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

AptarGroup Inc. (ATR: chart), dispenser maker, said that its first-quarter net earnings increased 49% to $29.6 million, or 82 cents per share, compared with $19.8 million, or 55 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue jumped 20% to $449.8 million versus $375.5 million a year ago. Shares of the company climbed 8.7%.

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc.''s (ARNA: chart), developer of treatments for obesity, cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, said that its first-quarter loss widened, due in part to costs related to the Phase III lorcaserin Bloom trial. The first quarter of 2006 also included a $5 million milestone payment under its collaboration with Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc. The company reported a first-quarter loss of $31.4 million, or 53 cents per share, compared with a loss of $12.7 million, or 30 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 60% to $4.91 million versus $12.1 million a year earlier. Shares jumped 11.9%.

Cooper Industries Ltd. (CBE: chart), maker of electrical products and tools, reported stronger-than-expected quarterly profit, citing strong demand from utilities and solid sales in the industrial, energy and nonresidential construction markets. Cooper also raised its full-year profit forecast and its shares rose as much as 6% to a record high. Earnings rose 22% to $131.9 million, or 71 cents per share, from $107.7 million, or 57 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 12% to $1.39 billion, also ahead of estimates. Shares climbed 5.1%.

Intersil Corp.''s (ISIL: chart), semiconductor maker, said that its first-quarter net income declined 2% to $33.1 million, or 24 cents per share, from a year-earlier profit of $32.4 million, or 22 cents per share. Revenue declined about 6% to $167.7 million in the latest quarter from $178.9 million a year earlier. Shares climbed 8.3%.

Playtex Products (PYX: chart), which makes Banana Boat sunscreen, said it has acquired the owner of the Hawaiian Tropic sun care line, Tiki Hut Holding Co. Inc., expanding its sun care lineup just ahead of the important U.S. summer selling season.

PokerTek (PTEK: chart) shares gained 18.3% after the company signed a multi-year agreement with Harrah''s Entertainment (HET: chart) to be the exclusive provider for live, player-banked automated poker tables. Financial terms of the agreement, which calls for Harrah''s to install PokerTek PokerPro tables at its casinos, weren''t disclosed.

PPG Industries Inc.''s (PPG: chart) shares climbed 5.6% after the company said that its first-quarter earnings rose to $194 million, or $1.17 per share, compared with $184 million, or $1.11 per share, a year earlier, as higher sales at the company''s coatings and optical segments offset declines in its commodity chemical and glass businesses. Net sales climbed to $2.92 billion against $2.64 billion a year earlier.

Avici Systems Inc. (AVCI: chart) shares fell 30.2% after the company reported first-quarter net earnings of $6 million, or 42 cents per share compared with the same period a year ago when the company posted a net loss of $5.32 million, or 41 cents per share. Excluding restructuring charges, among other items, earnings were $6.6 million, or 46 cents per share compared with $2 million, or 15 cents per share, last year. Revenue fell to $20.5 million versus $20.9 million. Avici declared a special cash dividend of $2 per share, or about $28 million, payable on June 22 to shareholders of record as of June 11.

Imation Corp. (IMN: chart) shares rose 11.6% reported first-quarter earnings of $15.7 million, or 44 cents per share, down from a year-ago profit of $19.4 million, or 55 cents per share. The company said profits were hurt in the latest quarter by price erosion, primarily in the U.S., due to excess industry capacity of NAND flash memory as well as pricing pressure on LTO tape media due to a continued delay in the introduction of LTO 4 drives. The company also agreed to acquire the TDK brand recording media business from TDK Corp.

Power-One Inc. (PWER: chart), which makes power conversion products used in electronic equipment, said it expects to report a first-quarter loss of about 14 cents per share due to weakness in its North American business. Power-One also anticipates revenue below guidance at about $124 million. Shares plunged 14.2%.

Wesco International (WCC: chart) shares fell 6.4% after the company reported quarterly profit below analysts'' average estimate on lower-than-expected organic sales growth, hurt by lower commodity prices. The electrical construction products provider reported first-quarter net income of $48.2 million, or 93 cents a share, compared with $44.5 million, or 86 cents a share, a year earlier. The company reported net sales of $1,450.6 million for the quarter, compared with $1,265.5 million a year ago.

