Japanese stocks gain, with banks, exporters rising
Last Update: 2/16/2011 2:17:04 PM
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese shares added to previous gains in early Thursday trading, with a U.S. advance overnight and the dollar remaining above the 83.50-yen level helping boost exporters and banks. The Nikkei Stock Average climbed 0.6% to 10,877.6, and the Topix added 0.6% to 973.36. Among the export-focused firms marking early gains were Sony Corp. , higher by 1.5%; Sharp Corp. , up 2%; and Canon Inc. , rising 1.8%. Japanese financials were also on the march higher, after robust U.S. economic data helped bank shares there gain. Mizuho Financial Group Inc. rose 1.2%, while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. was up 1.3%. Meanwhile, Honda Motor Co. jumped 1.6% after a Nikkei report that the company plans to buy back more of its shares.

Yahoo in no rush to add Alibaba board member
Last Update: 2/16/2011 12:35:41 PM
Yahoo Inc. simply hasn’t found the ideal person to appoint to the board of directors at Chinese Internet giant Alibaba Group, a right that fell to the U.S. Internet major and Alibaba stakeholder last fall.
YHOO,  ALBCF

NetApp earnings jump, but forecast disappoints
Last Update: 2/16/2011 12:41:28 PM
The provider of data storage products and services enjoyed a strong gain in sales for the third fiscal quarter, but its guidance for the current period was on the low side of Wall Street’s estimates.
NTAP

U.S. stocks revived by Fed growth forecast
Last Update: 2/16/2011 12:37:12 PM
Wall Street resumes healthy gains as minutes from January’s FOMC meeting showed officials voicing more confidence in the recovery.
DJIA,  JPM,  SPX,  COMP,  FR:SAN,  GENZ,  FDO,  DELL,  DE,  CMCSK

Qantas Airways profit surges, see strong FY
Last Update: 2/16/2011 11:51:16 AM
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) -- Airline Qantas Airways Ltd. said Thursday that its net profit surged to 241 million Australian dollars ($241.8 million) in the six months to Dec. 31. The firm posted a A$58 million profit in the year-ago period. Sales rose 10% to A$7.59 billion. The firm said that average yields, excluding currency, rose 7%, reflecting a continued improvement in premium business. Costs rose 7% to A$7.2 billion, in line with capacity growth, with fuel costs up 10%. A380-related costs amounted to A$55 million. The firm expects to take $25 million of A380 charges in its fiscal second half. It said that average bookings indicate yields in the second half will be higher than the first half and expects capacity to increase by 11%. Given the first-half result, underlying pretax profit is expected to be materially stronger in fiscal 2011, compared to 2010, the firm added.