ECONOMY & MARKETS

The top after-market NASDAQ gainers Tuesday were: On Assignment, FSI International, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Warren Resources, Vical Inc, K-Swiss, Ambassadors Group, American Superconductor and Idenix Pharmaceuticals.

The top after-market NASDAQ losers Tuesday were: EMCORE Corp, Rex Energy Corp, Pacific Biosciences of California, CoBiz Financial, West Marine, Bank Mutual Corp, Silicon Motion Technology, United Community Banks, Cumulus Media and Builders FirstSource.

Gold is expected to reach a new record high of $2,200 per ounce as fears of Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union break-up surge again and with U.S. monetary policy anticipated to remain supportive, according to Capital Economics.

U.S. asset markets sold off Tuesday as investors interpreted new data from China to mean that country's economy might be slowing down faster than previously thought. Of paramount concern was a government report showing new home prices had recently declined in 45 of 70 major cities, with prices static in 21 other metropolitan areas.

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Major indexes across Europe were down Tuesday on negative news regarding an expected slowdown in Chinese economic growth.

The National Development and Reform Commission is raising retail gas prices by 600 yuan ($95) a metric ton, leading to an average pump price hike of 6.8 percent.

Some economists predict that if Greece and its European Union partners can't agree on a debt reduction plan, the country may have to default in a disorderly manner and exit the euro currency.

U.S. home construction unexpectedly fell 1.1 percent in February from a three-year high even with the help of warmer-than-normal weather in the month, but new building permits jumped to their highest level since October 2008.

U.S. housing starts fell in February, but permits for future construction jumped to their highest level since October 2008, according to a government report on Tuesday that showed steady improvement in the housing market.

The top after-market NASDAQ losers Monday were: Adobe Systems, Salem Communications, Websense, Retail Opportunity Investments, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Otter Tail Corp, Amerigon Inc, TiVo, Autodesk and Cirrus Logic.

The top aftermarket NYSE gainers Monday were: Michael Kors Holdings Ltd, Enersys, SunTrust Banks, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, SunCoke Energy and Headwaters. The top aftermarket NYSE Losers were: Regency Energy Partners, Excel Maritime Carriers, Roundy's, Williams-Sonoma, Beazer Homes USA and Mueller Water Products.

The top after-market NASDAQ gainers Monday were: Gordmans Stores, Neutral Tandem, Celldex Therapeutics, Openwave Systems, Focus Media Holding, Xyratex, Cal-Maine Foods, Mid-Con Energy Partners, Hercules Offshore and Steel Dynamics.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc has started reducing employees in the trading and investment banking divisions, it has been reported.

Amazon.com Inc Monday announced that it has reached an agreement to buy Kiva Systems Inc, an innovator of material handling order fulfillment systems, for $775 million.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index continued to rise to touch the highest since May 2008 following the announcement from Apple that it has decided to pay a dividend as well as launch a stock buy backs program.

Last week's rise in 10-year U.S. Treasury yields from 2.0 percent to 2.3 percent suggests that it might not be long before mortgage rates increase from their current record low of just above 4 percent, according to Capital Economics.

At the height of the boom, commercial banks and investors gorged themselves on real estate, building unsustainable towers of debt that finally collapsed in 2008. But with the housing market improving, they may soon return for second helpings.

Home prices in nearly half of China's major cities fell in February from the year-ago period, as Beijing showed its determination to tame the property market.

The European financial crisis has seemingly abated after Greece scored an orderly default on €100 billion ($132 billion) worth of its debt and the European Central Bank (ECB) injected banks with €530 billion in three-year loans.

Construction output in Europe fell in January, marking two months of declines fueled by Spain and Italy's troubled economies, the European Union's statistics office reported Monday.

Apple (AAPL) shares soared on Monday, breaching the 600 mark a few times before finally settling on 601, after the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech company decided to share some of its $100 billion in cash with its investors. Apple announced it would reward shareholders by launching a quarterly dividend and a stock buyback program that will pay out about $45 billion over three years, set to go into effect later this year.

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) downloaded $45 billion, to borrow a phrase from the Financial Times, to its shareholders Monday, lifting both its own stock and the already buoyant broader market.

China will raise its heavily regulated retail gasoline and diesel prices Tuesday by 6.4 percent and 7 percent, respectively, marking the biggest increase in 33 months, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) will chair a Congressional hearing next month to examine the effect closing of several refineries serving the East Coast has on gas prices.

Home builder confidence, which has been climbing for five months, hit a plateau in March, failing to post yet another gain, according to data released Monday by the the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

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European Central Bank data out Monday showed euro zone countries exporting more goods and services than they imported in January. In a further encouraging sign, a greater number of countries contributed to the increased exports.

U.S. and European investment banks may face headline risk again from credit ratings downgrades by Moody's Investors Service Inc. in the coming weeks, Nomura Securities warned Monday.