FROM MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD

U.S. STOCK MARKETS:

Stocks rose, as the S&P 500 topped 1400 for the first time in nearly four years, after firm readings on the jobs market and manufacturing activity. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 36 points, or 0.3%, to 13220, with less than an hour before Thursday's closing bell.

The Dow industrials are on course for a seventh consecutive gain, the longest streak since an eight-session run ended in February. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose six points, or 0.5%, to 1402, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 12 points, or 0.4%, to 3052.

Financial and industrial stocks were the big gainers among sectors in the S&P 500. Bank of America rose 3.9% and J.P. Morgan Chase gained 2.5% to lead the blue chips.

Among blue chips, Cisco Systems fell 1.3% after announcing plans to acquire NDS Group, a U.K. video software maker, in a $4 billion deal. Apple edged 0.3% lower after briefly topping $600 for the first time.

In economic data, the number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week.New claims are hovering at about levels last seen four years ago.

Meanwhile, manufacturers from upstate New York down to Delaware are seeing better business conditions this month, according to separate reports released Thursday by Federal Reserve banks.

U.S. wholesale prices increased in February at the fastest pace in five months. The Producer Price Index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4%, but producer prices were up 0.2% without energy and food components.

In other corporate news, Scholastic jumped 14% after it reported its fiscal third-quarter loss narrowed as the popularity of The Hunger Games series aided the children's book publisher's sales and improved margins. Scholastic also raised its full-year earnings estimate.

Guess slumped 10% as fiscal fourth-quarter revenue fell short of expectations, even as earnings were in line, and the apparel and accessories retailer provided first-quarter earnings and revenue outlooks well below projections.

EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS:

European stocks finished higher Thursday, boosted by the continued run in strong economic indicators out of the U.S., improving sentiment about the health of the world's largest economy.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended up 0.3% at 270.98. Germany's DAX index rose 0.9% to 7144.45, while France's CAC-40 index finished 0.4% higher at 3580.21.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index fell 0.1% to 5940.72, underperforming its peers after Fitch Ratings cut its outlook on the U.K. to negative, saying the country's financial flexibility was very limited.

The renewed confidence in the U.S. banking sector after the well-received stress tests results and the Federal Reserve's upbeat remarks on the U.S. economy Tuesday, together with stronger U.S. economic indicators of late have helped to keep the upside momentum in stock markets.

Major European stock indexes have recovered to levels last reached in summer 2011. With major European indexes now standing at such elevated levels, there appears to be little room for further upside momentum as investors look to cash in on this rally, traders said.

The International Monetary Fund as expected, approved a four-year EUR28 billion loan for Greece, as part of a broader rescue package for the debt-laden country. The IMF said EUR1.65 billion will be available for immediate disbursement.

Meanwhile, the Spanish Treasury sold EUR3 billion of bonds at auction, within the target range and with yields mostly lower.

Among the biggest gainers in Europe, Aixtron SE added 14.8% after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to buy from hold. K+S AG rose 7.2% as it raised its dividend for 2011 by 30% after posting the second-best earnings in the firm's history.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG lost 0.9% after the airline swung to a EUR13 million loss in 2011 because of higher fuel costs and a EUR361 million air-traffic tax expense. Shire PLC declined 3.1%. The drug maker said it was withdrawing an application to the Food and Drug Administration for its Fabry disease drug, Replagal.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS:

Most Asian stock markets ended lower Thursday, with Chinese property developers and many of the region's commodity producers declining amid worries Beijing may not relax a policy aimed at cooling the nation's housing market.

Japanese shares were an exception, ending higher as the yen's weakening trend continued to support exporters.

China's Shanghai Composite lost 0.7%, on top of Wednesday's 2.6% slump after Premier Wen Jiabao reiterated his government's commitment to cool the housing market.

South Korea's Kospi gave up 0.1% and Singapore's Straits Times Index declined 0.2%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.7%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.2% after a choppy trading day.

Mainland property stocks came under further selling pressure. Shares of Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co. lost 3.7% and Poly Real Estate Group gave up 2.6% in Shanghai, while China Vanke shed 1.0% in Shenzhen.

In Hong Kong, Hang Seng Index constituents China Overseas Land & Investment dropped 2.7% and China Resources Land declined 1.6%. Property sector losses in Hong Kong were offset by strength for index heavyweight China Mobile, which ended up 0.5% after it reported a 5.2% increase in 2011 profit.

Shares of HSBC Holdings PLC also lent support to the broad market, rising 1.4% and extending recent gains. Several resource sector shares fell, amid uncertainty over Chinese demand growth and after a firm U.S. dollar pressured commodity prices in New York Wednesday.

Cnooc Ltd. gave up 1.2% in Hong Kong, and Aluminum Corp. of China lost 0.7% in Hong Kong and 2.8% in Shanghai. In Japan, export-focused firms rallied on the dollar's continued strength against the yen.

Camera makers Ricoh and Canon climbed 7.9% and 3.7%, respectively, while Mazda Motor jumped 6.1%. Shares in Sharp Corp. fell 5.3% a day after the electronics firm named a new president and amid reports of delays with the firm's delivery of liquid-crystal-delay panels for Apple Inc.'s iPad devices.

COMMODITIES

Base metals closed mostly higher on the London Metal Exchange Thursday, with flagship copper extending its gains in the latter part of the session following another serving of well-received U.S. economic data.

At the close, LME three-month copper was 1.2% higher at $8,565 a metric ton, while aluminum was up 0.9% at $2,249/ton. Oil futures prices ended a topsy-turvy day Thursday with only a scant loss.

A report that the U.K. expected the U.S. to act soon to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve caused oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchanges to drop more than $2 to a one-month low of $103.78, but most of those losses were erased after the White House denied the report and said no deal was in place for a release of the SPR.

April-delivery light, sweet crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled 32 cents lower, at $105.11 a barrel. ICE North Sea Brent crude for April settled $1.42 lower, at $123.55 a barrel.

Gold futures gained for the first time this week, as declines in the U.S. dollar and the metal's slide the previous day to eight-week lows drew some opportunistic buyers. The most actively traded gold contract, for April delivery, rose $16.60, or 1%, to settle at $1,659.50 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.