FROM MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD:

U.S. STOCK MARKETS

The Dow Jones Industrial Average erased losses in late Thursday trade, with the benchmark index trading up 12.95 points, or 0.1%, at 13,139. Trading tends to be volatile at the end of the quarter, as fund managers adjust their trading books.

The other major stock indexes remained in the red, with the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 index both down 0.2%. The U.S. economy expanded at an unrevised 3% in the fourth quarter of 2011, the Commerce Department said in its third and final estimate for the period.

The gain, while the strongest since the second quarter of 2008, lagged behind expectations of a 3.2% increase. The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment benefits was higher than expected, though it fell to its lowest level since April 2008, indicating steady improvement in the labor market.

Manufacturing activity in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's district slowed this month, in part because of a drag from higher gasoline prices, the bank said in a report.

EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS

European stock markets fell sharply Thursday, led by banks, after weak economic data in Europe and the U.S., while bond yields in Italy and Spain jumped.

Losses for car makers also weighed heavily on German stocks. The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed 1.3% lower at 260.74.

Shares fell after the European Commission's economic sentiment indicator for the euro zone fell to 94.4 in March from 94.5 in February, disappointing analysts' expectations for an unchanged reading. Shares remained under pressure following disappointing initial jobless claims data from the U.S.

Italy's FTSE MIB index underperformed other European markets, plunging 3.3% to 15,908.85, its lowest close since late January. Banks were among major decliners.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA sank 11% after reporting a EUR4.7 billion loss in 2011 due to a goodwill impairment charge. Banca Popolare di Milano SCARL lost 10.4% and UniCredit SpA fell 5.8%.

Yields on 10-year Italian government bonds rose 0.18 percentage point to 5.21%. Spain's IBEX 35 index fell 0.9% to 7,911.00 as a general strike against government austerity measures got underway a day ahead of the government's 2012 budget. Yields on 10-year Spanish government bonds added 0.14 percentage point to 5.44%.

Euro-zone finance ministers will meet in Copenhagen Friday and are expected to discuss an increase in the region's rescue funds to prevent the spread of the sovereign-debt crisis.

The German DAX 30 index fell 1.8% to 6,875.15. Car makers weighed on sentiment after S&P said the European car sector is heading toward at least a 5% decline 2012 because of weak economic growth and "downgrades appear possible".

Daimler AG lost 3.3%, Volkswagen AG fell 3.9% and BMW AG declined 2.1%. The FTSE 100 index dropped 1.2% to 5,742.03. Royal Dutch Shell PLC gave up 1.3% and BP PLC fell 2%.

Marks & Spencer Group PLC lost 2.9%. HSBC Holdings PLC dropped 2.6% and Barclays PLC fell 4.7%. Auto makers also declined in France. Peugeot SA lost 5.7% and Renault SA gave up 2.8%. Oil group Total SA lost 0.5% in the wake of a gas leak, which started Sunday in the North Sea. The drop weighed on the CAC 40 index, which settled 1.4% lower at 3,381.12.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS

Asian stock markets ended mostly lower, with resources and energy stocks struggling amid falling commodity and crude prices, as investors grappled with concerns about the pace of the global economic recovery.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.3%, and the Shanghai Composite index declined 1.4%, extending the previous session's steep fall.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average lost 0.7%, while the South Korean Kospi fell 0.9%. Commodity-trading houses were under pressure in Japan, with Mitsui & Co. falling 3.3%, and Mitsubishi Corp. losing 2.8%.

In Hong Kong, Aluminum Corp. of China fell 1.3%, and PetroChina Ltd. dropped 2%. Oil giant Cnooc Ltd. lost 3.3% after the firm said late Wednesday that its fiscal-year net profit rose 29% to $11.2 billion, a figure that slightly exceeded analysts forecasts.

However, the company also set a conservative production output target for this year. In other Chinese earnings news, China Shipping Container Lines fell 2% in Hong Kong after it swung to a 2011 net loss of $428 million due to rising fuel costs.

Port operator China Merchants Holdings International Co. fell 2.7% in Hong Kong after its own annual net profit slipped 5.3%, weighed down by higher costs. Japanese technology stocks lost ground after a weaker than expected outlook from U.S. technology firm Applied Materials Inc. sent the U.S. Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 1.3% Wednesday. Advantest Corp. lost 2.9%, Tokyo Electron fell 3%, and Kyocera Corp. shed 1.9%.

COMMODITIES

Base metals closed mixed on the London Metal Exchange Thursday as a strong dollar and risk-off sentiment weighed on prices, while demand from dip buyers cushioned the markets on pullbacks.

Trading was choppy as end-month and end-quarter book-squaring and window-dressing activity emerged, with copper closing just $1 higher at $8,349 a metric ton.

Nickel and aluminum posted the sharpest falls, down 2.4% and 1.7% respectively. Crude-oil futures settled at a six-week low Thursday, reeling from weak U.S. equities, comments by Saudi Arabia's oil minister that his country is capable of more supplies to counter high prices, and expectations the West and the U.S. may release emergency crude reserves to also battle higher energy prices.

Crude for May delivery declined $2.63, or 2.5%, to end at $102.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the lowest settlement for a most-active oil contract since mid February.

Gold futures eased for a third consecutive day, as traders continued to cash out of the precious metal because of weak physical demand and disappointment that prices failed to hold their gains earlier in the week. The most actively traded gold contract, for April delivery, fell $5.70, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,652.20 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement price since March 22.