GLOBAL MARKETS

A moderate stock rally fueled by a compromise between President Obama and Republicans on tax extensions and unemployment benefits petered out in late-session trading, resulting in a narrowly mixed results for major equity indices.

Next target up for USD/CAD may be 1.0109 (R1) as suggested by the 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement from 1.0285 to 1.0001, before a relatively stronger resistance near 1.0120 (R2).

Standpoint Research downgraded chip maker Intel to 'hold' from 'buy' on valuation concerns.

Fundamentals for the commodity currency now back AUD/USD targeting 1.0006, as the 61.8 percent fibonacci from 1.0181 to 0.9723 projects.

U.S. stocks advanced in early trade on Tuesday as sentiment was buoyed by President Barack Obama's announcement of an agreement with Republicans on a plan to extend income tax cuts for all Americans.

Search giant Google could witness a rally in its stock price amid its leadership in search advertising market and soaring adoption of its Android operating system in smartphones and tablets.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Geron, Fuel Systems Solutions, Avago Technologies, Wintrust Financial, Ariad Pharmaceuticals, RealPage, and Research In Motion.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Cytori Therapeutics, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Zix, Powerwave Technologies, optionsXpress Holdings, Interactive Brokers Group, Qiao Xing Universal Resources, Seagate Technology, and Fifth Third Bancorp.

Energy services company AGL Resources Inc. announced an agreement to acquire rival Nicor Inc. for about $2.4 billion in cash and stock, creating a leading natural gas distributor in the U.S.

GBP/USD has broken above the 1.5786 weak resistance (100-day SMA) and is heading towards the key 1.5838 medium-term resistance, as predicted by IBT FX on Monday. The level is also suggested by the upper Bollinger band on 4-hour chart.

Barclays Capital increased its third quarter and full-year profit estimates for Research In Motion, citing strong demand for the company's latest Smartphone - BlackBerry Torch .

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Abiomed, Fuel Systems Solutions, Geron, Wintrust Financial, Avago Technologies, James River Coal, Micrel, Celgene, United Therapeutics, and Novatel Wireless.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, First Place Financial, Cytokinetics, Photronics, FX Energy, Ultralife, Healthways, Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, optionsXpress Holdings, and SuperMedia.

British construction products supplier Wolseley said trading profit rose 39 percent in the first quarter, helped by revenue growth in the US and Canada as well as cost control measures.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury said it plans a public offering of its remaining 2.4 billion shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) common stock.

Stocks, which fell early in the session on some gloomy remarks on the economy from Federal reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, pared much of their losses later in the day on hopes that The Republicans and Democrats in Congress can hammer out a compromise on extending the Bush tax cuts as well as unemployment benefits.

If the pair consolidates above 1.56 levels, it might help confirm an intermediate short-term upward trend, and in that case, next important target for GBP/USD will be 1.5838 (R2), a medium term support-turned resistance for the pair.

S&P 500 Index slid 3.63 points, or 0.31 percent, to trade at 1,220.95 at 09:55 a.m. EST. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 30.08 points, or 0.26 percent, to trade at 11,352.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.28 percent to trade at 2,584.64.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: LTX-Credence, BroadSoft, Cninsure, YRC Worldwide, Human Genome Sciences, Celgene, Identive Group, Randgold Resources, Qiagen, and Corinthian Colleges.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Verigy, Radware, Rambus, Nova Measuring Instruments, ASM International, VIVUS, optionsXpress Holdings, Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Geron, and DryShips.

Kellogg Co. (NYSE: K) said chief executive David Mackay announced his plans to step down, and he will be succeeded by chief operating officer John Bryant, effective January 2, 2011. The cereal giant also reaffirmed its 2010 and 2011 sales and profit forecasts.

Despite a dovish Bernanke, EUR/USD's attempt to break above the upper limit of a downward channel from early November highs on the back of a weak non-farm payrolls data proved unsuccessful as debt-related worries of euro-zone continued to weigh on the single currency.

The brokerage reiterated its 'outperform' rating on shares of the industrial products maker, while increasing its price target to $62 from $60.

Momentum indicators MACD and RSI on 4-hour chart suggest the pair is in oversold zone and up for a rebound. The first stop up (R1) for USD/JPY could be 83.40 as indicated by 100-day SMA and 23.6 percent Fibonacci and further higher, the pair has resistance near 83.7 (R2), as shown by the 50-day SMA.

Futures on the S&P 500 are down 0.30 percent to 1,219.80, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down 0.21 percent to 11,340.00 and Nasdaq100 futures are down 0.19 percent to 2,183.00.

Pfizer Inc. announced that its chief executive Jeffrey Kindler has retired from the company and he will be replaced by Ian Read, currently head of its global biopharmaceutical operations.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Nova Measuring Instruments, China Biologic Products, MannKind, GT Solar International, and DDI. The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: SuperMedia, Human Genome Sciences, China Electric Motor, Neutral Tandem, and ArQule.

As the tablet market is being crowded each day with more and more devices, time is ripe for Microsoft to unveil a new operating system exclusively for tablets.

Increased broadband access worldwide has meant a rise in demand for online media services and this could have implications for a society that is living within environmental limits. The researchers found the current energy demand for bandwidth to be four watt-hours per MB.