ECONOMY & MARKETS

Jefferies & Co. said Nokia Corp.'s (NYSE: NOK) results threw out no worse news than it had expected but it maintained underperform thesis nonetheless.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the United States will reaccelerate, and reach 3.5–4 percent in the second half of this year, IHS Global Insight said in its April World Flash report.

US stocks rallied on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing near three-year highs, as upbeat earnings from major technology companies’ boosted sentiment for corporate-profit trends.

Shares of Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) touched a new life-time high of $56.27 on Wednesday. The company said it will commit to investing $37 million in products and services to promote high-growth entrepreneurship across the country in partnership with President Barack Obama’s Startup America campaign.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Select Comfort, Plexus, F5 Networks, Datalink, TradeStation Group, Qualcomm, and Apple. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Lam Research, Sina, Gilead Sciences, Amgen, and Cheesecake Factory.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Wednesday are: China Security & Surveillance, SLM Corp, Tempur-pedic International, Yum! Brands and Gardner Denver. The top after-market NYSE losers are: Goodrich Corp, Tele Norte Leste Participacoes, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Elan Corp and General Growth Properties.

The resumption of the global risk-on rally late Tuesday illustrates how trends work in the financial markets.

AT&T says even without having an exclusive deal on the iPhone, it gained subscribers in the first quarter.

Gold Bullion jumped above $1500 per ounce in London on Wednesday, setting new Dollar and Sterling highs but falling sharply against the Euro as the single currency rose to its highest level since 2009.

US stocks rallied in early trade on Wednesday as upbeat earnings from major technology companies’ boosted sentiment for corporate-profit trends.

Major U.S. stock indexes jumped more than 1 percent at the open on Wednesday as upbeat earnings from major technology companies’ boosted sentiment for corporate-profit trends.

FBR Capital Markets believes Adobe Systems Inc.'s (NASDAQ: ADBE) flagship offering, Creative Suite (CS), is losing its ability to drive Adobe’s business and doesn't see much to materially offset this. The brokerage downgraded its rating on shares of Adobe to underperform from market perform and lowered its price target to $28 from $33.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Wednesday are: Williams Companies, Freeport-McMoRan, Advanced Micro Devices, salesforce.com, Sandisk Corp, Applied Materials, Textron, Intuitive Surgical, International Business machines and Wells Fargo.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: ASML Holding, Rediff.com India, Intel, Sify Technologies, Aixtron, and Wynn Resorts. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Cree, TriMas, and Adobe Systems.

Shares of Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) touched a new life-time high of $83.99 on Tuesday. The company said it received positive opinion for Avonex Pen against multiple sclerosis from the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.

U.S. stock markets gained for the first time in four days on Tuesday as stronger-than-expected report on new home starts and encouraging quarterly results from Johnson & Johnson helped lift the markets.

Power company AES Corp. (NYSE: AES) announced an agreement to acquire smaller rival DPL Inc. (NYSE: DPL) for $3.5 billion, or $30 a share, in cash. The deal is the latest in the wave of consolidation in the power industry, as companies seek to add customers to offset high regulatory barriers and aging power grids.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: CDC Corp., Nanometrics, Intel, Yahoo!, and Hologic. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Cree, TriMas, Ceradyne, ViroPharma, and Veeco Instruments.

Iran, prominent member of the oil cartel Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and long-time adversary of the U.S, has objected to the move by certain members of the oil exporting cartel to raise output in order to clam markets and ease oil prices.

U.S. stocks rose Tuesday, clawing back some of the previous day's losses as positive earnings news helped buoy shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 65.16 points, or 0.53%, to finish near the day's highs at 12266.75. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added 7.48 points, or 0.57%, to 1312.62 while the Nasdaq Composite gained 9.59 points, or 0.35%, to 2744.97. The gains came one day after the Dow fell 140 points on credit-ratings firm Standard & Poor's decision to lower its ...

Gold prices continue to defy gravity and barreled past the psychologically important level of $1,500 per ounce in intraday trading on Tuesday. It briefly hit $1,500.50 and settled at $1494.50. Both figures are record highs.

U.S. stocks advanced on Tuesday as stronger-than-expected report on new home starts and encouraging quarterly results from Johnson & Johnson buoyed sentiment.

U.S. stocks advanced in early trade on Tuesday, following better-than-expected housing data and encouraging quarterly results from Goldman Sachs and Johnson & Johnson.

[Selling silver short] natural with these giddy prices, one London trader told the Platts news service on Monday. Speculators are going to have to take profits soon. Shorts have been burned in the run-up, but keep coming back for more, he said, forecasting a $10 drop in the Silver Price short term.

Wedbush Securities upgraded its rating on shares of Goodrich Corp. (NYSE: GR) to outperform from neutral based largely on outperformance in the commercial aftermarket. The brokerage also raised its price target on shares of the U.S. aircraft parts supplier to $100 from $92.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Atrinsic, Millicom International Cellular, Zions Bancorp, Pacer International, and Internet Initiative Japan. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Identive Group, Logitech International, Lincare Holdings, Vodafone Group, and Inspire Pharmaceuticals.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Tuesday are: El Paso Corp, Johnson & Johnson, Dell, Emerson Electric, State Street, Harley-Davidson, Texas Instruments and Omnicom Group.

Shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) touched a new 10-year high of $49.44 on Monday. The company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave priority review status for its new investigational eye solution to treat neovascular form of age-related macular degeneration, or wet AMD, a disorder that causes vision loss due to abnormal growth of blood vessels.

US stocks ended sharply lower on Monday after Standard & Poor’s (S&P) revised its rating outlook on the United States to negative.