STOCKS NEWS US-Yahoo shares rise on JMP Securities upgrade

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0905 EST 8March2010
Yahoo shares rise on JMP Securities upgrade

JMP Securities upgraded Yahoo Inc to 'market outperform' from 'market perform' and said it expects the company to benefit from a search partnership with Microsoft Corp.

The companies should have a search market share of about 30 percent after the deal, the brokerage wrote in a note to clients.

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Shares of Yahoo rose 1.9 percent to $16.37 before the bell while Microsoft, a Dow component, was down 3 cents at $28.56.

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0857 ET 8March2010
Applied Materials ups dividend, oks buyback

Applied Materials Inc shares rose 2.9 percent to $12.64 in premarket trade on Monday after the producer of chip-making gear boosted its quarterly dividend by 17 percent to 7 cents per share and approved a three-year, $2 billion share repurchase plan.

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0804 EST 8March2010-McDonald's Feb same
store sales up 4.8 pct

McDonald's Corp said on Monday that global comparable sales increased 4.8 percent for February and systemwide sales rose 11.2 percent to 6.4 percent in constant currencies for the month.

U.S. comparable sales rose 0.6 percent, and comparable sales in Europe climbed 5.4 percent.

McDonald's shares advanced 1 percent to $64.23 premarket. Reuters Messaging:rm://[e-mail]


0800 EST 8March2010
Xyratex jumps after prelim results

Xyratex Ltd shares surged 17.4 percent to $18 in premarket trade on Monday after the company boosted its first-quarter outlook.

The storage process technology provider raised its first-quarter GAAP earnings-per-share view to between 77 cents to 87 cents from its prior view of 24 cents to 52 cents per share.

The company also raised its revenue outlook to between $313 million to $318 million from prior guidance of $245 million to $285 million.

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0751 EST 8March2010
Futures little changed after recent rally

U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Monday following a strong rally to end last week's session, when the Nasdaq closed at an 18-month high on better-than-expected February payroll data.

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S&P 500 futures rose 1.4 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures added 12 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 1.75 points.

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0733 EST 8March2010
U.S. Steel raised to 'buy,' AK Steel cut to 'neutral'

Goldman Sachs boosted its rating on U.S. Steel Corp to 'buy' on Monday, citing the continued rise of raw material prices.

The firm also increased its price target to $70, saying higher scrap metal prices may soon be followed by higher iron ore and coking coal, making vertically integrated steelmakers the biggest beneficiaries.

Goldman also cut AK Steel Holding Corp to 'neutral' from 'buy,' citing margin pressure in the second half of 2010 from higher iron ore prices.

U.S. Steel shares gained 2.2 percent to $60.20 in premarket trade, while AK Steel slipped 0.9 percent to $24.65 in light trade.

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