ECONOMY & MARKETS

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Banner, Eurand, Ascent Media, Baidu, Prospect Capital, NVIDIA, Applied Materials, Netflix, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, and Amazon.com.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Santarus, MannKind, Logitech International, DryShips, Tesla Motors, JA Solar Holdings, Cisco Systems, Huntington Bancshares, optionsXpress Holdings, and American Capital Agency.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to higher opening on Tuesday ahead of economic data including S&P/CaseShiller house price index.

Retail sales in the US during this holiday season rose sharply mainly driven by increased spending on clothing and jewelry.

Amazon.com announced that its third generation Kindle e-reader is now the bestselling product in its history, surpassing Harry Potter 7.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Alterra Capital Holdings, Celera, Infinera, Aruba Networks, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Alphatec Holdings, optionsXpress Holdings, A123 Systems, Informatica, and Applied Micro Circuits.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Coldwater Creek, Hercules Offshore, LoJack, Cytokinetics, Zix, Tesla Motors, DryShips, Silver Standard Resources, Stanley Furniture, and DepoMed.

Stocks finished narrowly mixed in very light trading as a monstrous snow storm on the East Coast likely kept many traders home and a rate hike over the weekend by China dampened some investor sentiment.

Basili Alukos, an equity analyst at Morningstar, estimates that U.S. airlines may lose between $130-million and $190-million of revenues per day due to the winter blizzard.

Shares of H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) are dropping after the tax preparation company said that HSBC Holdings Plc (NYSE: HBC) has ended funding its refund-anticipation loans (RALs).

India’s Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has introduced a new stock index which comprises companies that satisfy the legal codes of Islam.

Shares of American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) are soundly higher this morning after the company said it entered bank credit facilities totaling $3-billion.

Big players of the U.S. technology sector, who are flush with cash and looking to expand their horizon, returned to the merger and acquisition space this year after recovering from the 2009 recession.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to lower opening on Monday after China's central bank raised one-year lending and deposit interest rates for the second time in 2010 on Saturday.

Majority of the retailers in the UK expect sales to worsen in 2011 amid growing concerns over weak consumer demand and inflationary pressures.

Goldman Sachs has adopted a new long-term bonus plan that lets the board award cash and stock on top of existing compensation, but lets the firm take back money if the employee takes too much risk, the investment banker said in filing with securities regulators.

Since, Apple has cleared the first hurdle in gaining enough traction for its product, the iPhone maker needs to generate material revenue from Apple TV to justify its investment.

Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region is estimated to grow at the rate of 12.2 percent this year, recording a double-digit GDP for 18 consecutive years.

Recent economic reports indicate that the average U.S. consumer is feeling more confident about the economy and intends to spend more with that belief. Consumer spending, which forms about 70 percent of GDP growth, rose in November for the sixth straight month, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. Personal income also inched up marginally, which prices also rose during the month.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: pSivida, Alimera Sciences, Abiomed, Exceed Company, Allos Therapeutics, FX Energy, XOMA, Celgene, Dyax, and Marvell Technology Group.

Chinese automobile shares fell sharply on Friday after Beijing authorities Thursday announced stringent new measures to limit the sale of new passenger cars in the national capital to ease traffic congestion.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: A-Power Energy Generation Systems, 1-800-Flowers.com, Planar Systems, Tandy Brands Accessories, DepoMed, Iconix Brand Group, PAETEC Holding, Vermillion, ChinaCache International Holdings, and OpenTable.

Google Inc. has started its 2010 Christmas with new holiday doodle, which has 17 interactive images of holiday destinations and cuisines from around the world.

The top after-market NYSE losers on Thursday are: Mueller Water Products, CareFusion Corp, LSI Corp, Constellation Brands, CONSOL Energy and Constellation Energy Group.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Thursday are: KB Home, Lennar Corp, Phoenix Companies, Toll Brothers, Office Depot, New York Community Bancorp and Trex.

Stocks finish flat on the last trading day prior to the Christmas holiday. A slew of economic data made little impression on investors.

The Commerce Department's durable goods report for November showed that, excluding transport, core orders rebounded by 2.4 percent month-on-month last month, more than reversing a 1.9 percent decline in the last month.

Chinese officials expect the country's exports to slow next year and trade surplus to narrow as the government comes under pressure to increase its imports.

Shares of iPhone maker Apple Inc. (AAPL) reached an all-time high of $325.72 on Wednesday's regular trading session.