GLOBAL MARKETS

US stocks advanced in early trade on Friday as upbeat quarterly results from General Electric and Google and strong German IFO business sentiment data boosted investor sentiment.

As the market will be concerned in the near-term with the management shuffle, an analyst at Jefferies hinted at a possibility that Eric Schmidt could become the Chief Executive of Apple.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Danvers Bancorp, Drugstore.com, Cytori Therapeutics, Glu Mobile, and Micron Technology. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Acorda Therapeutics, VIVUS, Synaptics, MannKind, and Biogen Idec.

Singapore Exchange will start operating the world's fastest trading engine on August 15 that can handle 1 million order book changes per second per partition, said a media report.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Friday are: General Electric, Google, Micron Technology, Sara Lee, American International Group, Schlumberger and Biogen Idec.

Ambulatory surgery centers operator NovaMed Inc. (NOVA) said it agreed to go private and be acquired by an affiliate of Surgery Center Holdings, Inc. for $13.25 a share in cash.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to a higher opening on Friday with futures on the S&P 500 up 0.15 percent, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.11 percent and Nasdaq100 futures up 0.15 percent.

GE reported 52 percent growth in its quarterly profit that blew past estimates on growth in Technology Infrastructure and NBC Universal Businesses and lower costs

The companies that reported earnings before the markets open on Friday are: General Electric, Bank of America, Schlumberger, BB&T, Air Products and SunTrust Banks.

The companies that reported earnings after the markets close on Thursday are: Google, AMD, Capital One, International Game Technology, Wipro, Consolidated Edison, Maxim Integrated, Flextronics, Intuitive Surgical, Polycom...

FBR Capital Markets lowered its 2011 profit view of Advanced Micro Devices, after the company ousted its Chief Executive Dirk Meyer.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Friday are: Bank of America, Advanced Micro Devices, Google, General Electric, Intuitive Surgical, Schlumberger, International Game Technology, Emulex and Capital One Financial.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Thursday are: Warner Music Group, American Reprographics, GMX Resources, Energy Transfer Partners and Aspen Insurance Holdings. The top after-market NYSE losers on Thursday are: International Game Technology, Emulex, Medley Capital, Jones Apparel and Kinross Gold.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Danvers Bancorp, Intuitive Surgical, Clinical Data, Polycom, SinoTech Energy, and Google. The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Morgans Hotel Group, Seattle Genetics, Matrixx Initiatives, Synaptics, and DealerTrack Holdings.

Stocks closed modestly lower, but well above intra-day lows, as the tech sector incurred the heaviest losses on fears of Chinese interest rate hikes.

Reports that some financial institutions have started to exit their gold positions have been circulating this week, says French bank and London bullion dealer Natixis in its latest commodity analysis. Physically-backed ETF trust funds shrank almost 1% this week on Natixis' data - the sharpest weekly drop since we started keeping records in 2008.

Bill Draper speaks to IBTimes about his views on venture capital investments.

Plans for a delayed 300 MW wind farm in Kenya can now proceed after lenders agreed to rely on the government's assurance that it backed the plan, instead of proper guarantees, the chairman of the project said.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday led by losses in the technology sector and on worries that China's rapid growth may lead to more aggressive measures to tackle inflation.

Mauritius private equity group Ciel Capital plans to venture into Kenya, east Africa's biggest economy, in the first half and is in talks with key players in various sectors, a senior partner said.

South African utility Eskom said on Thursday a 10-year, $1.75 billion international bond launched this week with a 5.75 percent coupon was more than 2-1/2 times oversubscribed.

PC giant Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ) is preparing to launch another probe into the circumstances that led to the departure of former Chief Executive Mark Hurd, according to a recent court filing.

Gold fell like a stone on Thursday, following three days of gains, and ignored a recovery in the euro as investment demand waned. Spot gold fell over $20 to $1,348.55 an ounce by 1426 GMT.

Futures on major U.S. indices pared earlier losses and point to modestly lower opening on Thursday after the Department of Labor reported that weekly jobless claims fell sharply last week.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Radvision, Cytori Therapeutics, Allos Therapeutics, Pharmaceutical Product Development, ICAgen, and eBay. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: MannKind, F5 Networks, Riverbed Technology, Isle of Capri Casinos, and Skyworks Solutions.

The companies that reported earnings before the markets open on Thursday are: Morgan Stanley, Union Pacific, UnitedHealth Group Inc., Johnson Controls, Parker Hannifin, Southwest Airlines, Rockwell Collins and Huntington Bancshares.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Thursday are Google, Morgan Stanley, eBay, Seagate Technology, Advanced Micro Devices, UnitedHealth Group, Southwest Airlines and Rockwell Collins.

Amazon.com said it agreed to acquire the remaining shares in DVD rental firm Lovefilm International Limited. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to a lower opening on Thursday ahead of economic data, including weekly jobless claims and existing home sales.