9:30AM FTSE 100 declines in mid-day trade on lack of fresh bid developments.
The UK market was lower in mid-day trading. The FTSE 100 fell 0.4 % to 6,387.4, a decline of 25 points.

Advancers

SABMiller rose 1.5% on news of strong lager volume growth. The group posted full year trading in line with expectations, but added that lager volumes grew 23% during the period, including organic growth of some 10%, which pleased the market.

Another strong performer was Vodafone, up 0.8%, after analysts at Deutsche Bank raised their rating on the stock to buy from hold.

Mid-cap JJB Sports gained 2.2% after its annual profit missed forecasts, but not by as much as some had feared in the run-up to the numbers.

Decliners

Scottish & Newcastle declined 3.4% after SABMiller seemed to reject speculation that it could bid for the brewer of John Smith bitter and Newcastle Brown Ale. J Sainsbury continued to fall, down a further 1% after CVC abandoned offer for the supermarket chain.

Hammerson, down 2.1% and also linked with possible bid interest from private equity, was hit by a broker downgrade. Lehman Brothers cut its rating on the stock to equal weight from overweight and reduced its price target

Companies exposed to the US suffered losses. Man Group, the world’s largest listed hedge fund, was 0.9% weaker. Wolseley, the plumbing goods supplier highly active in America, fell 0.8% to. Experian, the credit quality data provider, was 1.4% lower.


9:00AM U.S. stock futures declined. Research in Motion weighed.
U.S. stock futures turned lower on Thursday, as investors digested warnings of weak retail sales and data showing higher-than-expected rise in jobless claims. First-time filings for state unemployment benefits rose 19,000 to 342,000 last week, reaching the highest level in two months. In another economic report, the Labor Department said U.S. import prices rose 1.7% in March, the biggest gain in 10 months, and above the average economist estimate of a 0.6% increase. Research In Motion (RIMM: chart) also weighed on sentiment after it reported lower-than-anticipated quarterly results and gave a disappointing profit outlook. The stock dropped 6.8% in the pre-open. Further on the earnings news front, Genentech (DNA: chart) said Q1 profit surged 68%.

Many companies reporting same-store sales figures before the opening bell exceeded expectations because of an earlier Easter holiday this year. At the same time, there were warnings that sales will be light during April. Wal-Mart (WMT: chart) said Thursday its March same-store sales rose 4%, exceeding expectations of 1.6% increase. Total sales for the five-week period rose 11.7% to $34.26 billion. The company expects April same-store sales in the U.S. to be flat to down 2%, due to the earlier Easter holiday. Sales for the combined March/April reporting period are estimated to be between 1% and 2%.

J.C. Penney Co. (JCP: chart) reported 10.6% increase in March same-store sales, higher than an earlier forecast for a high-single digit increase and a 1% decrease last year. The strong results were contributed by strength in apparel categories, benefiting from an earlier Easter. Analysts had expected its same-store sales to rise 7.5%. Total company sales rose 10.7% to $1.71 billion. S&P 500 futures lost 2.90 points at 1,445.70 and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 5.00 points at 1,807.75. Dow industrial futures fell 19 points at 12,535.


8:45AM Asian stocks declined on Thursday on weakness in export-related stocks.
Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday. Japanese Nikkei 225 Average closed 0.7% lower at 17,540.42. Export-related stocks were hurt by the FOMC possible future hikes. Investor reaction led to profit-taking in large-caps, including Sony and Advantest. Sony shed 1.2%, Advantest sank 1.6%, Canon slid 2.1% and Toshiba slipped 0.6%.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index lost 0.3% to 20,380.21. Declines in China Mobile and Sinopec pushed the benchmark index lower after five straight days of gains. China Mobile fell 1% after rising 2.5% over the past five sessions. Sinopec fell 2% after gaining 12% over the last six trading days.

South Korean Kospi Index rose 0.8% to 1,525.61. The market closed at a record high, supported by strong gains by shipbuilders and KT&G, surging 3.8% on hopes of a higher share valuation after the company planned share buyback. Among shipbuilders, Hyundai Heavy Industries soared 3.7% and Samsung Heavy Industries rose 1.9%.

Taiwan Weighted Price Index slipped 0.1% to 8,075.20 and Australian S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.1% to 6,142.80, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1% to 3,531.02. Hopes of strong corporate earnings drew more retail investors to stock markets, driving the key stock index to its ninth record close in a row.


8:30AM Nestle bid $5.5 billion for nutrition company Gerber.
The biggest food and drink company in the World Nestle announced Thursday that it agreed to buy Gerber Products from pharmaceutical maker Novartis in a deal valued at $5.5 billion. Gerber is the leading company in the U.S. baby-food market with a 79% share. The deal follows Nestle''s purchases of the U.S. weight control company Jenny Craig and Novartis Medical Nutrition. The acquisition will help the company''s nutrition business generate annual sales of close to $8.2 billion and around $1.95 billion this year. Nestle firstapproached Gerber in 1994, but lost to Sandoz AG, which later merged with Ciba-Geigy to form Novartis. The deal is expected to be completed during the second half of 2007.