Goldman Sachs predicts that Motorola will see several quarters of average-selling-price weakness. It also warned that product differentiation, a key driver of Motorola''s recent gains, is likely to decrease because of the introduction of some thin products in the first half of 2007 by Nokia.

Motorola shares were down 9.4% in pre-market trading.


[R]7:30 AM Asian markets closed mostly down with Japan lower and HK higher.[/R]
Asian markets ended mostly lower on Friday. IN Japan, the Nikkei 225 index closed down 262.08 points, or 1.5%, to 17,091.59. Exporters were hit by profit-taking. Toyota Motor shed 2.4%, while Honda fell 3%. Toshiba Corp advanced 1.6% though, after the Nikkei daily reported the second-largest machinery maker in Japan intends to market a new boiling-water reactor for nuclear power plants. The stronger yen also hurt exporters of consumer electronics. Canon Inc dipped 2.1% while camera maker Nikon slipped 3.8%.

The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong bucked the downtrend and gained 0.9% to 20,211.28. Mainland financial shares ended mixed. Shares of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China added 0.4%, while Bank of China lost 0.5%. Mainland insurer China Life Insurance declined 3.3%. The Shanghai Composite in China ended 1.9% lower to 2,664.85, while Singapore Straits Times index rose 0.3%.

Australia S&P/ASX 200 pared early gains to finish down 0.2% at 5,572.00, while New Zealand''s NZSX-50 advanced 0.2% to 4,035.27. Shares of the largest mining company in the world, BHP Billiton, fell 0.9%, while Rio Tinto shed 1.5%. Resource companies declined, tracking drops in energy prices. Australian Woodside Petroleum lost 1.9%


[R]6:30 AM European markets slipped on Friday on weaker commodities, tech stocks.[/R]
European markets were lower on Friday. The FTSE 100 in London shed 0.5% to 6,255.5, Frankfurt Xetra Dax fell 0.6% to 6,636.94, the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.5% to 5,546.44.

Decliners

Credit Suisse downgraded its rating on world number one handset maker Nokia from outperform to neutral. Nokia shed 3.4 %. French rival Alcatel-Lucent dipped 1.2%, while Ericsson of Sweden, whose Sony-Ericsson joint venture is the world fourth-biggest handset maker, slipped 0.9%.

Alstom, the French engineering group, also fell 4.2% after Citigroup reduced its recommendation from hold to sell, on the premise that investors were paying too much for the stock

Energy stocks were weak as oil prices declined on the back of strong US inventories. The producers worst affected were Statoil of Norway, which fell 2.2% and British BG Group, down 2.2%.

Total, the largest oil refiner in Europe, dropped 1.1% and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the biggest oil company in the region, decreased 0.9%.

Advancers

Weakening oil prices gave a boost, however, for airline stocks in Europe. German Lufthansa led the advancers, up 2.6% and Air France-KLM gained 1.9% and Irish Ryanair added 1.7%.

Telecommunications shares advanced, paced by Royal KPN NV, the largest Dutch phone company, and Telecom Italia SpA, the biggest phone operator in Italy. KPN added 1.4% as did Telecom Italia.

Oil and gold

Crude oil stayed virtually the same in New York, ready for its biggest weekly decline since April 2005, as mild U.S. weather reduced consumption and fuel stockpiles jumped. Crude oil for February delivery traded at $55.52 a barrel, down 7 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange in early trade. Brent crude for February settlement rose 8 cents to $55.19 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures exchange.

Gold rose for the first day in three in London on speculation investor demand will increase because of declines in the dollar. Gold for immediate delivery rose $1 to $623 an ounce in early trade in London. Silver rose 1 cent to $12.605 an ounce in London while platinum gained $5 to $1,125.50 and palladium increased $4.50 to $341.50.

Currencies