GLOBAL MARKETS

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Shoe Carnival, Dell, Focus Media Holding, Wet Seal, Web.com Group, ArQule, Immunomedics, Acme Packet, AsiaInfo-Linkage, and EDAP TMS.

Microsoft hopes that its newly launched hands-free sensor gadget, Kinect's growing popularity will help revive sales of its Xbox game console in the upcoming shopping season.

Retail sales in October picked up pace, and brightened the outlook for year-end shopping as purchases rose 1.2%, the highest in the last seven months.

Stocks surged, buoyed by the successful huge initial public offering of General Motors (NYSE: GM), reports that the Republic of Ireland will receive a bailout to solve its troubled banking system and better-than-expected manufacturing activity data.

Yields on municipal bonds has risen recently, with long-term yields rising more sharply than those on the short-end since the beginning of the November.

As “Black Friday” approaches next week, U. S. retailers are expecting a strong holiday season – at least, compared to the dismal performance of the past two years.

Shares of automaker General Motors opened at $35 in its first trading day on the NYSE after recovering from a government funded bailout. The opening price was an increase of 2 percent from its IPO price of $33.

S&P 500 Index gained 13.19 points, or 1.18 percent, to trade at 1,192.55 at 09:50 a.m. EDT. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 122.79 points, or 1.12 percent, to trade at 11,130.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.29 percent to trade at 2,508.13.

Shares of auto giant General Motors (NYSE: GM) are up almost 9 percent in early trading after yesterday’s blockbuster initial public offering that was estimated to have 30 percent greater demand than initially expected. The offering is the biggest in U.S. history

Silver rallied sharper than gold on Thursday and some analysts see the trend to continue as many big global players are yet to cover their huge short positions in the white metal. A broadly weak US dollar, growing expectations that Ireland will soon be bailed out by the EMU and an absence of fresh cues from China about it raising the policy rates also helped an across-the-board rise of commodities on the day.

GM will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange beginning today after a landmark intial public offering, from which GM is expected to raise as high as $23.1 billion.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: SmartHeat, Verigy, A-Power Energy Generation Systems, Sears Holdings, Legacy Reserves, Clean Energy Fuels, Hologic, Synchronoss Technologies, and Avanir Pharmaceuticals.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: LTX-Credence, Exelixis, DryShips, Dendreon, Aruba Networks, SodaStream International, Pan American Silver, Spreadtrum Communications, NetApp, and Canadian Solar.

Staples Inc., the world's largest office products company, reported 7 percent rise in quarterly profit, which also came in above market estimates, as it managed to keep a lid on its costs.

Rubber recovered most of the losses it suffered on China rate hike fears, partly helped by a broadly weak US dollar and speculative buying interest on the commodity. The benchmark April futures on Tokyo Commodity Exchange settled Thursday at 369.2 yen per kilogram, 7.1 yen up on the day and nearly 4.5 percent higher from Wednesday's close.

Caterpillar Inc.'s (CAT) $7.6 billion-acquisition of rival Bucyrus International is likely to trigger a consolidation of the attractive mining equipment industry.

Futures on the S&P 500 gained 11.80 points to 1,189.30, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are up 87.00 points to 11,082.00 and Nasdaq100 futures are up 25.50 points to 2,122.50.

London Stock Exchange Group said activity on the primary markets picked up with a more than doubling of the total number of new issues. The group lifted its interim dividend by 5 percent to 8.8 pence.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: SmartHeat, A-Power Energy Generation Systems, Legacy Reserves, Nxstage Medical, Popular, Career Education, Mattel, PetSmart, Sears Holdings, and BE Aerospace.

Investec Plc, the specialist bank and wealth manager, posted a "strong" operational performance in the first half, with five of its six core businesses recording a substantial increase in earnings. Third party assets under management grew 4.9 percent to 77.8 billion pounds.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Cytori Therapeutics, Dendreon, DryShips, Sourcefire, Spreadtrum Communications, Netease.com, Xyratex, Aruba Networks, Exelixis, and Netlist.

Stocks finished mixed in choppy trading, after four days of losses, as investors become worried that Ireland will likely receive a huge bailout to clean up its banking system and repay its debt.

General Motors Co is inching closer towards returning to the U.S. market in one of the biggest IPOs in the U.S. history and could even become the world's largest.

S&P 500 Index edged up 0.68 points, or 0.06 percent, to trade at 1,179.73 at 09:53 a.m. EDT. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 8.47 points, or 0.08 percent, to trade at 11,015.03. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.24 percent.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: RINO International, Bank of Kentucky Financial, Human Genome Sciences, EDAP TMS, Patterson-UTI Energy, JA Solar Holdings, GT Solar International, Syntel, Acergy, and Sina.

Futures on the S&P 500 gained 3.50 points, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are up 23 points and Nasdaq100 futures are up 7 points.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Ladish, BSD Medical, Clean Energy Fuels, Brocade Communications Systems, Baidu, Research In Motion, Fifth Third Bancorp, DryShips, Akamai Technologies, and Power-One.

Target Corp, the No.2 discount chain in U.S. behind Walmart, reported 23 percent rise in its quarterly profit as the retailer's attractive discount schemes have drawn more shoppers to its stores.

Commodities slid across the board on Wednesday on fresh signals from China that it will soon raise rates with lingering Euro area debt woes also helping keep investors away from risky assets. Gold and silver traded near their 2-week lows while copper and platinum fell to their lowest since late September. Also, December and January crude fell to its lowest since Oct. 29.