GLOBAL MARKETS

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to lower opening on Thursday following weaker-than-expected reports on durable goods orders and consumer spending.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Sonic Solutions, Verigy, Aixtron, Bed Bath & Beyond, MannKind, FuelCell Energy, Sequenom, Veeco Instruments, InterMune, and Solarfun Power Holdings.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices remained-range bound on Thursday ahead of a wave of economic data including key weekly U.S. jobs data from the government.

ThinkEquity has listed out its leading internet stock picks for 2011 that includes Google (GOOG), Baidu (BIDU) and Priceline (PCLN). Following are those stocks.

The top after-market NYSE losers on Wednesday are: Carnival Corp, Christopher & Banks, Phoenix Companies, Orbitz Worldwide, Quiksilver and Invesco.

Rodman & Renshaw initiated coverage of Soligenix Inc. (OTC: SNGX) with a Market Outperform rating and a $0.90 price target, saying shares of the late-stage biopharmaceutical company are poised to run higher on outlook for its orBec (oral beclomethasone) lead product.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Wednesday are: IDT Corp, Office Depot, Limited Brands, Synovus Financial, Hudbay Minerals, Navigant Consulting, Kraton Performance Polymers and Tesoro.

Following are the companies that have declared dividends on Wednesday, Dec. 22: Williams-Sonoma, MSC Industrial Direct, RF Industries, Lindsay, Suffolk Bancorp, First of Long Island, Bank of Commerce, and Acme United.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Penford, Pacific Biosciences of California, Netlist, Micron Technology, Copano Energy, SMTC, Coldwater Creek, Avanir Pharmaceuticals, ChinaCast Education, Oncothyreon, and Gilead Sciences.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Bed Bath & Beyond, Sequenom, Ener1, GTX, Entropic Communications, Rediff.com India, InterMune, Advent Software, Sina, Sino Clean Energy, and Sonic Solutions.

California-based start up Lookout Mobile Security, a provider of smartphone protection software, said it raised a further $19.5 million in funding led by Index Ventures.

When the return on savings is less than the rate of inflation it doesn't matter that gold doesn't provide you with an income. Tightly supplied and indestructible, it offers a natural and obvious alternative to cash. Inflation expectations are rising as 2011 begins.

Stocks rose moderately higher, given a slight boost by a small upward revision to third-quarter GDP and an uptick in sales of existing homes.

Shares of Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) are climbing today following the filing of an SEC document last night which revealed the company had entered into a new change-in-control (CIC) agreement with several top executives.

Regional bank stocks are getting a big lift today from the agreement by Hancock Holding Co.’s (Nasdaq: HBHC) to acquire another Gulf Coast bank, Whitney Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: WTNY) in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at almost $1.5 billion.

China will buy 4 to 5 billion euros of Portuguese debt in first quarter 2011 and save Europe once again in the process.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Xilinx, XOMA, Capitol Federal Financial, Altera, Hercules Offshore, LM Ericsson Telephone, InterMune, Sino Clean Energy, and Vodafone Group.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to flat opening on Wednesday after government data showed that US economic activity grew at a 2.6 percent annual rate in the third quarter.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Arena Pharmaceuticals, Tibco Software, ARM Holdings, Nova Measuring Instruments, Ariad Pharmaceuticals, YRC Worldwide, priceline.com, Activision Blizzard, Popular, and Huntington Bancshares.

Software giant Microsoft has developed a new site HTML5 Labs for developers to test new and evolving specifications and web standards that are not available in its internet explorer.

The companies which are expected to see active trade on Wednesday are NIKE, Red Hat, Bed Bath & Beyond, Tibco Software, Xilinx, Hovnanian Enterprises and Walgreen.

Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the medical technology company's device to treat abdominal aneurysm, a blood-filled bulge or ballooning in a part of aorta that runs through abdomen.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Xilinx, Altera, NetLogic Microsystems, TFS Financial, Park-Ohio Holdings, Oritani Financial, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Finish Line, Wet Seal, and Ebix.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Arena Pharmaceuticals, Rudolph Technologies, Ossen Innovation, Tibco Software, YRC Worldwide, Keynote Systems, Mindspeed Technologies, Exceed Company, ARM Holdings, and Ener1.

Stocks rose moderately, boosted by some M&A activity and an easing of hostilities in Korea, with the Dow Jones index reaching a 28-month high and the Nasdaq at a three-year high, albeit in light pre-holiday trading.

NIKE Inc. (NYSE: NKE) reported net income of $457-million, or diluted earnings of $0.94 per share, on revenues of $4.8-billion for the fiscal second quarter of 2011.

The stock market rallied modestly on U.S. mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities and China’s continued support for European Union’s (EU) sovereign debt market.

Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP) shares are surging 15.62 percent in mid-day trading after it signed an agreement with Hitachi Metls Ltd. of Japan that may lead to the production of rare earth magnets in the U.S. sometime next year.

Apple said it expects sales of its new Apple TV to top one million units later this week.