US markets

U.S. stocks were on track to post their first gain in four sessions Thursday as bets that rebuilding efforts in Japan could lift energy and industrial companies and offset anxieties around the country's nuclear power crisis.

After falling 3.6% in the week's first three days, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 150 points, or 1.3%, to 11763 in late afternoon trading.

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The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9% to 2641. The Standard & Poor's 500-share index added 1.3% to 1273, led by the energy sector.

The market's advances came as Japanese authorities claimed modest gains Thursday in their efforts to tame the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power complex with 100 tons of seawater on Thursday using helicopters and fire trucks, an urgent effort to combat rising temperatures in two storage pools for spent nuclear fuel. Radiation levels at the site fell slightly and a Tepco executive said operations were a good first step in bringing the reactors under control. U.S. investors said the day's gains were unsurprising after the three day slump.

Energy companies gained as crude-oil prices climbed back above $101 a barrel as unrest continued in the Middle East and North Africa.

Oil and gas exploration and production company Noble Energy jumped 5.1%, while oilfield-services company Schlumberger rose 4.7% and drilling contractor Rowan gained 4.6%. Industrials climbed, lifted by a 3.5% jump in international package shipper FedEx after its fourth-quarter earnings target topped analysts' mean estimate.

European markets

European markets rallied Thursday, breaking a six-session losing streak, as investors snapped up insurers and industrial firms on speculation that many stocks have been oversold in the wake of last week's earthquake in Japan. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 1.9% to 267.08, rebounding from its lowest close since late November. The blue-chip Stoxx Europe 50 index rose 2%, led by industrial groups Siemens AG and Alstom SA which surged 4.4% and 5.7% respectively. UniCredit reportedly upgraded Siemens to buy from hold. In Germany, the DAX 30 index gained 2.2% to 6,656.88 as shares of Heidelberg Cement AG surged 4.7%. Munich Re rallied 4.1% as Jefferies raised its rating on the insurer to buy from hold, saying the losses from Japan should be relatively modest. Investors are awaiting a conference call on Japan among Group of Seven finance leaders and central bank governors which is set for Thursday evening. Automobile makers are among the stocks that have been heavily sold by investors because of supply-chain worries linked to the Japan earthquake. Citigroup said Thursday it's hard to tell how long the disruption will last in light of the many different companies and countries involved in that chain. Shares of BMW AG rose 2%. In Paris, Renault rose 4.4% and Peugeot SA gained 1.8%, boosting the CAC-40 index, which closed up 2.4% at 3,786.21. In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 1.8% to 5,696.11, as ARM Holdings PLC surged 5.9%. Miners also buoyed the FTSE as base-metals prices rose. Antofagasta PLC added 4.3% and Xstrata PLC moved up 3.7%.

Asian markets

Most Asian markets ended lower in nervous trading Thursday as Japan struggled to deal with the earthquake's aftermath, although hopes that the authorities may bring a radiation leaking nuclear facility under control helped to trim stock losses. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average, down as much as 5% at one point, narrowed those losses to end 1.4% lower at 8,962.67. Asian stock and currency markets were roiled in early trade by remarks from Greg Jaczko, chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, who said the risk of radiation was more serious than Japanese officials had outlined in public, and recommended a much larger radius for evacuations. His words had earlier sent Wall Street tumbling. But Asia's markets recovered as the day progressed amid Japan's latest attempt to cool down the reactors, by having military helicopters drop seawater on them. The nation's nuclear safety agency said it was continuing to work on a power line to bring electricity to the plant from outside; restoring electrical power there would improve the chances of cooling the reactors. Among Asia's main indexes, China's Shanghai Composite fell 1.1% to 2897.30, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 1.8% to 22284.43, Taiwan's Taiex gave up 0.5% to 8282.69 and India's Sensex lost 1.1% to 18149.87 taking in its stride the Reserve Bank of India's 0.25 percentage point increase in lending rates, a move that was widely expected. Managing to climb all the way back from early losses, South Korea's Kospi added 0.1% to end at 1,959.03. Japanese stocks also owed the recovery to a steep retreat in the yen, after the Japanese currency rose to a record high against the U.S. dollar very early in Asia. The retreat came on expectation that Japanese authorities would intervene to support the dollar and protect the nation's exporters from the impact of a stronger local currency. Among major declining stocks, Canon Inc. dropped 3.3%, Toyota Motor Corp. shed 2.2%, Fanuc Ltd. gave up 4%, Fast Retailing Co. slid 3.1% and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group sank 4.7%. Shares in Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the troubled nuclear-power plant, finally traded they had been limit down for the first three days of the week, with too large a gap between bid and offer to allow for a transaction. They fell 13%, not bad by recent standards; this week's total losses come to 62%. China's suspension of approvals for new nuclear power plants pushed non-nuclear energy producers higher in a downbeat Shanghai market. China Yangtze Power Co. rose 3.8% and Huaneng Power International Inc. rose 1.1%. In Seoul, shipbuilders rose on hopes for new orders after Samsung Heavy Industries Co. late Wednesday said it received a 1.25 trillion won order to build two drilling ships for an unidentified U.S. firm. Samsung Heavy added 1.8%, while Hyundai Heavy Industries rose 3.9%.

Base metals

Base metals closed higher on the London Metal Exchange Thursday as the U.S. dollar weakened and traders tipped tighter markets for industrial commodities following last week's earthquake and tsunami in Japan. LME three-month copper closed the PM kerb at $9,564 a metric ton, up 3.3% on Wednesday's kerb close and its highest value in more than a week. Other LME metals also traded higher aluminum rose 2.7% to $2,523/ton and nickel was up 3.8% at $25,900/ton as the euro rose to a fourth-month high against a broadly weaker greenback. The LME complex has been under pressure this week amid fears of radiation leaks at Japanese nuclear reactors and concerns about the long-term impact that Friday's 9.0 magnitude earthquake will have on the country's economy and infrastructure. But some market players say the focus is now starting to shift to the longer-term impact the disaster may have on supply and demand in the markets. Oil futures surged past $101 a barrel Thursday as Japan claimed progress in controlling the crisis at a damaged nuclear plant and Western countries appeared closer to intervening in Libya. Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled up $3.44, or 3.5%, at $101.42 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, settling above $100 for the first time since Monday. May Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange rose $4.30 a barrel, or 3.9%, to settle at $114.90 a barrel. Gold ended slightly higher alongside firmer equity markets, as traders divided attention between Japan's nuclear crisis and political instability in the Middle East. The most actively traded contract, for April delivery, settled up 0.6%, or $8.10, at $1,404.20 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The thinly traded March delivery contract was up 0.6%, or $8, at $1,404.00 a troy ounce.

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