ECONOMY & MARKETS

Most Asian stocks ended lower on Wednesday, led by declines from airlines as crude oil prices surged on growing fears that Libya may descend into a civil war after Colonel Moammar Gaddafi warned that he would never give up his power and would rather die a “martyr.”

PC giant Hewlett-Packard Co's quarterly sales and outlook came in below Wall Street expectations, sending its shares down 11 percent in the afterhours trading on the NYSE.

Apple iPad 2 shipments appear on track for April and the company will hold an event in March to launch the next generation of iPad, according to Barclays Capital.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Tuesday are: CNO Financial Group, Five Star Quality, Herbalife, Dillard's, Gray Television. The top after-market NYSE losers are: Hewlett-Packard, Carnival Corp, Navistar International, Broadridge Financial Solutions and W&T Offshore.

Australia's Port Hedland, one of the world's largest export terminals for iron ore, reopened on Wednesday following a two-day suspension as a cyclone passed down the western coast, the port's harbourmaster said.

Tens of thousands of trade unionists, including those from a group linked to India's ruling party, marched through the streets of the capital on Wednesday to protest food prices, piling pressure on a government already under fire over graft.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Nordson, Oclaro, MIND C.T.I., Star Bulk Carriers, and CDC. The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Huron Consulting Group, Subaye, Chart Industries, Ixia, and Fuwei Films.

According to PwC, deals in defense and aerospace were at three-year high, with 17 deals in Q4 totaling over $4 billion in value.

U.S. stocks plunged and oil prices surged on growing fears that Libya may descend into a civil war after Colonel Moammar Gaddafi warned that he would never give up his power and would rather die a “martyr.” The concerns about Libya vastly overshadowed some surprisingly good consumer confidence data in the U.S.

U.S. stocks plunged and oil prices surged on growing fears that Libya may descend into a civil war after Colonel Moammar Gaddafi warned that he would never give up his power and would rather die a “martyr.” The concerns about Libya vastly overshadowed some surprisingly good consumer confidence data in the U.S.

Gold fell back slightly toward $1,400 an ounce on Tuesday, breaking a six-session rally, as turmoil in Libya prompted bullion investors to take profits and as sharp losses in equities and other commodities markets prompted margin selling.

The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, the index that Wall Street uses to gauge fear among investors, spiked almost 28 percent today, almost entirely to the ongoing turmoil in Libya.

U.S. stocks plunged and oil prices surged on growing fears that Libya may descend into a civil war after Colonel Moammar Gaddafi warned that he would never give up his power and would rather die a “martyr.” The concerns about Libya vastly overshadowed some surprisingly good consumer confidence data in the U.S.

One in four counties in the U.S. are ”dying” – meaning, they are recording more deaths than births – according to findings by the U.S. Census Bureau.

On Tuesday, US-traded crude oil futures initially jumped to trade as high as $98.50 per barrel, or an increase of 14 percent from last Friday’s closing levels, on escalating tensions in Libya.

South African resource-heavy stocks slipped on Tuesday as Libyan unrest prompted an equities sell-off while the rand firmed against the dollar, recovering from earlier losses as better-than-expected GDP data boosted the currency.

South Africa's economic growth came in higher than expected in the fourth quarter, boosted by stronger growth in the mining and agricultural sectors, according to data released on Tuesday.

South Africa will export 4 million tonnes of surplus maize to the world's biggest emerging markets but wants to ensure security of food supplies in southern Africa first, a minister said on Tuesday.

U.S. stocks are plunging and oil prices are surging on fears over the continued violent unrest in Libya.

African farmland investment has the potential to match the exponential growth of Brazil's agricultural industry, the head of business development at privately owned agricultural operator Quifel said.

Shares of Wal-Mart Stores fell nearly 4 percent in early trade after the world’s largest retailer a seventh straight quarterly decline in U.S. comparable-store sales, saying some of the pricing and merchandising issues ran deeper than it initially expected.

U. S. consumer confidence soared to a three-year high in February, suggesting an economic recovery might actually gain some traction.

World’s largest retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc reported a 1.8 percent fall in U.S. comparable-store sales for the fourth quarter even as it posted a 27 percent rise in quarterly profit.

US stocks declined in early trade on Tuesday as political unrest in the Middle East weighed on the sentiment.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Zoran, SIGA Technologies, Mentor Graphics, First Financial Northwest, and Transition Therapeutics. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Clinical Data, Camtek, Silicon Motion Technology, China MediaExpress Holdings, and Banner.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Tuesday are: Chesapeake Energy, Home Depot, V.F. Corp, Hess Corp, Juniper Networks, Dean Foods, Carnival Corp, Yahoo, Jds Uniphase and Wal-Mart Stores.

Benchmark Capital upgraded Time Warner Inc. to buy from hold, saying that accelerating advertising recovery is likely to help sustain high-single digit growth in Networks revenues.

China should account for 8-9 percent of global mergers and acquisition activity this year, continuing close to its strong levels in 2009 and 2010, JPMorgan's head of China M&A said Tuesday.

Spot gold was last down 0.8 percent at $1,394.14 an ounce at 1025 GMT, having risen on Monday to its highest in about seven weeks. U.S. April gold futures were up 0.5 percent at $1,395.20 an ounce.