5:00PM NY; 11:00PM Frankfurt; 3:30AM Mumbai - GLOBAL MARKETS
Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.536% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.693%.

Gold gained $4.500 to close at $647.000 a troy ounce, silver increased 26 cents to end at $13.090 a troy ounce and copper advanced $34.000 to close at $6279.000 per metric ton.

Oil declined 63 cents to close at $57.530 a barrel and heating oil lost 2.200 cents to finish at 168.700 cents a gallon. Natural gas decreased 13.5 cents to close at $6.948 per MMBtu. Gasoline went down 5.030 cents to end at 187.800 cents a gallon.

Asian markets closed higher back in rally mode after the previous session''s sharp declines. The advancers were led by China with an increase of 1.91%, Taiwan with an advance of 1.66% and South Korea with a gain of 1.39%. The only decliner was Philippines with a loss of 1.00%. Australia gained 1.82%.

European markets finished higher with bid talk around the likes of Imperial Tobacco and Atos Origin supporting sentiment and Bayer gaining after strong earnings. The advancers were led by Spain with an increase of 2.48%, U.K. with a gain of 2.21% and Germany with an advance of 2.14%. There were no decliners.

Latin America markets finished mostly higher on gains in U.S. equity markets and among commodity prices. The advancer was Mexico with a gain of 0.79%, while the decliners were Brazil with a decrease of 0.24% and Argentina with a loss of 0.16%. Canada advanced 0.53%.

2:30PM NY, U.S. Market Movers

51Job Inc. (JOBS: chart), career services provider, raised its first-quarter revenue outlook as it sees market demand for recruitment advertising services growing over levels in the previous two years. Excluding share-based compensation expense and any foreign currency translation losses or gains, the company said it sees quarterly earnings of 15 cents to 17 cents per ADS on revenue of $24.6 million to $25.9 million. On March 1, the company had forecast revenue of $23.1 million to $25.6 million for the first quarter. Shares of the company climbed 16.2%.

Accredited Home Lenders (LEND: chart) bounce and IndyMac (NDE: chart) is due to short-covering. After yesterday posting a Dirty Dozen list of stocks everyone is shorting, Cramer said that now all the firms are reacting to it and saying they don''t belong on the list. Shares went up 61.1%. The stock has now more than doubled since closing at a record low just 2 sessions ago. The stock had tumbled 65% to $3.97 after the subprime mortgage lender said it received margin calls from its financial backers, and was looking to raise capital to enhance liquidity.

Bowne & Co. (BNE: chart) swung to a fourth-quarter profit of $2.23 million, or 7 cents per share, from a year-earlier loss of $7.91 million, or 24 cents per share. Income from continuing operations swung to $142,000, or less than 1 cent per share, from a year-ago loss of $7.09 million, or 21 cents per share. The company''s revenue climbed 22% to $191.1 million versus $157 million a year earlier.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX: chart) shares added 6.2%, to $60.32, by midday Thursday, helped by higher copper prices and bullish Wall Street comments. The company said it had won shareholder approval for a $26 billion deal to buy Phelps Dodge Corp. (PD: chart), creating the world''s largest publicly traded copper miner.

e-Future Information Technology Inc. (EFUT: chart), a leading supply chain management software and services provider, is pleased to announce the completion of a $10.0 million private placement with three funds associated with two institutional investors on March 13, 2007. Westminster Securities Corporation acted as the exclusive placement agent for the transaction.

Global Crossing Ltd. (GLBC: chart), reported a wider loss for the fourth quarter, as results were hurt by an increase in its provision for income taxes. The quarterly loss applicable to common shareholders totaled $90 million versus a year-ago loss of $80 million. Revenue grew 6% to $488 million, from $462 million last year. Shares climbed 12.5%.

NationsHealth Inc. (NHRX: chart), which sells IT services for medical-product distribution, swung to a fourth-quarter profit of $1.2 million, or 4 cents per share, from a loss of 67 cents per share last year. The only analyst''s estimate called for a loss of 2 cents per share, according to Thomson Financial. The company said revenue dwindled 9% to $22.8 million, but this tops the $19.4 million estimate. Shares climbed 16.2%.

Winnebago Industries Inc. (WGO: chart), recreational vehicle manufacturers, reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $7.5 million, or 24 cents a share, down slightly from a year-ago profit of $7.7 million, or 23 cents a share. The company''s per share figure reflects a decline in the number of outstanding common shares on a year-over-year basis. Revenue fell 3.6% in the quarter to $199 million from $206.4 million a year earlier. Shares climbed 11.1%.

Wave Systems Corp. (WAVX: chart), security-hardware maker, reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $4.77 million, or 12 cents per basic share, compared with a net loss of $4.45 million, or 1.5 cents per basic share, in the year-ago period. Revenue climbed to $866,000 versus $152,000 in the same period a year earlier. Shares fell 10.4%.

1:00PM NY European markets rallied, lifted by deal talk.
European stocks rallied on Thursday, boosted by deal talk, strong gains in the shares of resource stocks and strong earnings from Bayer. Tobacco stocks were the best performers on merger speculation. Imperial Tobacco rose 8.6% after it approached Franco-Spanish rival Altadis over a potential 45 euros-a-share offer worth $15 billion. Shares in Altadis surged 17% to 45.38 euros. Among other tobacco companies, British American Tobacco rose 2.8% and Swedish Match climbed 6%. Resources stocks were also notable gainers, as miners including Antofagasta and Anglo American rallied. German drug and chemicals group Bayer rose 3.3% after it announced a 5.4% rise in net profit, driven by growth at its health-care division and a tax gain. Anglo-Dutch consumer products group Unilever rose 5.2%, following an upgrade at Credit Suisse. On the side of the losers, shares of French smart-card maker Gemalto lost 8.9%, PartyGaming shares weakened 4.7%. The German DAX 30 climbed 2.1% at 6,585.47, the French CAC 40 rose 1.8% at 5,389.85 and the U.K. FTSE 100 gained 2.2% at 6,133.20.

Crude oil prices hovered over $58 a barrel, as OPEC said it will maintain oil production at existing levels. Light, sweet crude April delivery rose 14 cents $58.30. Heating oil fell to $1.702. Natural gas lost 5 cents to $7.032 per 1,000 cubic feet. London Brent slipped 18 cents to $60.88. The U.S. dollar traded mixed against its major currency rivals. The euro was quoted at $1.3246, up from $1.3224. The dollar bought 117.18 yen, up from 117.03. The British pound was unchanged at $1.9357. European gold prices rose. In London gold traded at $647.75 per troy ounce, down from $638.90. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $646.35, up from $639.65. Silver rose to $12.99, up from $12.64.


11:30AM Wall Street traded higher, boosted by merger activity.
U.S. market averages traded slightly in the positive, as enthusiasm over merger activity offset the surprisingly high wholesale inflation index in February. Producer prices jumped 1.3%, well above the 0.5% analysts were expecting. Meanwhile, the New York Federal Reserve''s Empire Manufacturing survey came in at 1.85, sharply below the 17.75 economists were predicting. However, there were positive economic data that gave market a boost. The Labor Department said the initial jobless claims dropped by 12,000 to 318,000 last week.