IBT Staff Reporter

A pair of the largest U.S. banks reported that profits in the first quarter fell due to the housing downturn but they still managed to beat Wall Street analysts' expectations sending shares higher.

U.S. stocks rallied on Wednesday on upbeat earnings results from Intel Corp. and financial giant J.P. Morgan Chase gave new hopes that companies are still making money while the U.S. economy takes a downturn.

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Gold futures rose to its highest level in two weeks after the U.S. dollar fell to a new low against the euro. Silver also ended with gains.

European stocks rose early on Wednesday, with the FTSEurofirst 300 index increasing 1.0 per cent to 1,294.42 points.

JJB Sports Plc has reported a drop of 28.5 per cent in full year profits for the full year 2007. The sports retailer said that its total pre-tax profits fell from £47.2 million down to £33.8 million last year.

Sugar posted the highest gains in more than four weeks after crude oil surged increasing demand for sugar cane as an alternative source of fuel such as ethanol.

Coffee gained for the third straight day boosted by the declining dollar that made commodities traded in New York more attractive for investors holding other currencies, coupled with low bean exports from Brazil.

China's Hong Kong based Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. is planning to increase flights to India to meet the rising throughput between Hong Kong and India, the company announced on Wednesday.

AMR Corp, parent of the No. 1 U.S. carrier American Airlines, reported a first-quarter loss of $328 million on Wednesday, led by record high fuel costs.

Abbot Laboratories Inc. reported on Wednesday its earnings in the first quarter of 2008 rose 34 percent off strong sales of its medical products abroad.

Vivendi received approval on Wednesday from the European Commission to merge its videogame unit with Activision Inc., in a deal worth $9.85 billion.

China's gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter grew 10.6 percent over the same period of last year, and also higher than the annual growth rate target of 8 percent, the China National Bureau of Statistics (CNBS) said on Wednesday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., the third largest U.S. bank beat expectations on Wednesday, despite reporting a 50 percent drop in first quarter profit as it wrote down $5.1 billion in assets linked to mortgages and other loans.

U.S. soft drinks giant Coca Cola reported Wednesday that better-than-expected first-quarter profit backed by an increase in international sales and favorable foreign currency conversions boosted revenue.

Japan stocks continued to rise Wednesday because of weaker yen and U.S. market recovery the previous day, but fears of a weak American earnings week restrained aggressive investing.

China's Yangtze Power Co Ltd, operator of the nation's biggest hydropower project of Three Gorges, lowers its earnings estimate in first quarter from the year earlier, due to the rising costs and less power generation.

The dollar rose against the euro yesterday as surprisingly robust U.S. inflation and manufacturing data suggested the Federal Reserve may be less aggressive in cutting interest rates.

Sterling fell against the dollar yesterday after a fall in a UK house price measure to its lowest in 30 years which increased the worries about that sector and the economy.

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The FTSE 100 share index rose 75.3 points to 5,906.9 (up 1.3 per cent) on Tuesday on what was a good day for retailer Tesco.

Debenhams Plc has released its interim results for the 26 weeks ended 1 March 2008. The retailer said that its like-for-like sales fell marginally by 0.7 per cent in the period, but were up 1.0 per cent in the 32 weeks to 12 April 2008.

The Carphone Warehouse Group has reported an increase in the number of people who have signed up to its telecoms subscriptions by 16 per cent year-on year. The company also said it had increased mobile connections by 12 per cent to 2.7 million.

Fashion company Burberry Group has reported a rise in total revenue of 19 per cent for the half year to 31 March 2008.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released figures showing that the annual rate of inflation was unchanged in March. The ONS said that consumer price index (CPI) inflation rose by 0.4 per cent in March but that the annual rate of inflation was steady at 2.5 per cent.

Supermarket chain Tesco has reported an 11.8 per cent rise in pre-tax profit in 2007, taking the group's profits for the year up to £2.846 billion.

Standard & Poor's, the financial information service firm, announced a shakeup in one of its indices on Tuesday in the wake of National Oilwell Varco Inc's acquisition of Grant Prideco Inc.

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