8:30AM Asian markets rallied on Thursday with Japan at seven-year high.
Asian markets finished higher on Thursday. Japanese Nikkei Index ended 0.8% higher at 17,897. Retailers led the gainers. Department store Takashimaya jumped 10%, while convenience-store operator Seven & I Holdings gained 4.7%. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index jumped 1.6% to 20,538. In Hong Kong, large-caps ended higher after comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke raised expectations for a U.S. interest-rate reduction later this year, sending the benchmark index higher. Sun Hung Kai Properties advanced 1.8%, Cheung Kong was up 1.2% and Hang Lung Properties closed 2.8% higher.

The Shanghai Composite Index surged 3% to 2,993. Large-capitalized Baoshan Iron & Steel added 3.3%, China Chemical & Petroleum rose 2.9% and Bank of China surged 4%. Australian S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.5% to close at 5,993. Corporate earnings and strong overseas markets pushed the Australian share market to the 6,000-point level Thursday, hitting its fifth consecutive daily high. Telstra made the biggest contribution to strength in the market, advancing 3.9% after posting a smaller-than-expected fall in its first-half profit. Other markets around the region also rose. South Korean Kospi Index advanced 0.5% to 1,444 and Taipei ended 0.9% higher at 7,809.


8:00 AM Baidu said its Q4 earnings rose fivefold.
China''s leading Internet search engine, Baidu.com Inc. (BIDU: chart), said that its Q4 net income increased fivefold, as online marketing revenue more than doubled. Baidu reported earnings rise of 122.8 million yuan ($15.7 million), or 3.54 yuan (45 cents) per American Depositary Share, from 24.5 million yuan, or 0.71 yuan per ADS a year ago. The quarterly profit exceeded estimates for earnings of 32 cents per ADS. Baidu''''s Q4 revenue more than doubled to 271.3 million yuan ($34.8 million), up from 114.9 million yuan last year. Online marketing revenue more than doubled to 269.9 million yuan ($34.6 million).

The company released first-quarter revenue forecast that fell short of analyst estimates. The company said it expects Q1 revenue between 265 million yuan ($34 million) and 275 million yuan ($35 million), while analysts project revenue of $38.9 million. Baidu, which holds more than 60% of the Chinese Internet search market, plans to spend $15 million in 2007 on its expansion into Japan.


7:30AM NY-6:30PM Mumbai Sensex advances Thursday in a broad rally.
The Sensex on BSE finished 345.65 points, or 2.47%, higher at 14,355.55. The market-breadth was strong, for every stock that fell four stocks rose. On BSE 2,121 shares advanced, 525 declined and only 33 shares were unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 24 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,266.54 crore, higher than Rs 3,998 crore on Wednesday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 10,025.11 crore, much higher than Rs 8,878.7 crore on Wednesday.

Economic news
Wholesale inflation hit a two-year high of 6.73 % in the week ended 3 February, from 6.58 % in the previous week, topping the forecast of the Reserve Bank of India for the sixth week in a row, as prices of edible oils, dairy products and vegetables rose. The rupee also advanced, following the stronger yen and gains in Indian ADRs. One dollar traded at Rs 44.08/09.

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath on Thursday announced that the government may liberalize imports to control the inflation. The government believes that higher inflation is due to the constraints on the supply side. Also, the government reduced the retail prices of gasoline and diesel by 4.5% and 3.2% respectively on Thursday to combat inflation.

Deutsche Börse has bought a 5% stake in Bombay Stock Exchange, and paid Rs 1.89 billion or $43 million, for the stake in the exchange, the chief executive, Rajnikant Patel, announced Wednesday in Mumbai.

Corporate news
Citigroup Inc., Blackstone Group Holdings LP and two Indian finance companies have signed an agreement to set up a $5 billion infrastructure fund. The aim of the fund will be to improve the country’s roads, ports and other facilities, the Indian finance ministry announced.

Trading highlights
Newly-listed Redington was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 407.30 crore followed by another new listing Pearl Fashion and Global Broadcast.

Advancers
L&T surged 4.8% to Rs 1,692.10, on bargain-hunting after a recent sell-off. The company has seen rising backlog of orders.

Telecoms were given a lift from the strong performance of IPO, Idea Cellular, which was subscribed almost 27 times. Reliance Communications and Bharti Airtel surged. Reliance Comm gained 3% to Rs 466 and Bharti Airtel was up 4.1% to Rs 791.75.

Auto stocks advanced after the government cut gasoline and diesel prices. Ashok Leyland surged 5.4% to Rs 46.20, M&M surged 5% to Rs 900, Maruti Udyog gained 4% to Rs 892 and Hero Honda gained 4.4% to Rs 744. Tata Motors gained 1.8% to Rs 866. Tata Motors and Fiat on Wednesday signed an $80 million agreement to build Tata pick-up trucks under the Fiat brand in Cordoba, Argentina at the Italian carmaker plant.

IT shares advanced on overnight gains in their ADRs listed in New York. Infosys gained 4% to Rs 2,374 after its ADR surged 3% on Wednesday. Satyam Computer advanced nearly 5% to Rs 485, its ADR rose nearly 4% and Wipro gained 3.9% to Rs 676 as its ADR advanced 1.2%. Index heavy Reliance Industries gained 2.3% to Rs 1,410.

Banks also rallied despite the increase in inflation. ICICI Bank gained nearly 4% to Rs 951 and HDFC Bank added 3% to Rs 1,048.

Decliners
Ranbaxy declined 5.1% to Rs 393.50 on reports that investigators for the U.S. Food & Drug Administration yesterday locked the headquarters of Ranbaxy USA.

NTPC slipped 1.3% to Rs 142 and Reliance Energy declined 0.8% to Rs 542.15. ACC lost 0.4% to Rs 1,018 and Gracim was nearly flat, shedding 0.1 to Rs 2,654.