From MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD.:

U.S. STOCK MARKETS

U.S. stocks overcame early losses, as a new round of economic data supported the market and strong performance from individual stocks pulled up two of the major indexes.

After dropping as much as 56 points shortly after the market opened Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 37 points, or 0.3%, at 12976.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was up 3.5, or 0.3%, at 1361, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 16, or 0.5%, at 2949.

The rise in the Dow and the Nasdaq could at least partly be explained by the performance of two individual stocks: IBM and Sears. IBM, a heavily-weighted component of the Dow index, was up 2.1%, and Sears, which is traded on the Nasdaq, was up 18%.

The reasons for the rise in both stocks were unclear; Sears reported a large fourth-quarter loss and announced restructuring efforts to boost liquidity, while there was little news about IBM.

The U.S. Labor Department reported initial claims for unemployment benefits totaled 351,000 during the week ended Feb. 18, unchanged from last week's revised total, initially reported at 348,000. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a slight increase to 355,000.

Meanwhile, U.S. home prices rose more in December than analysts expected, and manufacturing activity in the Kansas City region nearly doubled from a month ago, to its highest level since last June.

Seven of the S&P's 10 sectors were higher, led by financial and consumer staple stocks. Among blue chips, Hewlett-Packard skidded 5.6% after the technology company's fiscal first-quarter earnings beat expectations but revenue fell short, and its second-quarter earnings outlook was below current estimates.

In corporate news, Boston Beer's fourth-quarter profit jumped 46% as the brewer of Sam Adams beer reported a jump in shipments and as prices rose a bit. Shares fell 4% as higher barley costs are expected to pressure gross margins this year. Safeway's fourth-quarter earnings fell 6.1% as higher costs continued to hurt the supermarket operator's margins, though revenue grew more than expected. Shares fell 7.3%.

EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS

European stock markets finished lower Thursday, after the European Commission's downbeat comments on the euro-zone economy, which overshadowed earlier strength provided by German economic data and largely positive corporate earnings from the region's leading blue-chips.

The EC forecasts real gross domestic product for the euro zone to decline 0.3% in the first quarter, after dropping the same amount in the last quarter of 2011.

Two consecutive quarters of contraction signal a recession. The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended down 0.2% at 264.08. Germany's DAX fell 0.5% to 6809.46 and France's CAC-40 index finished flat at 3447.31.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index, however, ended 0.4% higher at 5937.89, helped by upbeat corporate earnings from some of the index's leading blue chips.

Stock markets had earlier been supported by the German Ifo Survey which surprised to the upside, increasing to 109.6 in February from 108.3 in January. Elsewhere, Greece's parliament backed a debt swap with private bondholders, reports said.

That clears the way for Greece to issue its formal offer, which would see private creditors exchange Greek bonds for new debt at lower interest rates and longer maturities.

In earnings news, insurer Allianz gained 0.3% after it said it will be keeping its dividend for 2011 stable, despite a 50% decline in net profit for the year. Swiss Re shot up 2.6% after the reinsurer swung to a $983 million net profit in the fourth quarter and raised its dividend. Royal Bank of Scotland Group finished up 5.1% after reporting a smaller-than-expected loss.

Credit Agricole fell 4% after reporting that provisions against bad loans at its Greek business and restructuring costs in the fourth quarter drove it to its heaviest net loss since it went public a decade ago. Commerzbank declined 6.6% after saying it will boost capital by EUR1 billion to meet new regulations. The Stoxx Europe 600 banks index was down 0.8%.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS

Asian stock markets finished mostly lower Thursday, with many of the region's banks under pressure, though Japan's main indexes swung to gains as exporters strengthened.

The South Korean Kospi Index lost 1.0%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.8%, and the Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.3%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.4%, erasing early-session losses as exporters once again benefited from a weak yen.

Concerns about the global economy worked to weigh on export-dependent South Korea, where shares of Samsung Electronics fell 3.1%, while Hyundai Motor was down 2.2%.

In Tokyo, Mazda Motor shares fell 6.8% after the firm confirmed earlier reports it would issue new shares. However, many other major exporters rose.

Among the gainers, Sharp Corp. rose 2.7%, Elpida Memory surged 12.6%, Nintendo gained 4%, and Nissan Motor Co. added 1.6%. Among financials, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. fell 0.5% in Japan. In Hong Kong, HSBC Holdings PLC lost 1.5%. Property firms fell in both Hong Kong and mainland China, after Shanghai's housing bureau Thursday denied reports that it was easing restrictions on second-home purchases.

Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd. lost 2.8%, and Henderson Land Development Co. dropped 1.9%. China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. fell 0.2%, while Gemdale Corp. added 0.4% in Shanghai. J.P. Morgan property-sector analysts said that they believe there could be around 14% upside for property-sector share prices on average.

COMMODITIES

Base metals finished mostly lower on the London Metal Exchange Thursday, consolidating in negative territory as downbeat comments from the European Commission weighed on sentiment.

The industry-linked metal prices slipped in relatively quiet trade, with three-month copper ending 0.5% lower at $8,390 a metric ton. Crude-oil futures rose Thursday as a weekly government report showed a smaller-than-expected rise in inventories.

Support also came from lingering concerns about the potential for supply disruptions, a German business-climate index showing a stronger-than-expected rise in February, and a weaker dollar.

Light, sweet crude oil for April delivery settled $1.55 higher at $107.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, hitting a fresh nine-month high. Gold and silver both settled at 2012 highs, as a weaker dollar and political tension over sanctions on Iran boosted demand for the metals as alternative assets.

Gold for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, rose $15, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,786.30 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement price since Nov. 15 and the third consecutive session of gains. Silver for March delivery rose 3.8% to settle at $35.556 a troy ounce, the highest ending price since September.