[R]9:45AM U.S. stocks opened little changed.[/R]
U.S. stocks opened little changed Wednesday, reflecting mixed reports from electronics retailers and a disappointing estimate on U.S. employment. Stocks received help from news of easing global political tensions, with Iran promising to release 15 detained sailors and marines. In corporate news, Best Buy (BBY: chart) rose 1% after reporting 19% rise in Q4 profit to $1.55 a share, compared with $1.29 a year ago. The earnings increased due to higher sales of flat-panel television sets, video-gaming hardware and notebook computers. Rival Circuit City Stores (CC: chart) posted an unexpected loss because of lower sales. The stock lost 0.3%. Panera Bread (PNRA: chart) dropped 4% after it said Q1 revenue rose 24% to $240 million. Panera said it expects Q1 profit to be at or slightly below the previous target of 47 cents to 50 cents a share. Panera estimates that its comparable bakery-cafe sales in the first quarter were lower than expected by about 1% due to extreme weather experienced in its core markets.

Further on the earnings news front, Greenbrier Companies Inc. (GBX: chart) slipped 14% after reporting Q2 drop of 38 cents a share, compared to a gain of 54 cents a share in the year-ago period, missing estimates. Automakers were also in focus as DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX: chart) Chairman Zetsche said the automaker is in talks with potential buyers for its Chrysler unit. In merger-and-acquisition speculation, Goldman Sachs Group (GS: chart) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM: chart) have been hired by private equity firm Apollo Management LP about a possible public offering. In the first hour of trading, the Dow rose 1.38, or 0.01%, to 12,511.68. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.39, or 0.03% to 1,437.38, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 3.14, or 0.13%, to 2,453.47. Bonds rose, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.65% from 4.67% late Tuesday.


[R]9:00AM Asian markets advanced on Wednesday with Australia at record.[/R]
Asian markets ended higher on Wednesday. Sydney S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.3% to a record close of 6,092.9. Coles Group jumped 4.7% after Wesfarmers set a takeover offer of 16.47 Australian dollars or $13.39 a share for the second-largest retailer in the country. The Reserve Bank of Australia on Wednesday held short-term interest rates steady at 6.5%, stunning expectations for a quarter-point increase.

Japanese Nikkei 225 average ended 1.7% higher to 17,544.09. Toyota Motor again posted strong sales in the U.S., rose 1.6%, while Honda Motor added 2.4%. Digital-camera and office-equipment maker Canon added 2.7%.

Other indexes around the region also advanced. Chinese Shanghai Composite Index set an intraday all-time high in the morning session, before retreating slightly in the afternoon session. The benchmark closed almost flat at 3,291.54. Hong Kong Hang Seng Index finished 1% higher at 20,209.71. South Korean Kospiadded 1.4% to 1,483.41 and Singapore Straits Times Index ended up 1.4% 3,332.92, Taiwan Weighted Price Index gained 0.9% to 8,004.61.

The energy sector ended lower after crude-oil prices slipped 2% in U.S. trading. Japanese oil explorer, Inpex Holdings, shed 3%. PetroChina, largest-listed oil company in China by production, fell 0.7%. Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton gained 1.8% after copper futures advanced more than 4% Tuesday to close at their highest level in five months.


[R]8:15AM Daimler Chrysler confirmed talks to sell its Chrysler unit.[/R]
DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX: chart) confirmed on Wednesday that it is in talks to sell its Chrysler unit or only a part of it. Chairman Dieter Zetsche announced on Feb. 14 that due to continued losses and severe competition in the United States, the German-American automaker was considering all options for its Chrysler unit. He also said that a recovery plan including 13,000 job cuts in the U.S. and Canada was moving forward.

Zetsche said the automaker is in talks with unidentified buyers about a possible sale. However, according to reports, Canadian auto-parts supplier Magna International Inc. (MGA: chart) submitted a bid to buy the business for as much as $4.7 billion. In addition, Cerberus Capital Management LLC and a consortium of investors led by Blackstone Group each have reviewed Chrysler''s finances and are expected to make bids.

Zetsche also said that between now and 2009, Chrysler will release on the market 20 all-new vehicles and 13 renewed models. At Mercedes, the company will able to achieve at least a 7% return on sales for 2007 on the third year of its restructuring program. He said the company will give estimates on DaimlerChrysler''s 2007 performance in May, along with Q1 results.


[R]8:00AM NY-7:00PM Mumbai Sensex against 162 points in a broad rally.[/R]
The Sensex on BSE finished 162.19 points higher, or 1.28%, higher to 12,786.77. The market-breadth was very strong as there were three advancers for every two decliners. As 1,581 stocks advanced, 899 declined and 79 were unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 21 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3,218 crore, higher than Rs 2,890.28 crore on Tuesday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 6,971.64 crore, compared with Rs 6,745.48 crore on Tuesday.

Economic news

The Rupee surged to its highest level in nearly eight years today, breaching 43 to a dollar as banks sold the US unit to raise funds to meet statutory reserve requirements. In morning trade, the rupee was at 42.925/42.935 per dollar, off an early high of 42.84, its strongest since June 1, 1999.

The government has eliminate the 16% countervailing duty and 4% special additional duty on Portland cement imports, which may put margin pressure on domestic cement companies waiting for a respite on dual excise duty structure. The government is also likely to restrict the maximum area for a Special Economic Zone at 5,000 hectares and to announce more rules for SEZs after the Empowered Group of Ministers on SEZs meet on Thursday.

Trading highlights

HDFC Bank was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 112.70 crore followed by Renuka Sugar and Indiabulls Real Estate.

Advancers

HDFC soared over 5% to Rs 1,497. The stock had lost 6.3% over the past two days, after lifting the lending rate by 75 basis points after a hike in a short-term rate by the Reserve Bank of India. NTPC surged 4.5% to Rs 161 and BHEL rallied 4.4% to Rs 2,353. BHEL continued the trend from Tuesday when it reported 42% growth in provisional net profit for the fiscal 2007.