GLOBAL MARKETS

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Tuesday are: St. Joe, Retail Ventures, DSW, General Cable and CBL & Associates. The top after-market NYSE losers on Tuesday are: USANA Health Sciences, Sims Metal Management, Life Time Fitness, Gaylord Entertainment and McMoRan Exploration.

Robert W. Baird forecasts inflation to upswing during the course of 2011, while inflation overall is expected to remain rather benign by historical standards. The brokerage said food and gasoline are among the items poised to see upward price pressure this year.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Perceptron, Web.com Group, The Andersons, Deltek, and Amtech Systems. The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Sierra Wireless, Motricity, Innophos Holdings, BCD Semiconductor Manufacturing, and Pinnacle Airlines.

The Vatican has given its approval for a new Confession application for Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

The London Stock Exchange Group plc (LSE) said that it is in advanced negotiations with the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange, the TMX Group, regarding a potential merger.

Hong Kong's government will increase land supply in the coming fiscal year in a bid to cool property prices, the Ming Pao newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average scores its seventh straight daily gain, as U.S. stocks seemed to shrug off another interest rate hike by the central bank of China.

High international commodities prices and a weakening shilling against the dollar are expected to cushion Kenyan listed agricultural stocks from inflationary pressures and the effects of a biting drought, analysts said.

Kenya's benchmark AA coffee grade fetched a new all-time high of $1,022 per 50 kg on Tuesday, reflecting a trend of soaring commodity prices due to political upheavals in north Africa.

World stocks and oil prices ebbed from recent highs on Tuesday after China raised interest rates for the second time in just over a month, spurring worries of the hike's impact on global economic demand.

Automaker Toyota Motor Corp. reported a 39 percent fall in its third quarter profit, hurt by slower domestic sales and a strong yen.

The companies whose shares are moving in early session on Tuesday are: Boyd Gaming, Synchronoss Technologies, Select Medical Holdings, athenahealth, Centene, Avon Products, Steris Corp., Halliburton and Blackbaud.

U.S. stocks opened modestly lower on Tuesday after China raised interest rates for the third time since last October in response to accelerating consumer and asset inflation.

This is a world obsessed with demand...[and] many central banks' policy settings are very, very loose...making for serious inflationary pressures, UBS said. The outlook for food prices is that they could rise exponentially from here if we were to see another shock. There's no buffer right now.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Conexant Systems, Herley Industries, Exide Technologies, Vical, and Motricity. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: ADDvantage Technologies Group, PennantPark Investment, Breitburn Energy Partners, Allot Communications, and Glu Mobile.

ThinkEquity said it has added Altera to the Think Fast list, which predicts stocks that are expected to see a near-term upside.

Gold inched higher on Tuesday as equities fell, the euro picked up and flows of metal out of exchange-traded funds stabilized, although a rise in Chinese benchmark rates limited gains.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Tuesday are: Sandisk, ProLogis, Urban Outfitters, Newmont Mining, Ford Motor, Avon Products, Akamai Technologies, Genworth Financial, Nyse Euronext and Sara Lee.

Alcatel-Lucent has developed lightRadio, a cube-shaped antenna that would fit in the palm of a hand, signaling an end to the current form of basestations and cell towers. lightRadio promises greener, simpler, lighter networks that the company says will radically shrink and simplify base stations and cell towers.....

China central bank raised interest rates for the second time in just over a month on Tuesday in a bid to rein in inflation as inflation stayed above 4 percent for a third month.

Miner Xstrata Plc reported a surge in profit for the full year on stronger commodity prices, and proposed a final dividend of 20 cents a share, reflecting a return to pre-financial crisis levels.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Monday are: International Coal Group, Aspen Insurance Holdings, New York Times, Harry Winston Diamond and Elan Corp. The top after-market NYSE losers on Monday are: Triangle Capital, One Liberty Properties, Principal Financial, FMC Corp and Becton.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Exide Technologies, Herley Industries, Conexant Systems, CSP, and WSB Holdings. The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Glu Mobile, SunPower, Breitburn Energy Partners, PennantPark Investment, and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions.

British gas producer BG Group Plc posted a rise in quarterly profit helped by higher commodity prices and a lower exploration charge and the company lifted its full year dividend by 10 percent to 21.60 cents a share.

The price of crude oil - and the consumer products like gasoline and diesel fuel that are made from it - will head higher in the summer months, said John Hofmeister, former CEO of Shell Oil.

Stocks advanced as a series of merger deals excited investors, pushing the blue-chip indices to two-and-a-half-year highs in the absence of significant economic news.

U.S. stocks advanced in early trade on Monday with the S&P 500 Index gaining 4.88 points, or 0.37 percent, to trade at 1,315.75 at 9:50 a.m. EDT. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 36.63 points, or 0.30 percent, to trade at 12,128.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.31 percent.

Jefferies & Co. said investors are uncertain about Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) future in consumer technology and that they have chosen to discount all parts of the business until it becomes clearer what Microsoft’s competitive position in the key areas of tablets, smartphones and online search will be.

Sanofi-Aventis is reportedly expected to sweeten its bid for U.S. biotechnology company Genzyme later this week. The two companies are said to be negotiating a cash deal worth $74 a share or $19 billion, plus extra payments linked to experimental multiple sclerosis drug Lemtrada.