Dow +0.11% at 10564, S&P +0.17% at 1140, Nasdaq +0.36% at 2340, N225 -0.04% at 10563, HK -0.10% at 21186, AUS +0.00% at 4820

US stocks managed a small gain on the day as the market lacks any real catalyst to propel it higher and volumes remain light. Sectors: Telecom +1.2%, Industrials +0.8%, Tech +0.4%, Financials +0.3%, Energy +0.1%, Consumer Disc -0.1%, Healthcare -0.1%, Consumer Spls -0.2%, Utilities -0.3%, Materials -0.5%. Financials better as a small rally in rescued financials lift the sector. AIG +13% on speculation they will sell more assets with Citi +7.3%, Freddie +7.6% and Fannie +6%. Also talk SEC was considering short sale restrictions on firms that govt owns a stake in (was denied after close). Citi & Apollo ink deal over Citi Property Investors the WSJ reported. Comerica -1.6% announced $800M capital raise and Susquehanna -7.2% also annnc'd $300M secondary. Credit Card plays were strong after Barclays said Feb master trust data (out next Monday) could market a positive inflection point. Kroger -2% on numbers. Apple +1.8% hits another all time high lifting tech shares to outperform. Cisco unveiled plans for its new router. Boeing +0.8% after Northrop withdrew as bidder US Air Force contract. Continental Air 'open to merger' should competition dictate. Airlines strong post positive comments on business travel by Continental and UAL. We had another wave of M&A speculation - Commercial Metals +9.2%, rallied on talks Nucor may be interested. Southwest Energy rallied 3.9% on talks ConocoPhillips is in talks to purchase it (nothing confirmed). Rails were better after Morgan Stanley reit its bullish stance on group and Deutsche was positive on the truckers as well. Telcos continue to rally behind Sprint +6.2% after investor conference. Steels down with US Steel weighing as it fell -1.3%, stock was removed from Deutsche's buy list. S&P breadth slightly better for the advancers with 253 up, 238 down and 9 unchanged. VIX +.73% at 17.92. Oil -0.5% at $81.49. US after hours: J Crew -0.3% and Aeroviroment -7% on numbers. Retail in focus today as we have American Eagle, Gymboree, Men's Wearhouse, Children's Place, Jo-Ann Stores, Hot Topic and Bon-Ton all reporting. We also have MBA Mortgage Apps and Wholesale Inventories - also Treasury auctions 10yr notes.

Barclays - The Wall Street Journal has reported that Barclays is "on the prowl" for a US retail acquisition to give it more deposits and to extend the presence of Barclays Capital in the country.
Inbev had the outlook on its Baa2 credit rating raised to positive from stable at Moodys
Fraport Feb passenger traffic falls 1%
Novartis announces $5bn bond issue to fund Alcon bid
Reed sells German unit to EPPG (WSJ)
Swiss Re sees $500m worth of claims from the Chile Quake, $4-7B for industry
SAP rumoured to be eyeing Temnos, Oracle could also be interested - FT
E.On's FY results top expectations. Dividend is to be raised.
JCDecaux reports a weaker than expected FY net income and scraps the dividend.
Fortis FY inline
Munich Re reits FY profit target, considering further buybacks
Inchcape FY pbt better, co. now debt free
Stan.Life FY book value in line, op profit better, div better
Thomas Cook holds group investor day today
Man Group AHL +0.70% last week
Tullow FY09 in line. No change to Dividend (6p for full year). No news on Uganda as expected.
Glanbia numbers in line. A significant development is news that Glanbia Co-op, which owns 54.6% of the plc, has expressed an interest in acquiring the Irish dairy, agritrading, property, business services and related JVs.
Irish Life & Perm - Goldman cuts target to EUR3.90 from EUR4.70 - Neutral.
Ex-Dividends today in Ireland : CRH 44c, FBD 20c, Grafton 2.5c & Paddy Power 38.9c.
Week Ahead in Ireland : Thur - Origin FY.
Asia: Korea +0.08%, Taiwan +0.11%, HK -0.10%, AUS +0.00%, China -0.66%, India +0.10%, Japan -0.04%
Asian markets mostly unchanged. China underperforms as China Feb trade data much stronger than expected. Newswires highlighting this add inflationary pressures to Govt & will encourage them to pare back stimulus measures. More Chinese data due tomorrow: PPI, CPI & Industrial Production. Rio -1% and BHP -0.4% in Australia.
Europe opening unchanged. ISEQ -0.5%. On macro side we have Germany Feb final CPI, France Jan Ind Production & Mfg Production, and UK Jan Industrial Production and Mfg Production.