[R]9:45AM Market opened slightly higher. Rising oil boosted energy stocks[/R]
Wall Street opened slightly higher, with investors awaiting speeches by top Fed Reserve officials. An increase by the oil price provided some boost to energy stocks like Exxon Mobil (XOM: chart) and Chevron Corp. (CVX: chart). Anadarko Petroleum (APC: chart) also advanced on news that its Q4 profit more than doubled. However, shares of BP (BP: chart) dropped 1% after the oil giant reported a 22% profit drop and warned of lower future production. The Dow Jones Industrial average was supported by gains for Alcoa ((AA), Intel (INTC: chart), and Coca Cola (KO: chart). The blue-chip stock Wal-Mart (WMT: chart) also provided a lift after the retailer announced that it is testing a possible video download service.

Elsewhere, Bankrate (RATE: chart) rose 11% after posting 50% profit jump in Q4 on robust advertising on its Web sites. International Securities Exchange (ISE: chart), the largest U.S. equity options market, reported 51% profit increase in Q4, helped by robust trading on the electronic marketplace. The stock climbed 9% in early trading. In merger-and-acquisition news, Mortgage insurance provider MGIC Investment Corp. (MTG: chart) agreed to buy rival Radian Group Inc. for $4.9 billion in stock to form a mortgage and credit risk insurance company with total assets of nearly $15 billion. MGIC Investment shares jumped 10%. Equity Office Properties Trust (EOP: chart) rose 1% after the real estate investment trust approved an improved bid for the company from Blackstone Group, valued at $55.50 a share cash, or about $39 billion. In the first hour of trading, the Dow rose 11.30, or 0.09%, to 12,673.04. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 2.85, or 0.20%, at 1,449.84, and the Nasdaq composite index added 5.96, or 0.24%, to 2,476.56. Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.82% from 4.81% late Monday.


[R]9:30AM NY-2:30PM London The FTSE 100 advanced on bid speculation.[/R]
The UK market was trading higher on Tuesday. By mid-day, the FTSE 100 was trading 25.4 points, or 0.56%, higher at 6,343.3. Supermarket groups were again in favor, with Tesco and William Morrison leading the advance as the market awaits further bid developments at J Sainsbury. Reportedly, private equity firm Cinven is in talks with Texas Pacific Group on a possible bid for the supermarket chain. Morrison rose 2.7%, while Tesco gained 2.5%. UBS also upgraded both Tesco and William Morrison. Lloyds TSB was also 1.6% higher on positive broker comment. Credit Suisse raised the rating on the bank from neutral to outperform. Bid talk also lifted Cable & Wireless, 2.3% higher, as reports suggest that Deutsche Telekom was considering a move for the UK group. The record defense budget that President George Bush requested from Congress boosted BAE Systems 3.2% higher. Aviva was another advancer up 0.3% on 25% growth in life and pensions sales in the UK.

Decliners

There were few decliners on the market, led by BP. The oil company was forced to cut its growth expectations for the next few years on weak results. BP forecasts production of more than 4.0 million barrels by 2009 and more than 4.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2012. The stock dipped 1.6%. Royal Dutch Shell followed suit and also declined 0.3%.

[R]9:00AM Market futures pointed slightly higher ahead of Fed officials’ comment.[/R]
U.S. stock futures pointed to a moderately higher opening on strong results from Tyco and corporate news from Wal-Mart. Investors also awaited comments from top Federal Reserve officials for clues about the outlook for U.S. interest rates.

Wal-Mart (WMT: chart) said it was launching a test version of a video download service, which will include more than 3,000 movies and TV titles from major Hollywood studios and TV networks. The service will compete with Apple Inc.''s (AAPL: chart) download service. In earnings news, Tyco International (TYC: chart) reported Q1 earnings rise of 43%, citing increased demand for its electronics and fire and security technology. Excluding non-recurring items, earnings would have topped analyst forecasts. Shares of the company gained 1.3% in pre-open. Duke Energy (DUK: chart) reported Q4 earnings decline, but results excluding special items topped expectations. Cisco Systems (CSCO: chart) which is due to report quarterly results after the close gained 1.1% in pre-open trading.

Among other pre-market highlights, Toyota Motor (TM: chart) reported a 7% profit rise in Q4. Shares in BP (BP: chart) fell 1.3% in pre-market trading after the oil giant reported a 22% profit drop and warned of future production decrease. In other corporate news, International Business Machines (IBM: chart) inched up in pre-market trading. Late Monday the company said it sold its 3.5% stake in Lenovo for $123 million, selling its shares at roughly a 7% discount. S&P 500 futures edged up 1.30 points at 1,455.00 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 3.50 points at 1,809.00. Dow industrial futures improved 12 points to 12,715.


[R]8:30AM NY-7:30PM Mumbai Sensex declines dragged by large-caps.[/R]
The Sensex on BSE finished 37.71 points, or 0.26%, lower, at 14,515.90. The market-breadth was positive as 1,399 shares advanced on BSE, 1,271 declined and 48 remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 18 declined, while the rest advanced. The turnover on BSE surged to Rs 6,084 crore, compared to Rs 4,719 crore on Monday, as three block deals of 23.14 lakh shares each in TCS were struck. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 9,840.6 crore, higher than Rs 9,185.62 crore on Monday.

Economic news

Higher Education Secretary R P Aggarwal hinted that the government is for a 100% foreign direct investment in higher education. The current Foreign Education Bill allows a 50% foreign direct investment in higher education.

India, Pakistan and Iran are one step closer to agree on terms to transfer and purchase gas in the region from Iran. The pipeline is expected to cost at least $7 billion to build and transport 60 million cubic meters of natural gas per day to India and Pakistan. Mr Deora, oil and petroleum minister of India said that final price for the gas purchase will be determined based on the formula agreed by three nations. The price formula, as recommended by independent consultants will be based on price for Japanese crude oil basket for six trailing months.

The BT Group, British telecom network, said on Tuesday that it would buy i2i Enterprise Pvt Ltd, an Indian internet communications company. The acquiring company, BT Telecom India, a subsidiary of BT Group, did not disclose purchase price.

Trading highlights

TCS was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 910 crore followed by Auto Industries and Shree Ashtavinayak.

Advancers

Reliance Energy led the advancers today, up 2.10% to Rs 560. Reliance Energy has shown interest in buying the power sector assets of Globeleq. The stock was also boosted by a contract to build a large power project in Haryana.

Ranbaxy gained 1.35% to Rs 420, after the company said it signed a new agreement for cooperation with GlaxoSmithKline for new drug development in the therapeutic areas of anti-infectives and medicines to treat metabolic disorders.