11:30AM U.S. stock markets turned higher on positive housing market comments.
Disappointing earnings from Home Depot and losses for energy companies amid falling oil prices kept U.S. stocks under pressure. However, market sentiment turned slightly positive after Federal Reserve governor's encouraging assessment of the housing market. Wal-Mart (WMT: chart) provided support to the Dow after reporting higher-than-expected earnings, and issued a bullish forecast. Wal-Mart Stores posted Q4 net income rise of 95 cents per share, up from 87 cents a year ago. The company Q4 sales jumped 10.9% to $98.09 billion, but came in below the $99.95 billion forecast by analysts. The stock rose 2.8%.

Several multibillion-dollar merger deals were in the spotlight. Florida Rock Industries (FRK: chart) surged 42% after it agreed to be acquired by Vulcan Materials (VMC: chart) for $4.6 billion. In another deal of note, U.K. pharmaceuticals producer Shire plc (SHPGY: chart) rose 5% as it agreed to pay $2.6 billion in cash for New River Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NRPH: chart), sending its shares up 8.5%. Among stocks driven by analyst comments, JetBlu airways (JBLU: chart) fell 5.4% after Morgan Stanley cut the carrier to equal weight. By sector, oil, gold and semiconductor stocks led decliners, while airlines, transportation and utilities moved higher. In late morning trading, the Dow was up 6.57, or 0.05%, at 12,774.14, recovering from an earlier loss. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 2.27, or 0.16%, at 1,457.81, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 9.09, or 0.365, at 2,505.40.


9:45AM U.S. stocks opened lower on weaker energy shares and Home Depot profit drop.
Wall Street opened lower on Tuesday, pressured by falling energy shares and disappointing earnings from Home Depot, which offset merger news and positive quarterly results from Wal-Mart Stores. Crude-oil futures declined amid forecasts for warmer weather in the northeastern U.S. Falling oil prices weighed on energy shares like Exxon Mobil (XOM: chart) and BP (BP: chart), both losing 1.1%. Blue-chip company Home Depot (HD: chart) fell 1% after the retailer reported 28% profit drop in Q4 due to a slowing activity in the home-building sector. Oher companies weighing on the Dow included Intel Corp. (INTC: chart), down 1.4% and American Express (ADXP: chart), down 1%. However, Wal-Mart (WMT: chart) supported the Dow, rising 2.3% amid better-than-expected quarterly profit.

In merger-and-acquisition news, Vulcan Materials (VMC: chart), a producer of construction aggregates and materials, agreed to buy Florida Rock Industries (FRK: chart) in a $4.6 billion cash-and-stock deal. Shares of Florida Rock soared 42% on Tuesday morning. News of a merger deal between Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI: chart) and XM Satellite Radio (XMSR: chart) failed to provide a lift to the sentiment. Sirius Satellite jumped 7%, while XM Satellite surged 11%. In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 37.41, or 0.29%, to 12,730.16. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was down 4.74, or 0.33%, at 1,450.80, and the Nasdaq composite index was down 10.18, or 0.41%, to 2,486.13. Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.70% from 4.69% late Friday.


9:30AM NY-2:30PM London FTSE dips on Tuesday in a day of corporate news.
The UK market was lower on Tuesday. The benchmark index FTSE 100 in London dipped 0.36% at 6,421 in mid-afternoon trade.

Advancers

Intelligent building control systems outfit company Polaron soared 20.3% on Tuesday after it agreed a recommended cash offer from Cooper Controls of UK. Still on bid talk, Hanson rose 4.2% as news that Vulcan Materials of the US had agreed to buy Florida Rock Industries for $4.6 billion raised hopes of further bids to come in the aggregates sector. EMI also rose 6.7% after the music group confirmed it was in talk that could lead to another potential bid approach from Warner Music of the US. In broker comment, Drax Group gained 3.9% as Goldman Sachs upgraded the power generator from neutral to buy. Goldman also upgraded mid-cap nuclear power group, British Energy, and its shares surged 5.1%.

Decliners

Scottish & Newcastle fell 4.2% despite reporting stronger profits as investors focus on news of margin pressure on higher energy costs. News of a further decline in profits at Barclayscard took the shine off the record annual profits at Barclays. The bank stated that growth in bad debts rose in the second half of the year, helping limit downside. Barclays shares fell 0.3%. Rexam shed 3.6% after the largest packaging group in the world reported a 1% decrease in annual profit of 303 million pounds, missing consensus forecasts. Cadbury Schweppes lost 1.1% after profits last year were hit by product recalls in the UK.


9:00 AM Market futures traded down, hurt by Home Depot earnings.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower market opening Tuesday after the long holiday weekend. The pre-market sentiment was hurt by disappointing quarterly results from Dow component Home Depot which helped to offset news of possible merger of the nation''''s two big satellite radio stations Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio Holdings.

Home improvement giant Home Depot (HD: chart) reported a 28% drop in Q4 profit, hurt by a weak housing market and a charge taken to cover executive severance costs. Net profit fell to $925 million, or 46 cents a share, down from $1.29 billion, or 60 cents last year. Quarterly sales rose 4% to $20.27 billion, while comparable-store sales fell 6.6%. Shares of the Dow component slipped 2% in pre-market trading. On the other hand, Wal-Mart (WMT: chart) posted a Q4 net income increase of $3.94 billion, or 95 cents a share, compared with $3.59 billion, or 86 cents last year, beating estimates for earnings of 90 cents. Shares rose 2.7% in the premarket.

Two rival companies in the radio satellite industry were in the spotlight after Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI: chart) agreed to combine with XM Satellite Radio (XMSR: chart) in a deal, billed as a merger of equals, that will value the combined company at around $13 billion. Shares in Sirius Satellite climbed 13% in pre-market trade, while shares in XM Satellite surged 27.5%. In other deal news, Vulcan Materials (VMC: chart) said it agreed to buy smaller construction aggregates company Florida Rock (FRK: chart) in a cash-and-stock deal worth $4.6 billion. Among stocks driven by analyst comments, Jetblue Airways (JBLU: chart) dropped 3% in premarket trade after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock. S&P 500 futures were last down 0.90 points at 1,457.90 and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 2.25 points at 1,825. Dow futures were down 2 points at 12,785.


8:30AM NY-7:30PM Mumbai Sensex declines Tuesday on profit-booking in large-caps.
The Sensex on BSE lost 149.52 points, or 1.04 %, to settle at 14,253.38 points. The market-breadth was weak with three stocks declining for every one stock advancing. As 1,892 stocks declined on BSE, 684 advanced and 54 remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, only five advanced, while the rest 25 declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3,885.54 crore, lower than Rs 4,204 crore on Monday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 7,800.66 crore, compared with Rs 7,762.21 crore on Monday.

Economic and corporate news

Steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal has entered the oil refining sector, buying a 49% stake valued at $728 million in a new Indian unit rejected by BP almost a year ago, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora announced on Tuesday.

Traders in India are worried that the government is likely to hike short-term capital gains tax on sale of shares from the current 10% in the budget. The Government also announced that it does not intend to subsidize sugar exports and is considering building a buffer stock to help alleviate the pressure on mills from falling prices.