US shares have lost their early gains because of tensions between Iran and Iraq and the dollar's continued rise. Tech stocks are doing better than other sectors after results from Oracle and Research In Motion last night.

There are reports of Iranian troops marching over the Iraqi border and laying claim to a dormant oilfield.

The Dow is down 12 points to 10,296. Nasdaq has gained 17 at 1,800 while the S&P 500 is broadly unchanged at 1,096.

Software firm Oracle reported earnings of 39c a share versus 34c year ago, compared with 36c forecast afterhours yesterday.

Blackberry maker Research in Motion earned $1.10 per share, up from 69c a year ago. Shares in Oracle are currently up 10% with Oracle over 6% higher. Palm though is struggling as it posted another quarterly loss amid signs that consumer demand has waned for its newest smart phones.

VeriSign says that it will increase its domain name fees.

Intel has regained some of its recent losses.

General Motors (GM) has thrown in the towel and decided to wind down its loss-making Swedish unit Saab after talks to sell it failed. The US company had hoped small Dutch carmaker Spyker would buy the business after talks with Sweden's Koenigsegg collapsed late last year.

But Nick Reilly, who's only been in charge of GM Europe for a couple of weeks, said today: 'We regret that we are not able to complete this transaction with Spyker Cars.'

Morgan Stanley chairman and chief executive John Mack won't accept a bonus for 2009. Mack will hand over his CEO job to James Gorman at the end of the year.

News Corp has warned that there is a possibility that Time Warner Cable could drop TV shows from its subsidiary Fox. Fox produces American Idol and is seeking a payment of around $1 for each subscriber taking the Fox network. Time Warner Cable said Fox's current demands "are unreasonable and excessive, especially in this economic climate."

The biggest riser on the S&P and Nasdaq is Celgene, which says that its drug Revlimid has slowed the progression of a form of cancer called multiple myeloma.

Shares in Chinese solar wafer maker LDK Solar slumped after it was forced to cut the price and size of its offering of American Depositary Shares (ADS).

Automotive parts maker Visteon Corp, which is bankruptcy protection, has filed a reorganisation plan under which secured term loan lenders would end up with 96.2% of the shares in the new company.

Interstate Hotels & Resorts has agreed a $2.25 a share bid from Hotel Acquisition Corporation. The cash bid values the hotel operator at $307m.


S&P 500 - Risers
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $55.77 +10.17%
Verisign Inc. (VRSN) $24.01 +8.20%
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $24.43 +6.77%
M B I A Inc. (MBI) $3.47 +5.79%
Darden Restaurants (DRI) $34.63 +5.73%
Southwestern Energy (SWN) $47.38 +4.36%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $26.09 +4.36%
Motorola Inc. (MOT) $8.43 +3.95%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $23.08 +3.73%
State Street Corp. (STT) $41.07 +3.37%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Bard C R Inc. (BCR) $77.96 -7.37%
KB Home (KBH) $12.76 -3.99%
Carnival Corp. (CCL) $32.26 -3.28%
Prologis Sbi (PLD) $13.13 -3.10%
Best Buy Co Inc. (BBY) $39.74 -2.93%
Network Appliance Inc. (NTAP) $32.86 -2.87%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $20.70 -2.68%
Tenet Hlthcre Corp. (THC) $4.97 -2.55%
Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) $34.63 -2.53%
National Oilwell Varco (NOV) $43.37 -2.44%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $19.37 +1.57%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $30.03 +1.45%
Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) $51.27 +1.40%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $40.72 +1.12%
Bank Of America Corp. (BAC) $14.98 +0.81%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $37.51 +0.62%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $18.33 +0.60%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $14.58 +0.55%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $77.05 +0.35%
3M Co. (MMM) $80.74 +0.34%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Boeing Co. (BA) $53.23 -2.27%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $60.77 -1.33%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $28.51 -1.01%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $47.96 -0.87%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $64.05 -0.65%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $56.61 -0.65%
American Express Inc. (AXP) $40.19 -0.64%
Du Pont E I De Nemours and Co. (DD) $31.85 -0.50%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $57.25 -0.49%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $52.51 -0.47%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $55.77 +10.17%
Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) $69.55 +9.60%
Verisign Inc. (VRSN) $24.01 +8.20%
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $24.43 +6.77%
Ryanair Holdings Plc Adr (RYAAY) $26.69 +4.71%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $23.08 +3.73%
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL) $19.82 +2.96%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $55.82 +2.27%
Foster Wheeler AG (FWLT) $28.93 +2.19%
Maxim Integrated Prod Comm Stk (MXIM) $19.98 +2.15%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Network Appliance Inc. (NTAP) $32.86 -2.87%
Ebay Inc. (EBAY) $22.29 -2.19%
Joy Global Inc. (JOYG) $51.58 -1.73%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $59.69 -1.64%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $24.75 -1.55%
Liberty Media Corp. (LINTA) $10.12 -1.46%
Liberty Global Inc. Series A (LBTYA) $20.20 -1.37%
Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) $32.96 -1.11%
Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO) $26.90 -1.10%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $24.32 -0.98%

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