GLOBAL MARKETS

The top U.S. companies that are reporting earnings before the market opens on March 23 are: General Mills, Texas Industries, and Wonder Auto Technology. The top U.S. companies that are reporting earnings after the market close on March 23 are: Paychex, Red Hat, SAIC, Steelcase, HB Fuller, and OMNOVA Solutions.

Following is the update from Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) on Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Motricity, Cintas, Qiao Xing Universal Resources, Euronet Worldwide, and World Acceptance. The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: XOMA, Double Eagle Petroleum, Solar Senior Capital, Ancestry.com, and United Therapeutics.

U.S. stocks pulled back in a sleepy session Tuesday as investors paused after a three day rally that helped the market regain ground after several weeks dominated by unrest in the Middle East and Japan's earthquake.

There is a clear sense of calm returning to the financial markets after the horrific earthquake in Japan and the leveling of the playing field in Libya. Though the damage associated with Japan’s earthquake is clearly immense, its economic impact will mostly be localized.

US stocks edge down as turmoil in the Middle East continues to rage on.

US stock slipped on the continued unrest in the Middle East and escalating tensions in Yemen.

Currently, crude oil prices are trading around $105 per barrel. Eugen Weinberg of Commerzbank estimates that $20 to $25 of it reflect fears of unrest in the Middle East.

A private lending sector, largely unfettered by government intervention, is booming in China.

Shares of companies active in Monday's early trade are: Walgreen, Canadian Pacific Railway, Netflix Inc., Express Inc., Molycorp and St. Jude Medical.

US stocks wavered between small gains and losses in early trade on Tuesday as investors watched with caution geopolitical developments in Japan and Libya.

The Euro price of Gold Bullion today slipped back to last week's finish just below €32,000 per kilo - reversing Monday's 1.0% rise - as the single currency hit new 6-month highs to the Dollar above $1.4240.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Tuesday are: Bristol Myers Squibb, Netflix, Aflac, Verizon Communications, Nordstrom, Akamai Technologies, Wynn Resorts, Frontier Communications, Walgreen and Suntrust Banks.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Motricity, DryShips, Netflix, Curis, and Zions Bancorp. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: IncrediMail, American Capital Agency, Skyworks Solutions, Hancock Holding, and Micron Technology.

Merck (NYSE: MRK) and sanofi-aventis (NYSE: SNY) terminated plans to combine their animal health businesses, citing increasing complexity of implementing the proposed transaction.

Sony Corp. has suspended production at more Japanese plants after a massive earthquake on March 11 has made it difficult for the plants to get raw materials and components.

U.S. stocks surged on Monday as sentiment was buoyed after Japan made progress in its battle to control radiation leaks at a crippled plant, and AT&T announced that it will buy T-Mobile USA from German company Deutsche Telekom to create the largest mobile provider in the United States.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said that radioactive Materials were detected from the seawater around the discharge canal (south) of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Atrinsic, Makita, Hot Topic, Micromet, and Pacer International. The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Cohu, James River Coal, Photronics, American Capital Agency, and ON Semiconductor.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed back above 12000, boosted by a major telecommunications deal and a jump in energy stocks as oil prices leapt.

US stocks jumped higher on positive news from Japan and AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile.

G7’s coordinated effort to weaken the Japanese yen was a surprise to most. Douglas Borthwick of Connecticut-based Faros Trading, however, anticipated this development.

Charles Schwab said it agreed to buy optionsXpress Holdings for about $1 billion in stock to expand in the fast-growing options trading space.

RBC Capital Markets anticipates a dividend increase from SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) to come either in the second quarter or the third quarter of 2011. The brokerage expects the quarterly dividend to go to 8 cents a share (about 20 percent payout).

Citigroup announced a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of its common stock and plans to reinstate a quarterly dividend of $0.01 per common share in the second quarter of 2011.

US stocks advanced in early trade on Monday as sentiment was buoyed after Japan made progress in its battle to control radiation leaks at a crippled plant, and AT&T announced that it will buy T-Mobile USA from German company Deutsche Telekom to create the largest mobile provider in the United States.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Monday are: Tiffany & Co, Hartford Financial, Coach, Joy Global, EMC Corp, General Electric, Nvidia, Sprint Nextel, American Tower and CF Industries Holdings.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Curis, TGC Industries, Verigy, Leap Wireless International, and Magic Software Enterprises. The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Xenoport, Dish Network, DIRECTV, and Universal Display.

Sprint and Clearwire are now more likely to merge as the cheapest and fastest route for Sprint to have a nationwide 4G network would be via Clearwire.