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

Anika Therapeutics Inc. (ANIK: chart), which makes products to treat bone, cartilage and soft tissue ailments, said that it has received European approval for the commercial sale of its Elevess product. Elevess is an injectable soft tissue filler for facial wrinkles, scar remediation and lip augmentation, Anika said. Shares climbed 6.17%.

FCStone Group Inc. (FCSX: chart), commodity risk management company, said that its second-quarter net earnings increased to $6.92 million, or 48 cents per share, compared with $3.94 million, or 27 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue climbed to $403.4 million against $268.9 million in the comparable period last year. Shares climbed 14.07%.

Lubrizol Corp. (LZ: chart), specialty chemical company, said it expects first-quarter performance to beat Wall Street expectations on increased revenues that are driven by improved price and product mix. Lubrizol earned 98 cents a share before a restructuring credit for the latest quarter compared with a year earlier period when it earned 68 cents a share from continuing operations before a restructuring charge of 2 cents a share. Shares climbed 7.53%.

Rural Cellular Corp. (RCCC: chart) shares jumped 19.16% after the regional wireless communications provider said it sees both its service and roaming revenue climbing in the first quarter. The company said in preliminary results that quarterly service revenue grew 2% to approximately $98 million from $96 million. Roaming revenue rose 16% to about $36 million versus $31 million a year ago. Rural Cellular added 9,974 customers, which during the quarter brought its total to 715,632.

Sallie Mae (SLM: chart) is in talks with private-equity firms in a deal that may be worth more than $20 billion. The discussions come as Sallie Mae is struggling with regulatory investigations over relationships between colleges and student-loan companies. A potential bidder for Sallie Mae is private-equity firm Blackstone Group, according to the report, which said although the talks appear to be in later stages, many hurdles remain and it''s not clear a deal would go through. Shares jumped 13.03%.

Irwin Financial Corp. (IFC: chart), bank holding company, forecast a first-quarter loss from operations due to the conditions in the consumer mortgage market and a charge-off on a commercial credit in Michigan. The company said it expects the loss to be $5 million to $10 million during the quarter. Irwin Financial said it discovered misrepresentations about collateral for a loan, for which it will take a charge-off of $4.2 million. Shares fell 6.77%.

Cott Corp. (COT: chart) shares jumped 26.2% boosted by a report speculating that Canada-based Cott Corp. may be in talks to buy the beverage arm of Cadbury Schweppes PLC.

Planar Systems Inc. (PLNR: chart) cut its guidance. The monitor display maker projects an adjusted loss of 7 cents to 9 cents a share for the quarter ended March 31. Previously, the company forecast a loss of 4 cents to 7 cents a share. Planar sees revenue of $53 million to $54 million, down from a prior view of revenue of $57 million to $61 million. Shares fell 8.01%.

Semitool Inc. (SMTL: chart) shares fell about 17% after the company cut its revenue view due to delays in order bookings. The company, which makes silicon wafer processing equipment for the microchip industry, said bookings for the quarter were hurt by delays in anticipated orders in all of its target markets. It now expects second-quarter revenue of $51 million to $53 million, below its prior projection for revenue of $55 million to $57 million.

1:00PM NY, 6:00 PM Frankfurt European stocks closed higher, led by oil and pharma stocks.

European stock markets finished in the positive on Friday, lifted by strength among oil stocks and gains in the shares of drug companies. Higher crude-oil prices boosted shares of major oil companies. BP and Royal Dutch Shell both added 2.3%, while Total moved up 1.4%. Pharmaceutical stocks were led higher by Merck which moved steeply up on improved profit outlook.

AstraZeneca rose 2.5%, GlaxoSmithkline climbed 2.4%. In deal news, shares of French-Spanish tobacco firm Altadis added 1.3% after a report that CVC Capital is close to forming a consortium to make an offer for Altadis. Cadbury Schweppes rose 1.7% on deal speculations. The U.K.''s FTSE 100 rose 0.7% at 6,462.40, the German DAX Xetra 30 climbed 1% at 7,212.07 and the French CAC-40 gained 0.7% at 5,789.34.

11:30AM U.S. market averages lost direction on mixed data.

The U.S. market averages erased earlier advance, as mixed economic data offset gains generated by upbeat earnings and forecasts, as well as deal speculation. The Labor Department showed a higher-than-expected increase in overall producer prices, whereas core prices unexpectedly came in unchanged. Investors were also reluctant to trade actively, awaiting the earnings season to pick up steam next week.

Semiconductor, software and computer technology stocks declined, dragged by down by Apple Inc. (AAPL: chart), whose shares fell 1.6% after saying it would delay the release of the next upgrade of its Mac operating system until October. Shares of Lam Research (LRCX: chart) gained ground, rising up 0.7% after the semiconductor equipment maker reported better-than-expected Q3 earnings.

Some transportation, software, and housing stocks came under pressure in morning trading. Drug stocks posted strong gains, with Merck (MRK: chart), up 7.7% helping to lead the sector higher after the drug giant raised its Q1 and full year guidance. The advance was also due to news that a federal judge dismissed a class action investor lawsuit against the company related to its discontinued pain reliever Vioxx. Gold stocks moved to the upside, benefiting from a notable increase by the price of gold.

In deal news, shares of Sallie Mae (SLM: chart) climbed 11% amid reports that the largest U.S. student-loan company was in talks to sell itself to private equity firms. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 17.64, or 0.14%, at 12,570.60. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was up 0.58, or 0.04%, at 1,448.38, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 2.46, or 0.10%, to 2,477.86. Bonds fell after the consumer sentiment data, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.76% from 4.74% late Thursday.


9:45AM U.S. markets opened mixed. Apple weighed on the Nasdaq, while Merck helped the Dow.