Hong Kong Hang Seng Index finished up 1.3% to 20,566.59. China Mobile, the mainland largest wireless operator, gained 2.3%.Australian S&P/ASX 200 closed up 0.7% at 6,207.5 and South Korean Kospi index finished up 1.3% to 1,533.08. The biggest company in the country, Samsung Electronics, rose 0.7%.


9:00AM U.S. stock futures pointed higher on strong earnings reports.
U.S. stock market futures advanced on Friday, boosted by a rebound in global markets, as well as strong earnings reports from technology bellwethers Google, Advanced Micro Devices and industrial companies Honeywell and Caterpillar. Google (GOOG: chart) gained 4% in the pre-open on 69% profit jump in Q1 to $1 billion, or $3.18 a share from $592 million, or $1.95 a share a year earlier. Another tech giant, AMD (AMD: chart) rose 2% although it swung to Q1 loss of $1.11 a share from a profit of 38 cents a share hurt by weaker prices for its PC server chips. The company added it is considering a major restructuring plan focused on reduction of costs. Dow members Caterpillar (CAT: chart) and Honeywell (HON: chart) rose 5.8% and 2.9%, respectively on better-than-expected Q1 profit and lifted full-year forecasts.

Caterpillar said its Q1 net income fell to $816 million from $840 million, but per-share profit rose to $1.23 from $1.20 a year ago, when there were about 34 million more shares outstanding. Analysts had expected earnings of $1.09 a share. Again among blue-chip stocks, McDonald''s (MCD: chart) reported Q1 higher earnings and revenue. Earnings met forecasts, while revenue was slightly above estimates. Dow component Pfizer (PFE: chart) lost 1% after it reported 18% profit drop in Q1 and cut its full-year outlook. S&P 500 futures rose 6.60 points to 1,486.90 and Nasdaq 100 futures ran up 12.00 points to 1,861.00. Dow industrials futures gained 69 points to 12,940.


8:15AM Pfizer posted 18% profit drop, cut full-year earnings forecast.
Pfizer Inc. (PFE: chart), the world''s largest drug maker, posted 18% decline in Q1 profit, hurt by one-time charges and disappointing sales of diabetes drug Exubera. Net income fell to $3.39 billion, or 48 cents per share, down from $4.11 billion, or 56 cents per share, a year ago. However, excluding one-time items, the company reported adjusted profit of $4.8 billion, or 68 cents per share, up from $4.35 billion, or 59 cents per share, beating estimates of 57 cents. Revenue rose 6% to $12.47 billion from $11.75 billion last year, boosted by 8% rise in the sales of the company''s best selling drug, cholesterol reducer Lipitor.

Pfizer also cut its adjusted earnings per share for 2007 by 10 cents to account for the loss of patent protection for its second best-selling drug, the blood pressure medication Norvasc. The company projected adjusted earnings per share of $2.08 to $2.15, down from a previous range of $2.18 to $2.25. Pfizer also estimates full-year revenue of $47 billion to $48 billion. Including all charges, Pfizer predicts 2007 earnings per share of $1.30 to $1.41. The stock dropped 1.4% in pre-market trading.


8:00AM NY-7:00PM Mumbai Sensex surges Friday on strong results from Satyam.

The Sensex on BSE finished 277.71 points, or 2.04%, higher at 13,897.41.

The market-breadth was strong as there were three advancers for every two decliners. For 1,508 stocks which advanced, 1,072 declined and only 85 stocks which remained unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, there were only three decliners, while the all the other stocks advanced. The tutnover on BSE was Rs 4,301 crore, higher than Rs 4,170.51 crore on Thursday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 8,857.73 crore, also higher than Rs 8,194.26 crore on Thursday.

Economic news

Wholesale inflation rose to 6.09% for the week ended April 7 from 5.74% for the week ended March 31. The rise is mainly on a sudden 23% surge in vegetable prices, increasing pressure on RBI to strenghten money supply next week. Finance Minister P Chidambaram said he expected inflation to decline to around 5.7% next week.

The government asked state-owned banks to slow down credit growth, which is advancing at a rate of 30%, as well as rebalance their portfolios. Finance minister P Chidambaram asked banks to check credit growth to high risk sectors and warned against mobilising bulk deposits at high costs. Banks have to keep interest rates low for home loans up to Rs 10 lakh, which make more than 80% of the home loan portfolio of these banks.

Trading highlights

Tata Steel was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 241.35 crore followed by Advanta and Reliance Industries.

Advancers

Satyam rallied 6.3% to Rs 476.2, supported by better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Satyam Computer fourth-quarter net profit rose 38% to Rs 394 crore, compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Satyam forecast 27% to 29% growth in earning per ADS for fiscal 2008, between $1.16 and $1.18. The US GAAP revenue is expected to rise 28% to 30%, between $1.87 billion and $1.9 billion for fiscal 2008.

Tata Steel soared 5.8% to Rs 534, and HDFC surged 5.5% to Rs 1,651. Tata Steel had rebounded from the last two days of decline caused by equity dilution worries after unveiling funding plans for its $12 billion takeover of Corus Group. Other gainers included Reliance Communications which rallied 5% to Rs 456. Reliance Communications had made strong growth in new subscriptions for the month just gone by.

Bharti Airtel advanced 3.4% to Rs 846. The company has launched a new set of prepaid cards, waiving processing fees. Named Airtel Happy Recharge, the cards will come in three denominations of Rs 299, Rs 399 and Rs 499 having a validity of 30 days. Index heavy Reliance Industries gained 3.4% to Rs 1,543.75.