GLOBAL MARKETS

U.K. homebuilder Berkeley Group said it was confident of outperforming its full-year expectations, saying there is an underlying demand for the well-located, quality homes developed by Berkeley in London and the South East.

Market is widely prepared for better readigs for both the EU indicators due Friday, and as of now, 1.3283 works out to be the nearest target upside on the 4-hour chart.

U.K.'s Greene King Plc, the brewer of Old Speckled Hen ale, reported a 17 percent rise in interim pretax profits, driven by strong like-for-like (LFL) sales growth at its Retail division.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Oclaro, eResearchTechnology, Avago Technologies, Cyberonics, Integrated Device Technology, Vitacost.com, Ebix, Nanometrics, Parexel International, and CVB Financial.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Conn's, Kirkland's, Internap Network Services, rue21, Seahawk Drilling, Digital River, Peet's Coffee & Tea, optionsXpress Holdings, Semtech, and Cninsure.

The health of the American economy and the level of accommodation in monetary policy are the two most important factors that influence U.S. stock price movements. In 2011, it seems U.S. equities may get support both.

Stocks rallied for a second straight session as traders sentiment was buoyed by some strong November chain-store retail sales figures and by the European Central Bank (ECB) to maintain liquidity safety measures for troubled banks.

In an Interview with IBTimes, Srinivas Thiruvadanthai explores the concept of balance sheet recessions and other factors that make the Great Recession so severe.

Merck & Co. Inc. said it agreed to acquire privately-held diabetes treatment developer SmartCells Inc. in a deal that could exceed $500 million.

FXCM (NYSE:FXCM) raised about $211 million from its initial public offering (IPO) of 15,060,000 shares, priced at $14 per share -- the company now has a total market value of about $1 billion.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Sequenom, Itron, Leap Wireless International, Netflix, Synopsys, ARM Holdings, Clearwire, ASML Holding, Vodafone Group, and Voltaire.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to higher opening on Thursday but pared earlier gains after the Department of Labor reported that weekly jobless claims climbed last week.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Ku6 Media, Finisar, Sangamo Biosciences,Wet Seal, optionsXpress Holdings, Rediff.com India, JA Solar Holdings, Magic Software Enterprises, SodaStream International, and Aruba Networks.

If the ECB lives up to market expectations, the pair could rise further but a strong resistance area is up there, between 1.3266 (key long-term resistance) and 1.3357 (38.2 fibonacci retracement from June 7 lows), between which the 100-day SMA (1.3323) is also falling.

PepsiCo Inc. announced an agreement to acquire 66 percent of Russia's dairy and fruit juice company Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods for $3.8 billion to boost its base in key markets in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Upon completion of the deal, PepsiCo will be around twice the size of its nearest food and beverage competitor in Russia.

Europe's biggest tour operator TUI Travel reported a full-year pretax loss, blaming weaker trading in the UK, mainly due to increased winter losses resulting from capacity-led volume reductions. However, underlying pretax profit rose 4 percent on good turnaround progress.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Semtech, Sequenom, ON Semiconductor, Ansys, rue21, TD Ameritrade Holding, Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, E*TRADE Financial, Compuware, SunPower, and Synopsys.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Finisar, Gordmans Stores, optionsXpress Holdings, Global Industries, Tractor Supply, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Metabolix, Isle of Capri Casinos, Natural Alternatives International, and NCI.

France and Germany, the two leading countries of the euro zone, may have intentionally engineered a competitive currency devaluation by pushing private investors to share the burden of future sovereign bailouts.

Stocks rallied sharply on a slew of good economic data, including jobs, productivity and regional growth.

U.S. stocks rallied in early trade on Wednesday as strong data on private payrolls, and better-than-expected manufacturing reports from China and Europe buoyed sentiment.

Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest wireless carrier, is set to unveil details about its plan to launch its LTE 4G wireless networks in the United States.

Futures on major U.S. indices extended earlier gains on Wednesday after ADP reported that private-sector employment recorded the largest gain in three years in November.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: A-Power Energy Generation Systems, Corinthian Colleges, TICC Capital, ICAgen, NGP Capital Resources, and Take-Two Interactive Software.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Mercer Insurance Group, OmniVision Technologies, Xenoport, Mecox Lane, Acergy, SodaStream International, L & L Energy, Orckit Communications, and Savient Pharmaceuticals.

Motorola, Inc. (MOT) said it has reduced the time frame for its plan to separate handset and cable set-top box businesses Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. from the company to January next year.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to higher opening on Wednesday as better-than-expected manufacturing reports from China and Europe buoyed sentiment.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to higher opening on Wednesday, the first trading day of December, ahead of a wave of economic data including ADP national employment report.

Travel company Thomas Cook posted lower annual profits as revenue fell due to a softer summer trading environment. In the UK, the tour operator said trading was even tougher than anticipated, and it expects to save between 40 million pounds and 50 million pounds mainly through reduction of over 500 managerial and support jobs.