[R]4:15PM NY; 10:15PM Frankfurt; 2:45AM Mumbai - GLOBAL MARKETS[/R]
Markets in New York closed lower dragged by financial stocks and weakness in select tech stocks. Worries related to riskier lending in the home mortgage business persisted for the third week in a row. European market closed higher on insurance, energy and metals stocks. Asian markets closed lower but Japan managed to register gains.


Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.636% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.743%.

Gold advanced $3.100 to close at $689.800 a troy ounce, silver increased 11.5 cents to end at $14.830 a troy ounce and copper advanced $177.000 to close at $6294.000 per ton.

Oil gained 38 cents to close at $61.520 a barrel and heating oil increased 0.750 cents to finish at 175.800 cents a gallon. Natural gas lost 15.5 cents to close at $7.600 per MMBtu. Gasoline went up 1.940 cents to end at 178.250 cents a gallon.

Asian markets closed lower with major Asian-Pacific stocks ended slightly higher, with Japan rising on gains in Sony and Softbank, but other regional markets slipped. The advancers were led by Taiwan with an increase of 1.16%, Japan with a gain of 0.15% and South Korea with an advance of 0.01%. The decliners were led by Hong Kong with a decrease of 0.98%, Malaysia with a loss of 0.80% and Thailand with a decline of 0.30%. Australia gained 0.21% after prices for industrial commodities and precious metals rose.

European markets closed higher as insurance, oils and metal firms gained and companies such as Associated British Foods and insurer Old Mutual posted well-received earnings. The advancers were led by Norway with a gain of 0.88%, Italy with an advance of 0.82% and France with an increase of 0.81%. The only decliner was Switzerland with a loss of 0.38%.

Latin America markets closed mixed with the advancers led by Argentina with an increase of 0.65% and Brazil with a gain of 0.40% on favorable inflation data and forecasts. The only decliner was Mexico with a decrease of 1.33% after a record-setting run. Canada advanced 0.53% on rising oil and gold prices.

[R]2:30PM NY, U.S. Market Movers[/R]

Abraxis BioScience (ABBI: chart), biopharmaceutical company, recorded a 47% increase in its revenue to a record $765.5 million from $520.8 in 2005. Revenue for company-wide, hospital-based products reached a record $584.4 million in 2006, a 52% increase from the prior year. The company said that its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings climbed to $46.7 million, or 29 cents per share, compared with a year-ago equivalent profit of $14.8 million, or 9 cents per share. Shares of the company went up 4.1%.

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW: chart) shares climbed 5.4% as investors snapped on a report that a group of private equity firms might make a $54 billion bid for the company.

GulfMark Offshore Inc. (GMRK: chart), transportation services to the offshore energy industry provider, said that its fourth-quarter net income increased to $30.6 million, or $1.42 per share, compared with $8.2 million, or 39 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue jumped 34% to $69 million, due to higher rates and the addition of new vessels. The firm said profit also benefited by around 17 cents a share from a previously announced sale. Shares climbed 4.8%.

Hub International Ltd. (HBG: chart) said it will be acquired by private equity firm Apax Partners, together with Morgan Stanley Principal Investments, for about $1.7 billion. Shares of the company climbed 13.9%.

Itron Inc. (ITRI: chart) rose 5% after the technology provider agreed to acquire Actaris Metering Systems for roughly $1.6 billion. The acquisition of the company is expected to add about 20 cents to 30 cents per share to adjusted earnings and between $720 million and $730 million in revenue to 2007 results. The deal is expected to close during the second quarter.

Jakks Pacific Inc. (JAKK: chart), which sells toys, writing instruments and other consumer products, said that its fourth-quarter net income increased to $23.2 million or 73 cents per share from $9 million, or 30 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding stock-based compensation and other charges, earnings increased to $26.9 million, or 84 cents per share, from $12.7 million, or 41 cents a share a year ago. Quarterly sales rose 43.3% to $238.3 million, as traditional dress-up and role play dolls and action figures sold well. Shares jumped 13.8% as company’s fiscal 2007 earnings outlook topped Wall Street estimates.

Temple-Inland (TIN: chart) said it would spin off two businesses and sell its timberland operations, sending its shares up 14.2%. The company said the spin-offs would include its financial services operations in Guaranty Bank and more than 236,000 acres of real estate operations. Temple-Inland''s timber holdings consist of about 1.8 million acres in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Georgia, as well as the mineral rights to nearly 740,000 acres in those states.

TXU Corp. (TXU: chart) goes private through what will be the largest leveraged buyout in history. A group led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Texas Pacific will pay $69.25 per share for the company; including assumed debt, the transaction is worth $45 billion. The newly privatized company said it will deliver price cuts valued at more than $300 million annually, price protection benefits to electric customers through 2008, strengthen environmental policies, make significant investments in alternative energy and institute corporate policies tied to climate stewardship. Shares climbed 13.2%.

Arris Group (ARRS: chart) shares tumbled 10.1% after the company''s bid to acquire Norway''s Tandberg Television was trumped by Ericsson (ERIC: chart). Telecom equipment maker Ericsson offered 9.8 billion crowns ($1.38 billion) for Norway''s Tandberg Television, topping an earlier accepted bid from Arris Group Inc.

Moody''s Corp. (MCO: chart) fell 5.3% after Credit Suisse cut company’s rating on the debt rating firm to underperform and reduced its price target to $64 per share from $79 per share.

New York Times Co. (NYT: chart) shares fell more than 2% after A Lehman Brothers analyst cut his rating on New York Times Co., citing a recent rise in share price and a negative outlook on the newspaper publishing sector. The company''s newspaper saw its advertising revenue slip 9.7% in January, while the regional newspapers segment took a turn for the worse, falling 6.5%.