stock fell on its first trading day in Paris and New York. Electronics retailers stocks Best Buy and Circuit City fell in New York trading, airlines rose in Europe, mining companies gained in Brazil. Telecom Italia is likely to become a subject of heated takeover battle. Japan led Asian markets with a gain of 1.75% and Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rate unchanged. Oil fell on the news that Iran will release British sailors, sources say that a back-door deal with the U.S. to release Iranian diplomats in Iraq is in works.


Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.652% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.845%.

Gold advanced $7.700 to close at $677.400 a troy ounce, silver increased 19 cents to end at $13.620 a troy ounce and copper gained $274.000 to close at $7296.000 per metric ton.

Oil lost 26 cents to close at $64.380 a barrel and heating oil advanced 2.570 cents to finish at 186.440 cents a gallon. Natural gas increased 8.9 cents to close at $7. per MMBtu. Gasoline went up 8.770 cents to end at 210.540 cents a gallon.

Asian markets closed higher paced by a rally in the auto sector while investors judged stronger U.S. home-sales data and falling crude-oil prices as positive for the growth outlook in the region''s most important export market. The advancers were led by Japan with an increase of 1.74%, Indonesia with a gain of 1.45% and Philippines with an advance of 1.42%. There were no decliners. Australia gained 1.36% where Reserve Bank of Australia held short-term interest rates steady at 6.5%.

European markets finished modestly higher as a rally among travel and technology firms offset some weakness from oil and gas firms. The advancers were led by France with an increase of 0.47%, Germany with a gain of 0.40% and Netherlands with an advance of 0.30%. The decliners were Spain with a decrease of 0.07% and U.K. with a loss of 0.02%.

Latin America markets finished higher. The advancers were led by Brazil with an increase of 0.83%, Argentina with an advance of 0.34% and Mexico with a gain of 0.15%. There were no decliners. Canada gained 0.56% as gains in the gold sector were tempered by weakness in financials and, to a lesser degree, oils.

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

Packeteer Inc. (PKTR) shares fell 30% after the company cut its first-quarter revenue outlook and said the """"disappointing"""" results would have a significant impact on its earnings. The company sees revenue of $31 million to $33 million.

Ablest Inc. (AIH) said it has agreed to be acquired by Koosharem Corp. for about $32.5 million, or $11 per share, in cash. Shares of the company climbed 45.7%.

Acuity Brands Inc. (AYI), lighting equipment company, said its second-quarter profit jumped 68% on higher pricing and volume growth, and results widely beat Wall Street expectations. The company reported net income in the second quarter of $24.4 million, or 55 cents per share, compared with $14.5 million, or 32 cents per share, in the year-earlier period. Net sales totaled $575.4 million, up 4.7% from a year earlier. Shares of the company climbed 9.7%.

BioVeris Corp. (BIOV) said it agreed to be acquired by Roche for about $600 million in cash, or $21.50 per share. BioVeris said through the acquisition, Roche will own the complete patent estate of the electrochemiluminescence technology deployed in its Elecsys product line. Shares jumped 52.8%.

Blyth Inc. (BTH), candle maker, posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, sending its shares up 15.4%, despite a lower forecast for fiscal 2008. The company swung to a fourth-quarter net profit of $17 million, or 43 cents per share, from a year-ago loss of $12.3 million, or 30 cents per share. The latest fourth quarter includes restructuring and impairment charges totaling about 48 cents per share, partly offset by a gain of 13 cents per share from a note receivable, and includes income of $3.8 million from discontinued operations and a $12.6 million tax expense on un-remitted foreign earnings of subsidiaries. The year-ago quarter includes a charge of $38.4 million, or 94 cents per share, from the annual assessment of goodwill associated with the Wholesale segment. The company''s net sales fell slightly to $379.8 million from $380.7 million last year. Blyth repeated its fiscal 2008 earnings outlook of $1.07 to $1.17 a share, an estimate that reflects restructuring charges of 10 cents to 15 cents per share. Excluding the restructuring and impairment charges, the company expects earnings of $1.22 to $1.27 per share.

Best Buy Co. (BBY), retailer of consumer electronics, home-office products, entertainment software, appliances, and related services, said that its fourth-quarter net income increased to $763 million, or $1.55 per share, compared with $644 million, or $1.29 per share a year earlier. Revenue climbed to about $12.9 billion versus $10.69 billion in the same period a year ago. Same-store sales rose 5.9%. For the year, Best Buy expects to earn $3.10 to $3.25 a share, on revenue of about $39 billion. It anticipates opening about 130 new stores (95 domestic and 35 international) and a same-store sales gain of 3% to 5%. Best Buy said it expects its gross profit rate will decrease by 30 to 40 basis points, citing faster growth of lower-margin products in its revenue mix in a more stable promotional environment.

GMX Resources (GMXR), oil and natural gas explorer and producer, raised its first-quarter production guidance and issued a second-quarter production outlook. The company anticipates first-quarter production doubling from the prior year to 1.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent (BCFE). GMX also expects second-quarter production of 2 BCFE, which would more than double the previous year''s results. Shares jumped 8.1%.

IDI Pharma Inc. (IDMI) shares soared 54.3% after the company said during Tuesday''s session that the Food and Drug Administration has scheduled an Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee meeting on May 9 to discuss Junovan.

Jackson & Hewitt (JTX) shares soared 9.3% on news that the Justice Department is investigating a major franchisee for tax fraud was overdone since the company itself is not a target of the investigation at this point. Morgan Stanley analyst Jennifer L. Pinnick upgraded Jackson Hewitt to """"Equal-Weight"""" from """"Underweight,"""" saying no franchisee at Jackson Hewitt accounts for more than 2% to 3% of revenue, and the particular franchisee in question represents less than 2% of revenue, or just 3 cents of earnings per share. Pinnick said the loss of value associated with that certain franchisee totals only 1.5%, much less than the 18% decline in valuation that occurred following the announcement.

MPC Corp.’s (MPZ) MPC Computers, a wholly-owned subsidiary, announced that it has been awarded a prime contractor position on a new federal government-wide acquisition contract for the procurement of IT hardware and software. Shares climbed 51.5%.