Concerns about the Chinese economy have pushed shares lower today but Wall Street is well off its early lows.

Consumer price inflation (CPI) accelerated rapidly in China in February, fuelling speculation that the government will ease stimulus measures.

Initial claims for US unemployment insurance fell to 462,000 in latest week, according to the Labor Department. Analysts expected a drop to 460,000.

The US trade deficit shrank a seasonally adjusted 6.6% in January to $37.29bn.

Elsewhere in the world, Japan's economy grew less than previously thought in the last quarter of 2009, new figures show, demonstrating that recovery in the Asian country may be weaker than thought.

The Dow Jones is 10 points lower at 10,557, while the Nasdaq has dropped 3 points to 2,356. The S&P 500 is down 1 point at 1,144.

Yahoo was downgraded from buy to hold by Benchmark, which predicts that the company will continue to lose market share.

Western Digital, the second largest maker of hard disc drives, was downgraded from buy to accumulate by Craig-Hallum Capital.

Fuel Cell Energy rose on the back of a $2.1m contract with Air Products. The fuel cell power plant technology will be used in a hydrogen fuelling stations. Fuel Cell Energy reported a loss of 14 cents a share, which was in line with expectations.

UBS raised its recommendation for Dr Pepper Snapple from neutral to buy.

Daihatsu is the latest carmaker to recall its vehicles for repair, telling almost 275,000 drivers their vehicles may suffer from missing or loose parts.

The company, 51%-owned by troubled peer Toyota, says its Hijet and Atrai mini-van models may have problems.

A Mexican billionaire last night became the first man from a developing nation to be ranked the world's richest person.

Telecom tycoon Carlos Slim has an estimated fortune of $53.5bn, according to the annual Forbes rich list, putting him ahead of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and legendary American investor Warren Buffett.

The 70-year old, who increased his wealth by £18.5bn in the last 12 months, beat last year's number one, Bill Gates. Gates is worth $53bn, while this year's third richest man, Warren Buffett has a fortune of $47bn.


S&P 500 - Risers
Gamestop Corp. (GME) $19.33 +5.74%
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (HBAN) $5.52 +5.14%
Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (DPS) $34.91 +3.74%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $114.89 +3.55%
Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) $13.28 +2.47%
Keycorp (KEY) $7.73 +2.25%
American International Group Inc. (AIG) $37.04 +2.21%
Davita Inc. (DVA) $62.10 +1.97%
Discover Financial Services (DFS) $14.64 +1.81%
Slm Corp. (SLM) $12.41 +1.80%

S&P 500 - Fallers
Analog Devices (ADI) $29.28 -2.66%
Altria Group Inc. (MO) $20.30 -2.50%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $37.12 -2.50%
Texas Instruments (TXN) $23.98 -2.48%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $22.46 -2.39%
Deere Co (DE) $57.11 -2.36%
Archer Daniels Mdlnd (ADM) $29.58 -2.18%
N Y Times Class A (NYT) $11.44 -2.14%
Leggett Platt Inc. (LEG) $21.10 -2.09%
Ryder System Inc. (R) $35.68 -2.06%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $127.07 +1.15%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $53.39 +0.95%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $31.92 +0.66%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $13.63 +0.44%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $33.43 +0.30%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $17.20 +0.29%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $29.05 +0.28%
Bank Of America Corp. (BAC) $17.14 +0.18%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.22 +0.14%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $29.79 +0.13%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $53.55 -1.19%
3M Co. (MMM) $80.79 -0.94%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $63.77 -0.81%
General Electric Co. (GE) $16.42 -0.55%
Du Pont E I De Nemours and Co. (DD) $35.02 -0.51%
AT&T Inc. (T) $25.41 -0.44%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $58.53 -0.43%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $71.56 -0.32%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $62.82 -0.30%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $36.57 -0.27%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $18.52 +5.53%
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $114.89 +3.55%
Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) $76.39 +1.80%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $11.37 +1.70%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $132.50 +1.52%
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $25.19 +1.31%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $24.51 +1.14%
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Ads (TEVA) $61.56 +1.02%
Google Inc. (GOOG) $581.52 +0.88%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $39.20 +0.82%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Seagate Technology (STX) $18.61 -2.92%
Warner Chilcott Plc (WCRX) $26.29 -2.88%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $22.46 -2.39%
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) $101.16 -2.05%
Cerner Corp (CERN) $83.22 -1.68%
Dell Inc. (DELL) $14.07 -1.68%
Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) $16.51 -1.67%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $61.02 -1.44%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $35.06 -1.39%
Genzyme Corp. (GENZ) $56.80 -1.39%

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