[R]11:30AM Stock averages traded firmly in the positive, helped by global gains.[/R]
Wall Street rallied on Thursday, cheered by signals that weakness across global stock exchanges had been overcome. The Dow Jones industrials rose more than 100 points, boosted by General Motors (GM: chart), up 1.9% and Citigroup (C: chart), rising 1.2%. Retail stocks were in focus, with Nordstrom (JWN: chart) leading the sector higher after reporting strong same-store sales growth in February. The stock rose 5.2%. Kohl's Corp. (KSS: chart) gained 2.7% after its sales handily beat the 2.9% gain estimate with an increase of 4.4%. Federated Department Stores (FD: chart) rose 2.3% although its sales rose less than expected. Fast food giant McDonald's (MCD: chart) gained 1.6% after it reported a 5.7% gain in global comparable store sales.

Various sectors posted gains as strength in the overseas markets generated broad based buying interest. Brokerage stocks posted some particularly strong gain. Lehman Brothers (LEH: chart) climbed 2.9%, Bear Stearns (BRC: chart) rose 1.4%, and Goldman Sachs (GS: chart) gained 2.9%. The companies are all expected to report quarterly earnings growth.
Semiconductor stocks showed significant strength after Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on the sector, due to expectations that fundamentals will progressively improve through 2008. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 84.03, or 0.69%, to 12,276.48. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 12.19, or 0.88%, to 1,404.16, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 23.25, or 0.98%, to 2,397.89. Bonds fell as stocks advanced; the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.52% from 4.50% late Wednesday


[R]9:45AM U.S. stock markets opened little changed, looking for direction.[/R]
Wall Street advanced sharply Thursday, receiving a lift from recovering global markets and looking past lackluster retail sales reports for February. A strengthening U.S. dollar also contributed to the gains. Retailers posting disappointing results included Wal-Mart, Costco Wholesale, Limited Brands and others. Wal-Mart (WMT: chart) lost 0.5% in early trading. The company also lifted its dividend by 31%. Limited Brands (LTD: chart) shares advanced 1.2%, while Costco (COST: chart) traded down 0.5%. However, Nordstrom''s and Target Corp''s same-store sales beat estimates. Nordstrom (JWN: chart) rose 4.8% after it reported a 9.1% jump in same-store sales in February, beating the 5.7% estimate. Target (TGT: chart) gained 2.1%.

The Dow Jones Industrial average was supported by 27 of its 30 stocks, with General Motors (GM: chart) rising 1.8% and Citigroup (C: chart) morning up 1.9%. Dow component Ford Motor (F: chart) also helped blue-chip stocks, moving up 4.2% after its stock was upgraded to neutral from underperform at CSFB. Among other companies driven by analyst comments, AT&T (T: chart) gained 2% after A.G. Edwards upgraded its stock to buy from hold, due to valuation concerns. Likewise, Barnes & Noble (BKS: chart) rose 2.7% on brokerage upgrade. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 72.98, or 0.60%, to 12,265.43. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index climbed 10.73, or 0.77%, to 1,402.70, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 17.46, or 0.74%, to 2,392.10. Bonds fell as stocks rose; the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.52% from 4.50% late Wednesday.


[R]9:30AM London advanced in morning trade Thursday on strong miners.[/R]
The UK market was higher in early trade in London. The FTSE 100 advance 43.1 points to 6,199.6 by late morning.

Economic news

The cost of borrowing was not changed and stayed at 5.25% on Thursday, a signal that the Bank of England is ready to wait and see how successful previous interest rate hikes have been in cooling the economy. The decision of the Bank was not surprising given recent mixed data. In addition, turmoil in global equity and currency markets over the past week had made it less likely that the monetary policy committee at the Bank would want to risk delivering a surprise hike to an already nervous market.

Advancers

The Kazakhmys led the gainers in the sector surging 3.7% after it made its first steps into the petroleum sector with the purchase of Dostan-Temir, which holds the right to sign the contract to explore for oil and gas in the East Akzhar region to the west of the country. Other miners tracked Kazakhmys and advanced. Vedanta Resources rose 3.5% and Lonmin gained 2.8%.

Profits, topping forecasts, from insurer Royal & Sun Alliance sent the company 1.9 %. RSA reported profits to 780 million pounds, raised its final dividend by 35 % and unveiled a new policy to match that rise in 2007. Drax Group was broadly flat after the power generator reported a 144 % rise in pre-exceptional earnings of 583 million pounds.

Of the mid-caps, Temporary power supplier Aggreko posted a 47.5% hike in full year pre-tax profit Thursday and added it expects to achieve a material increase in profits this year and to be ahead of current market expectations. The stocks advanced 7.1%.

Decliners

British American Tobacco led the decliner amongst the large-caps, down 1.3%. Property stocks also retreated after a strong performance in the previous session. Slough Estates lost 1.1% while Hammerson slipped 0.7%.


[R]9:00AM U.S. stock futures pointed higher on strengthening dollar.[/R]
U.S. stock futures advanced on Thursday, boosted by solid gains in overseas markets and strength in the U.S. dollar vs. the Japanese yen. The dollar rose 1.2% at 116.97 yen. Sluggish retailer sales in February and a rate hike from the European Central Bank failed to hurt the upside trend. Some of the largest nation''s chain stores reported sales results for February, with the overall performance expected to be tepid after cold weather hit parts of the U.S. Among pre-market highlights, Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals (HEPH: chart) fell 21% as U.S. Dept. of Health found its Neumune drug ''technically unacceptable’.

Among companies releasing quarterly results, warehouse retailer Costco Wholesale (COST: chart) posted a Q2 profit decline of 16%, blaming faster growing costs. Net income for the quarter dipped to 54 cents per share from 62 cents per share, but excluding special items, Q2 income would have been 66 cents per share. Revenue increased 7.5% to $15.1 billion from $14.06 billion a year earlier. On average, analysts predicted a quarterly profit of 66 cents per share and sales of $15.48 billion. Hovnanian Enterprises (HOV: chart), home builder, is due to report earnings. On the economic news front, initial jobless claims totaled 328,000 last week, the lowest level in a month and down a better-than-expected 10,000 from the previous week. S&P 500 futures rose 10.40 points to 1,403.60 and Nasdaq 100 futures improved 20.50 points to 1,758.00. Dow industrial futures climbed 59 points to 12,260.

[R]Initial jobless claims dropped 10,000.[/R]
Thursday morning, the Department of Labor released its report on initial jobless claims in the week ended March 4, showing that jobless claims fell more than economists had been expecting. The decrease may generate some optimism about the strength of the February employment report. The report showed that initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 328,000 from the previous week''s unrevised figure of 338,000. Economists had been expecting a much more modest decline to about 335,000. At the same time, the Labor Department said that the less volatile four-week moving average rose to 339,000 from the previous week''s unrevised average of 335,250. With the increase, the moving average rose to its highest reading since the week ended October 29, 2005. The report also showed that continuing claims fell to 2.526 million in the week ended February 24 from the preceding week''s revised level of 2.624 million. As mentioned above, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its report on employment in the month of February on Friday. Economists currently expect the report to show that the economy added around 100,000 jobs during the month. On Wednesday, a report from Automatic Data Processing, Inc. showed that private non-farm employment grew a modest 57,000 in February following an increase of 121,000 in January. Economists had been expecting employment to increase by about 100,000.