FROM MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD.:

U.S. STOCK MARKETS

U.S. stocks edged lower after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took a cautious view of the U.S. recovery and offered few clear signals that the central bank could take additional measures to ease policy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 14 points, or 0.1%, at 12991, in afternoon trading, after rising 50 points earlier in the session. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index lost two points, or 0.1%, to 1370, and the Nasdaq Composite shed 10 points, or 0.3%, to 2977.

Pulling the indexes lower were materials and energy stocks. Alcoa fell 1.2%, Caterpillar lost 1% and Exxon Mobil dropped 0.4%. Consumer staples and consumer discretionary stocks helped limit the losses.

Stocks started the day higher, after European banks took more than half a trillion euros from the European Central Bank's lending facility, adding another boost to sentiment.

Investors also cheered a higher revision of fourth-quarter U.S. economic growth. But Bernanke took the air out of the rally during an appearance before legislators on Capitol Hill. The Fed chairman remained cautious on his view of the recovery, warning that the U.S. recovery remained uneven and modest.

At the same time, investors said, Bernanke didn't appear to move closer toward a third round of quantitative easing, or bond-buying stimulus, to support the economy. That left some investors disappointed. Separately, the Fed's beige book report on regional economic activity added to a narrative of a moderately strengthening recovery.

In economic headlines, the Commerce Department revised its estimate of fourth-quarter U.S. economic growth to 3%, from an initial estimate of 2.8%. Economists had expected a revised figure of 2.7%.

A measure of manufacturing activity in the Chicago area improved to 64.0, better than an expected reading of 61.0. In corporate news, shares of News Corp. rose 1.3% after Deputy Chief Operating Officer James Murdoch stepped down as executive chairman of News International, its U.K. publishing unit, to focus on the company's international TV business. News Corp. owns The Wall Street Journal and Morrison Securities.

First Solar slumped 11% to lead the S&P 500 decliners after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat estimates but revenue that fell short, and lowered its 2012 revenue outlook. Apple bucked the market's fall, rising 1.6% for its fifth consecutive day of gains ahead of next Wednesday's company announcement.

EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS

European stocks posted a flat finish Wednesday after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in congressional testimony, said the global economic outlook remains uncertain.

Equities had seen choppy trade in earlier activity, struggling to find direction after the European Central Bank allotted EUR529.5 billion in cheap, three-year loans to euro-zone banks in its latest long-term refinancing operation.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed at 264.32, down less than 0.1%. European shares dipped into negative territory after Bernanke said Europe still faces critical fiscal and financial challenges in testimony prepared for the House Financial Services Committee.

He also said strains in global financial markets posed significant downside risks. The Stoxx 600 had risen to an intra-day high of 266.45 immediately after the lending results from the ECB, but trading action remained choppy as markets tried to get to grips with how to interpret the results.

The number of banks taking the loans increased to 800 from more than 500 in December's operation. Southern European banks, which were expected to be the biggest borrowers, were among top gainers on European stock markets.

The Athens General Index jumped 2.3% to 743.59, with a 4.9% rise for National Bank of Greece SA.

In Italy, Banca Carige SpA gained 3.8%, Banco de Sabadell SA rose 3.5% and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA rallied 4%.

In Paris, the CAC 40 index closed marginally lower at 3,452.45, weighed by a 2.1% fall in Bouygues SA. The firm said it expects sales for its telecom unit to fall 10% in 2012. Peugeot SA fell 2.1% as Reuters reported General Motors Co. is hesitating over a reported plan to buy a stake in the French car maker.

Car makers in Germany tracked Peugeot lower. Daimler AG lost 1.4% and BMW AG shed 0.6%, pressuring the DAX 30 index which fell 0.5% to 6,856.08.

In London, ITV PLC topped the FTSE 100 gainers, adding 6.8% after reporting 2011 profit that beat estimates. In the opposite direction, Vodafone Group PLC fell 1.7% and Essar Energy PLC dropped 7.5% after Credit Suisse cut the stock to neutral from outperform. The FTSE 100 fell 1% to 5,871.51, while the FTSE MIB index rose slightly to 16,351.41.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS

Most Asian markets ended February with solid monthly gains Wednesday as a recent pullback in oil prices and overnight gains on Wall Street underpinned sentiment, although Japanese and Hong Kong stocks pared early advances.

South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.3%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.5% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average finished flat. China's Shanghai Composite bucked the regional trend, snapping a long winning-streak to end 1.0% lower.

Japan's Nikkei ended February with a 10.5% gain, while benchmarks in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Seoul gained 6.3%, 5.9%, and 3.8%, respectively, for the month.

Among other semiconductor firms, Renesas Electronics extended losses with a 4.6% fall. Still, better-than-expected industrial-output data supported the broader market, however.

In Seoul, gains across the key shipbuilding sector lent broad support to the market, with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering up 5.1% and Samsung Heavy Industries up 2.3%.

A decline in crude-oil prices helped airline shares extend gains from the previous session in Hong Kong. China Eastern Airlines rose 1.7%, Air China gained 1.9%, and Cathay Pacific Airways added 3.5%. But broader gains in Hong Kong were capped by weakness in Chinese property firms, amid a drop on mainland bourses. China Overseas Land & Investment lost 2.5% and China Resources Land fell 1.5%.

COMMODITIES

Base metals closed mostly lower on the London Metal Exchange Wednesday as investors cashed in on early gains as hopes for further monetary easing in the U.S. were dealt a blow.

At the close, LME three-month copper was 1.2% lower at $8,499 a metric ton, well below the two-and-a-half-week high at $8,695.25/ton it hit in earlier trade.

Lead fared the worst of the complex, closing down 4.3% on the day at $2,160/ton. Crude oil futures turned higher in the last minutes of trade Wednesday, shrugging off U.S. government data showing a bigger than expected increase in oil inventories.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled 52 cents higher at $107.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil inventories rose 4.2 million barrels last week, according to a weekly report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The build was significantly larger than the 800,000-barrel-increase forecast by analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. Gold slumped to a one-month low, and silver fell by almost 7% on Wednesday as investors bet that further monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve wasn't near after comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Gold for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, fell $77.10, or 4.3%, to settle at $1,711.30 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest ending price since Jan. 25. Silver for May delivery plunged 6.9% to settle at $34.642 an ounce.