GLOBAL MARKETS

Morgan Keegan upgraded Qualcomm Inc. to outperform from market perform, a day after the CDMA chip maker reported strong quarterly results and boosted its fiscal 2011 outlook.

Gold priced in yen rallied to session highs on Thursday after yen came under broad pressure following a downgrade to Japan' sovereign ratings. Ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut its rating on Japan's sovereign debt to AA- from AA ...

The companies that reported earnings before the markets open on Thursday are: AT&T, Procter & Gamble, Caterpillar, Altria, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Motorola Solutions, Colgate-Palmolive, Celgene and Lockheed Martin.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: 1-800-Flowers.com, Netflix, Network Engines, Abington Bancorp, and Qualcomm. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Rex Energy, Starbucks, E*Trade Financial, China Natural Gas, and Research In Motion.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Thursday are: Netflix, Teradyne, Qualcomm, Symantec, AT&T, Goodyear Tire & Rubber and Procter & Gamble.

Egypt's stock exchange reopened after being suspended on Thursday and the benchmark index .EGX30 extended its decline to 8.2 percent from 6.2 percent before the halt.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to a modestly higher opening on Thursday ahead of economic data including durable goods orders and pending home sales as well as slew of earnings reports.

The U.S. Treasury could sell all of its stock in General Motors Co. within the next year, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing an unidentified Treasury official.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Thursday are: Microsoft, Motorola, Procter & Gamble, Amazon, AT&T, Altria Group, Caterpillar, Colgate-Palmolive and Eli Lilly.

U.K. start up Ubiquisys has rolled out a portable cell phone signal - dubbed the attocell - that allows people travelling abroad to make and receive calls as if in their home country.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Wednesday are: AMB Property, Teradyne, ProLogis, Astoria Financial and DCT Industrial Trust. The top after-market NYSE losers on Wednesday are: Quantum Corp, Murphy Oil, Motorola, Robert Half International and LDK Solar.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Netflix, Qualcomm, Tractor Supply, Integrated Silicon Solution, and Abington Bancorp. The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Rex Energy, Southern National Bancorp of Virginia, Starbucks, E*Trade Financial, and Verigy.

Gold rose on Wednesday, snapping a four-day losing streak, after the Federal Reserve's lukewarm economic assessment and its plan to complete its bond-buying program boosted bullion's safe-haven appeal.

Boeing Co. E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. drive Dow to highest point since June 2008.

Unless the U.S. addresses [its] fiscal problem, we’re going to see a train wreck, said Nouriel Roubini.

Dow hits 12,000 as U.S. stocks post moderate gains in mid-morning trading

Nervous investors may begin liquidating some of their substantial positions in Egyptian equities and securities if the unprecedented political protests that thrashed the market on Wednesday gain momentum.

Toyota has issued a recall of 1.7 million cars, its largest ever, mainly in its Lexus brand

US stocks are trading mixed in early trade on Wednesday as declines from Boeing weighed on Dow, while investors and markets await the US Federal Reserve’s meeting and interest rate decision.

Both Bush and Clinton Adminstrations were at fault, as well as former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, as well as former Treasury chief Henry Paulson, says inquiry

The companies that reported earnings before the markets open on Wednesday are: Boeing, ConocoPhillips, Abbott, General Dynamics, United Technologies, Southern Co., Hess, Xerox, Rockwell Automation and Wellpoint.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Ener1, Eagle Bulk Shipping, Sinovac Biotech, LM Ericsson Telephone, and Silicon Laboratories. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: MIPS Technologies, RF Micro Devices, Pacific Sunwear of California, CIENA, Gilead Sciences, and Yahoo!.

ThinkEquity has listed out eleven stocks that could witness a near-term upside in their share prices based on upcoming catalysts.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Wednesday are: Western Digital, AK Steel Holding, Salesforce.com, United States Steel, Micron Technology, CA, Boeing, Xerox and Yahoo.

Sara Lee Corp (NYSE:SLE) has rejected a takeover bid by a group of private equity firms, according to a report in the New York Post.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to higher opening on Wednesday ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s meeting and new home sales data.

Egyptian stocks plunged nearly five percent on Wednesday, the most since May, a day after thousands took to the streets of Cairo and other cities in a protest against President Hosni Mubarak’s government.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Tuesday are: W.W. Grainger, DeVry, Navios Maritime, Fifth Street Finance and Navistar International. The top after-market NYSE losers on Tuesday are: WMS Industries, Elan Corp, Swift Transportation, Genpact and Ennis.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Wednesday are: Boeing, Xerox, Starbucks, Symantec, ConocoPhillips, Abbott Laboratories, Allegheny, Automatic Data Processing, Eastman Kodak and General Dynamics.