Shanghai Composite Index ended nearly unchanged at 3,612.39 and Hong Kong Hang Seng Index closed 0.1% lower at 20,777.09. In China, investors took to the sidelines ahead of the release of the country first-quarter GDP data Thursday afternoon, which is believed to show Chinese economy continues to expand at a rapid pace. Shares of PICC Property & Casualty tumbled 6.1% in Hong Kong, after reporting 2006 net profit had more than doubled.

South Korean Kospi index ended up 0.4% at 1534.58. Hyundai Motor fell 0.7%, easing back from earlier gains. Taiwan Weighted Price Index rose 0.6% to close at 8,003.31 and Singapore Straits Times Index shed 0.4% to 3,400.41.


9:00AM Wall Street to open lower on weak earnings from Yahoo, Motorola.
U.S. stock market futures pointed to a lower opening Wednesday, dragged down by weakness in the tech sector, generated by disappointing earnings news at Yahoo and a downgrade of IBM. Stronger-than-anticipated financial results from blue-chip chipmaker Intel and financial services giant J.P. Morgan, failed to lift sentiment.

Yahoo (YHOO: chart) shares slipped 8.8% in pre-market trading after the company posted disappointing Q1 profit and revenue. Yahoo revealed its Q1 profit had fallen by 11%. Dow component IBM (IBM: chart) dropped 2.5% in the pre-open after the company posted an 8% increase in Q1 profit to $1.84 billion, or $1.21 a share, in line with expectations. Goldman Sachs downgraded its stock to neutral from buy following the results, citing a slowdown in U.S. tech spending.

Among companies posting positive quarterly results, Intel (INTC: chart) traded up 1.7% in the pre-open following an announcement that its Q1 profit surged 19%, exceeding expectations. Fellow Dow component United Technologies (UTX: chart) rose 1.4% amid Q1 earnings rise of 6.6% to $819 million, or 82 cents a share, beating forecasts of 80 cents a share. Blue-chip J.P.Morgan (JPM: chart) rose 3% after it said Q1 net income rose more than 50% to $4.8 billion, or $1.34 a share, from $3.1 billion, or 86 cents a year ago, well above estimates of $1.02 a share. The company also increased its dividend by 12% and launched a $10 billion stock repurchase program.

Again in the tech sector, Motorola (MOT: chart) said it swung to a Q1 loss of $181 million, or 9 cents a share, from a profit of $686 million, or 26 cents a share a year earlier, hurt by lower-than-expected mobile phone sales and charges. Excluding non-recurring items and discontinued operations, the company said it would have had a profit of 2 cents a share, in line with forecasts. The stock added 0.8% in the pre-open. Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell 10.25 points 1,842.00, and the S&P 500 futures shed 4.00 points to 1,475.00. Dow industrials futures lost 22 points at 12,804.



8:15AM Intel gained 2.5% in the pre-open on better-than-expected earnings. Yahoo slipped 9%.
Intel (INTC: chart) traded up 2.5% in the pre-open following an announcement that its Q1 profit surged 19% to $1.61 billion, or 27 cents per share, higher than $1.36 billion, or 23 cents per share in the same period last year. Intel said revenue in the quarter was $8.85 billion, down slightly from last year''s $8.94 billion. The quarterly profit exceeded analyst expectations for net income of 22 cents a share on $9 billion in revenue. Investors welcomed the news of surging profit as well as positive forecasts after a year of plunging profits and massive job cuts.

Yahoo (YHOO: chart) shares slipped 8.8% in pre-market trading after the company posted disappointing Q1 profit and revenue. Yahoo revealed its Q1 profit had fallen by 11% to $142.4 million, or 10 cents per share, down from net income of $159.9 million, or 11 cents per share last year although revenue for the period rose 7% to $1.67 billion The results were a penny below the average earnings estimate. Yahoo''s stock price had surged by 26% so far this year, reflecting hopes that the company will regain its financial momentum after stumbling through much of 2006.


8:00AM NY-7:00PM Mumbai Sensex closes with a slight gain, NTPC rallies.
The Sensex on BSE finished 65.15 points, or 0.48%, higher at 13,672.19. The market-breadth finished positive, but it weakened at the end of trading. For 1,341 stocks which advanced, 1,232 stocks declined, and only 88 were unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 20 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3,757 crore, lower than Rs 4,565.32 crore on Tuesday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 8,600.37 crore, also lower than Rs 9,611.56 crore on Tuesday.

Economic news

The rupee again advanced against the US currency, after pausing briefly, and was quoted at 41.88/41.89 a dollar in late morning deals supported by robust capital inflows and weaker Us currency against other world currencies.

The Union government is open to changes in the 5,000 hectare land ceiling for special economic zones which was decided at the meeting of Empowered Group of Ministers.

Although he government still has reservations over allowing pension funds in stock markets, retirement savings worth a billion dollars of more than one million Americans have already been injected in Indian equities and it is likely to increase further this year.

Trading highlights

ICRA was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 391.80 crore followed by Tata Steel and debutant Dish TV.

IPO