ECONOMY & MARKETS

Personal spending in the US rose more than expected in February while income increased less than expected, indicating that the average consumer is growing more confident about the economic recovery.

US stocks opened higher in early trade on Monday, with the S&P 500 Index gaining 2.49 points, or 0.19 percent, to trade at 1,315.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 18.31 points, or 0.15 percent, to trade at 12,238.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.28 percent.

RBC Capital Markets initiated its rating on shares of Zuoan Fashion Ltd (NYSE: ZA) at outperform, speculative risk and a price target of $9.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Cal-Maine Foods, Leap Wireless International, Cerus, Synthesis Energy Systems, and Liberty Media Interactive. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Fuqi International, Cninsure, Randgold Resources, Star Scientific, and ARM Holdings.

Crude oil futures slipped on Monday as Libyan rebels disclosed plans of oil exports from the key oil towns captured by them over the weekend.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Monday are: NYSE Euronext, Salesforce.Com, Freeport-McMoRan, Netflix, Bristol Myers Squibb, Caterpillar, Boeing, Marriott International, Peabody Energy and Wal-Mart Stores.

U.S. stocks gained for the third consecutive day on Friday as investors shook off global fears and focused instead on upbeat earnings.

While a drop in public support for nuclear power would be expected after an incident like the Fukushima reactor crisis, the nuclear disaster in Japan has triggered a much stronger response among Americans.

The year 2011 will be the biggest period yet for graphics-enabled microprocessors (GEM), as the penetration of GEMs reaches 50 percent in notebook PCs and 45 percent in desktops, according to IHS iSuppli research.

In the backdrop of massive global events in the Middle East and Japan, something else significant is developing: the continued deterioration of the US housing market.

David Watt of RBC Capital Markets expects Plosser to not only vote against the Fed’s policy of quantitative easing, but also for a 25 basis point rate hike.

US stocks rose for the third consecutive session as investors shook off global fears and focused instead on upbeat earnings.

Risk assets have performed surprisingly well this week despite the lack of good news and ongoing concerns globally.

US stocks are up on Friday, en route to end positive for the third consecutive session, as investors shrug off global concerns.

Full text of Plosser's speech on the Federal Reserve's Exit Plan [

US stocks rallied on Friday on positive economic data and another good earnings report from the technology sector.

Shares of companies active in Friday's early trade are: Research In Motion, Finish Line, Accenture, JetBlue Airways, Holly, Western Refining, Embraer, Hitachi, SYNNEX and HealthSpring.

Siemens Energy said it has been awarded another order from Minnesota Power for 35 3-megawatt SWT-3.0-101 direct drive wind turbines for its Bison 2 wind energy center near Center, North Dakota.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices continued to point to a higher opening on Friday after government data showed that US economic activity grew at a 3.1 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Biostar Pharmaceuticals, Wet Seal, Zalicus, Oracle, and JetBlue Airways. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: China Finance Online, Research In Motion, Acacia Research, Universal Display, XOMA, and Netflix.

At its annual meeting, Starbucks Corp. (NYSE: SBUX) said it would offer its own value oriented single-serve machine with Courtesy Products.

Brown-Forman Corp. has authorized its Board to repurchase up to $250 million of its outstanding Class A and Class B common shares through November 30, 2011.

In a series of postings from mid to late February on 51Jobs.com (the Monster.com of China), VanceInfo Technologies Inc. (NYSE: VIT) has advertised numerous positions for onsite assignments at Yahoo China. VanceInfo is an information technology (IT) service provider and an offshore software development company in China.

Merck & Co Inc. (NYSE: MRK)'s shingles vaccine Zostavax is now approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for people aged 50 and older. Zostavax was originally approved on May 2006 to prevent herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles, in individuals 60 years of age and older.

BHP Billiton Ltd., one of the world's largest mining companies, said it would invest about $10 billion in Australia to expand its iron ore coal mining operations.

US stocks ended higher on Thursday as investors are shrugged off bad news and focused on some positive developments from the US corporate sector.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Body Central, THQ, Wet Seal, Alkermes, and Oracle. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Gen-Probe, Research In Motion, Move, Acacia Research, and China Finance Online.

Gold hit its second new record high on the trot at the London Gold Fix on Thursday morning, hitting $1441.25 per ounce for US investors as the Dollar held flat on the forex market, and US crude oil rose.

US stocks continued to rally on Thursday as investors are shrugging off the bad news and focusing on the positive developments from the US corporate sector.