4:30PM NY; 10:30PM Frankfurt; 3:00AM Mumbai - GLOBAL MARKETS
The European Central Bank raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point and the Bank of England left the rates unchanged. In the U.S. weekly report on gasoline showed less than expected rise in gasoline supply sparking another rally in gasoline prices. Asian Markets shrugged off recent weakness led by a rise of 3.7% in India.

Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.525% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.662%.

Gold declined 10 cents to close at $652.800 a troy ounce, silver decreased 5 cents to end at $13.055 a troy ounce and copper advanced $165.000 to close at $6137.000 per ton.

Oil declined 19 cents to close at $61.630 a barrel and heating oil lost 0.590 cents to finish at 176.150 cents a gallon. Natural gas decreased 11.0 cents to close at $7.256 per MMBtu. Gasoline went up 3.000 cents to end at 192.550 cents a gallon.

Asian markets closed higher with investors shrugging off a weaker ending on Wall Street to focus on domestic-consumption-related issues amid optimism over the regional growth outlook. The advancers were led by India with a gain of 3.73%, Malaysia with an increase of 2.82% and Singapore with an advance of 2.07%. The only decliner was Philippines with a loss of 1.14%. Australia lost 0.06%.

European markets finished higher helped by gains from commodity producers and a batch of mostly well-received earnings from companies such as Dutch insurer Aegon and French utility Suez. The advancers were led by Norway with an increase of 2.41%, Spain with a gain of 2.02% and Belgium with an advance of 1.59%. There were no decliners.

Latin America markets finished higher rallied across the board as other emerging markets increasingly showed signs of recovery. The advancers were led by Argentina with an increase of 2.00%, Mexico with a gain of 1.88% and Brazil with an advance of 1.49%. There were no decliners. Canada gained 0.52% led by the key resource and financials sectors.

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

California Coastal Communities (CALC) was upgraded to market outperform from market perform at JMP Securities. Shares of the company rose 8.1%.

CSP Inc. (CSPI), which develops messaging and image-processing software, shares rose 16.9% after the company said that its fiscal first-quarter revenue surged 40% and it reported a profit of $978,000, or 25 cents a share. Last year''s losses came to 15 cents a share.

Culp Inc. (CFI) said its third quarter net loss widened slightly to $2.2 million from $2.17 million. The company''s loss per share for the quarter was unchanged at 19 cents a share. Quarterly net sales fell to $55.7 million from $61 million in the same period a year earlier.

Fred''s Inc. (FRED), which operates discount general merchandise stores, said February sales at stores open for at least a year rose 3.9%, helped by its performance in general merchandise departments. The company said total sales for the four-week period ended March 3 rose 8% to $143.9 million, from $133.4 million in the four-week period ended Feb. 25, 2006. Fred''s planned to open about 40 new stores, 15 to 25 new pharmacies and close certain stores in 2007. Shares climbed 7.7%.

K2 Inc. (KTO), sporting goods maker, said it swung to a profit of 20 cents per share compared with a loss of $5.01 per share in the prior-year period. Adjusted income for the quarter totaled 25 cents per share. A 9% sales rise fueled the profit swing. The company credited new products such as alpine skis and high performance baseball gloves for the increase. Shares climbed 5.1%.

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co. (LJPC) shares soared 29.4% after it reported positive interim results from a late-phase study of a drug proposed to treat lupus, a chronic condition in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the body''s own tissues.

Mama.com (MAMA) jumped 27.1% after the Canadian search engine swung to a fourth-quarter profit of $420,000, or 3 cents per share, compared with a loss of 6 cents per share a year ago. Revenue more than doubled to $3.6 million.

New York & Co. (NWY), women''s clothing-store chain, said February sales gained 8.9% to $87.7 million. Same-store sales were up 2.7%, as compared with last year''s 12.8% decline. Shares jumped 14.7%.

Omni Energy Services Corp. (OMNI), which provides seismic data to the petroleum industry, forecast 2007 net income to rise as much as 70%, as the company benefits from recent acquisitions. Shares climbed 12.5%.

Distributed Energy Systems Corp. (DESC), alternative-energy related company, said that its fourth-quarter net loss widened to $33.2 million, or 84 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $3.4 million, or 9 cents per share, in the year-ago period. The 2006 fourth-quarter included $25.6 million, or 65 cents per share, in non-cash goodwill and intangible asset impairment charges. Revenue climbed to $13.8 million versus $11 million in the same period a year earlier. Shares fell 27.2%.

1:00PM NY European markets closed higher helped by commodities and earnings.
European stocks posed solid gains on Thursday, boosted by strength in the commodity sector and a batch of well received earnings reports. The gains came after the European Central Bank raised its key rate to 3.75%, in line with expectations, and the Bank of England held rates unchanged at 5.25%. Metals firms including Boliden and Xstrata made the best sector performance as copper and gold futures advanced. Among earnings-related gainers, French utilities Suez and Veolia Environnement jumped over 2% after reporting strong profit in 2006. Shares in BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank both gained 2.4% following an upgrade at J.P. Morgan, which lifted its rating on the European investment banking sector as a whole to neutral from underweight. German pharmaceutical and chemicals giant Bayer and Anglo Irish Bank were also in the spotlight. Bayer benefited from an upgrade to buy from neutral at UBS, while Aegon climbed on higher profit. The German DAX Xetra 30 climbed 1.4% at 6,713.23, the French CAC 40 rose 1.3% to 5,524.26, and the U.K. FTSE 100 closed up 1.2% to 6,227.70.

Crude oil prices reversed from steep advance in the previous session, due to profit-taking. Light, sweet crude April delivery fell 52 cents $61.30. Heating oil slipped to $1.7642. Natural gas fell 15 cents to $7.220 per 1,000 cubic feet. London Brent dropped 64 cents to $61.86. The U.S. dollar gained ground against its major currency rivals. The euro was quoted at $1.3118, down from $1.3182. The dollar bought 117.42 yen, up from 116.36. The British pound was quoted at $1.9281, down from $1.9339. European gold prices rose. In London gold traded at $651.20 per troy ounce, up from $647.50. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $650.40, down from $648.60. Silver rose to $12.97, up from $12.94.