Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered declined 1 % despite it announcing it was performing very strongly in the year to date and was about to meet full-year profit growth of 17 %.


[R]9:00AM U.S. stock futures advanced, boosted by Morgan Stanley earnings and $22.5 billion buyback at Home Depot.[/R]

U.S. stocks advanced in pre-open trading on Wednesday, boosted by higher-than-expected earnings from Morgan Stanley and lower bond yields. The bond market has continued its recovery, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond was down 5/32 to 95 11/32, yielding 5.103%.

Morgan Stanley (MS: chart) advanced 2.2% after posting 40% earnings increase, beating analyst estimates. Positive sentiment was also generated by a $22.5 billion share buy-back from Home Depot (HD: chart). The Dow component shares jumped 6.2% in the pre-open.

Among other pre-market highlights, Circuit City (CC: chart) dropped 2.6% in the pre-open after the electronics retailer posted Q1 loss of $54.6 million, or 33 cents per share, compared with a profit of $6.4 million, or 4 cents a share. Revenue fell 4% to $2.49 billion from $2.6 billion a year ago, as more customers purchased low-margin products. Analysts had expected a loss of 32 cents per share on revenue of $2.44 billion.

Shares of FedEx Corp. (FDX: chart) moved slightly higher after it reported a 7% quarterly profit increase. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 55 at 13,810, while those for the S&P 500 index rose 4.70 points to 1,553.


[R]8:30AM Asian markets finished mixed Wednesday with Japan up, China down.[/R]

Asian markets finished mixed Wednesday. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.3 percent to 18,211.68 in Japan. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries settled up 3.8% on a report it signed a partnership agreement under which Boeing will support the first passenger jet in Japan. Nissan Motor was up 0.8%, and Sharp finished 0.4% higher.

In Hong Kong, strong gains in Chinese oil producers buoyed the benchmark index to another closing record for the third consecutive session. The benchmark Hang Seng index advanced 0.47% to 21684.67. Offshore oil producer Cnooc surged 2.7% after a ratings upgrade by Credit Suisse, and PetroChina soared 5.2% after unveiling plans to list shares in Shanghai.

In China, the market closed lower on worries that new share offerings will lead to a supply glut, after oil company PetroChina announced it plans a Shanghai listing. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.42% to 439.18. Steel makers declined after China announced late Tuesday it will reduce or abolish tax rebates on export of metal and steel products from July 1. Baoshan Iron & Steel shed 2.2%, Wuhan Iron & Steel lost 2.7% and Laiwu Steel tumbled 5.2%.

In South Korea, the Kospi index fell 1.33% to 1783.79 on weakness in brokerage stocks. Hyundai Securities fell 13.5% and Daewoo Securities declined 9.8% as merger and acquisition premiums built into the stock prices subsided.

In Australia, the market closed at a record high as speculation continued that the Future Fund of the government was buying large amounts of share price index futures. Most of the strength was seen in financials, with National Australia Bank up 0.5%, QBE Insurance up 1.1% and Macquarie Bank up 1.8%. Among resource stocks, BHP Billiton dipped 1.1% and Rio Tinto shed 0.7% after London Metal Exchange prices declined overnight.


[R]8:15AM Morgan Stanley reported 40% earnings increase in Q2.[/R]

Morgan Stanley (MS: chart) announced that its Q2 net income rose 40% to $2.58 billion, or $2.45 a share, from $1.84 billion, or $1.75 a share a year ago. Company’s revenue increased 32% from the previous year to $11.5 billion. Quarterly results exceeded expectations of net income of $2.01 a share on revenue of $10.03 billion. The No. 2 U.S. investment bank attributed the earnings rise to fees from advising clients on acquisitions and stock trading. The stock jumped 1.7% in pre-market trading.


[R]7:30AM NY-6:30PM Mumbai Sensex spurts 116 points in a broad rally, led by banks and auto stocks.[/R]

The Sensex on BSE finished 116.45 points, or 0.81%, higher at 14,411.95.