1:00AM NY, 5:00 PM Frankfurt European stocks closed lower as weak mining stocks offset gains in the shares of Nokia.
European stock markets closed lower on Thursday, as weakness among mining companies and worries that China will hike interest rates because of stronger-than-expected growth and inflation, offset upbeat margin news from Nokia and hopes for pharmaceutical-sector earnings. Shares of Nokia rose 3.5% after the world''s largest maker of mobile phones posted market share gains and a better-than-expected gross margin. Nokia also said that its Q1 net profit slipped 7%, in line with analyst expectations. In the pharmaceutical sector, drugmakers AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline rose more than 1%, following strong earnings from U.S. drug maker Merck. In addition, exporting automakers DaimlerChrysler and Porsche fell over 1.5% amid weakening dollar. The euro traded near record highs vs. the dollar, and the pound held over $2. The German DAX 30 fell 0.5% at 7,242.73, the French CAC-40 lost 0.1% at 5,829.04 and the U.K. FTSE 100 declined 0.1% at 6,440.60.


11:30AM U.S. market averages regained some ground.
U.S. stocks regained some ground after the initial drop but remained in the negative territory. The recovery attempt by the major averages was helped by strength among pharmaceutical and biotechnology stocks, with Schering-Plough (SGP: chart) and Amgen (AMGN: chart) rising 8% and 5%, respectively. Among biotech stocks, shares of Gilead Sciences (GILD: chart) climbed 5%, Celgene (CELG: chart) rose 4%, and MedImmune (MEDI: chart) added 3%. Strength in the computer hardware sector also contributed to the upward move. Intel Corp. (INTC: chart) gained 1.7%. On the other hand, the market sentiment was hurt by weakness among health insurance, tobacco, and gold stocks, helping to keep the major averages in the red. Energy and gold stocks also came under pressure amid a significant decrease by the price of oil and gold.

In economic news, the Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators rose by 0.1% in March after falling the two previous months, coming in slightly below expectations of a rise of 0.2%. Six of the 10 leading indicators rose- jobless claims, factory hours, money supply, vendor performance, building permits and new orders for consumer goods. Four indicators fell- stock prices, consumer expectations, the interest rate spread, and capital equipment orders.

Among the companies releasing quarterly results, D.R. Horton (DHI: chart) posted Q2 profit drop of 85% to 16 cents a share from $1.11 a share a year earlier, missing estimates of 27 cents. Home-building revenue dropped to $2.62 billion from $3.53 billion in the year-ago period. Shares of the home builder added 1%. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 15.93, or 0.12%, to 12,787.91. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index fell 1.98, or 0.13%, to 1,470.52. The S&P hit a new 6 1/2-year high Wednesday. The Nasdaq composite index fell 3.89, or 0.15%, to 2,506.61. Bond prices showed little movement following the economic data and after prices rose for three straight sessions. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was unchanged at 4.66% from late Wednesday.

Leading indicators index rebounded in March.
Thursday morning, the Conference Board released its report on leading economic indicators in the month of March. The report showed that the leading indicators index increased in line with what economists had been expecting. The Conference Board said that the leading index edged up 0.1 percent in March after a revised 0.6 percent decrease in February. Economists had expected the index to increase by 0.1 percent compared to the 0.5 percent decrease originally reported for the previous month. The modest increase by the index reflected large positive contributions from unemployment insurance claims, real money supply, and average workweek in manufacturing. However, the positive contributions were partly offset by decreases in stock prices, consumer expectations, and the interest rate spread. The report also showed that the coincident index edged up 0.1 percent due to a large positive contribution from non-agricultural employment. The Conference Board noted that the strengths of the coincident index have been more widespread than the weaknesses in recent months. The Conference Board added that the lagging index also rose 0.1 percent in March, with four of the seven components advancing.


9:45AM U.S. markets opened lower on Asian weakness and earnings reports.
Wall Street opened in the red, reflecting steep declines in Asian and European markets. Shanghai Composite tumbled 4.5% amid higher-than-expected economic growth and inflation. In addition to concerns about Asia, earnings reports and economic data will also be in focus. The news of an 11.1% surge in China''s economy in the first quarter offset strong corporate news released by Merrill Lynch & Co. (MER: chart), Bank of America Corp.(BAC: chart), Merck & Co. (MRK: chart), and eBay Inc. (EBAY: chart). Among the most notable profit gainers, Schering-Plough (SGP: chart) reported a 52% rise in Q1 profit to $565 million, or 36 cents a share, topping estimates. The stock surged 7% in early trading. Merck & Co. (MRK: chart) advanced 0.4% after it said its Q1 profit jumped 12% to 78 cents per share on strong sales.