LONDON (ShareCast) - - Financials rise strongly as markets rebound.
- Fed considering 'sterilised' bond-buying.
- Markets await Greek debt-swap deadline.

Dow Jones: (+0.61%) 12,837
Nasdaq: (+0.87%) 2,936
S&P 500: (0.69%) 1,353

US equities rebounded on Wednesday afternoon after yesterday's sell-off, the steepest stock market decline in 2012 so far.

Financial stocks were the winners of the day after some better-than-expected economic data and hopes of a new type of bond-buying programme by the Federal Reserve.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the central bank is considering printing money to acquire bonds, then borrowing the money back for short periods at low rates, effectively taking it out of circulation (sterilising). This move is thought to be an attempt to ease fears of quantitative easing fuelling inflation.

Meanwhile, Europe is awaiting a final decision on the Greek debt restructuring. Private investors have a Thursday deadline to decide if they will accept a debt exchange in which they will be required to take a 53.5% nominal haircut, in an agreement that would save Athens about €106bn (£88bn).

"We are optimistic that we will exceed the 75% participation threshold by far based on the data we have so far," an official from Greece’s finance ministry told Reuters. The latest estimate, according to Bloomberg TV, pins the participation rate at around 58%.

EQUITIES

General Electric rose after reiterating its goal to increase its income at a double-digit rate in 2012.

Streaming music firm Pandora dropped after missing profit and sales forecasts in the fourth quarter.

Tech giant Apple edged higher after unveiling its new iPad, which has a higher resolution screen, 4G connectivity and improved camera and video technologies.

Tesoro was performing strongly after Bank of America upgraded its rating on the stock from underweight to neutral.

MACROECONOMY

Private sector employment increased by 216,000 persons in February (consensus: 208,000).

MBA mortgage applications fell 1.2% in the week ending on the past 2nd of March.

Non-farm productivity grew at a 0.9% pace in the last three months of 2011 (consensus: 0.8%).

Unit labour costs rose 2.8% in the last quarter of 2011 (consensus: 1.2%).

BC

S&P 500 - Risers
Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) $27.01 +7.31%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $23.64 +5.72%
Masco Corp. (MAS) $11.57 +4.61%
Tesoro Corp. (TSO) $27.27 +4.12%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $175.84 +4.07%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $8.50 +4.04%
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $8.02 +4.02%
Teradyne Inc. (TER) $15.74 +3.96%
D. R. Horton Inc. (DHI) $13.99 +3.94%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $7.17 +3.91%

S&P 500 - Fallers
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $25.80 -6.62%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $105.19 -1.81%
Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) $71.44 -1.60%
Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) $41.69 -1.37%
Gannett Co. Inc. (GCI) $14.41 -1.37%
MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) $3.69 -1.34%
CBRE Group Inc (CBG) $17.70 -1.28%
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) $8.49 -1.28%
Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PEG) $30.24 -1.24%
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) $38.99 -1.14%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $8.02 +4.02%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $47.43 +2.24%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $108.28 +2.22%
General Electric Co. (GE) $18.77 +1.90%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $39.95 +1.60%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $59.86 +1.52%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $82.57 +1.45%
Boeing Co. (BA) $73.52 +1.32%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $26.91 +1.15%
American Express Co. (AXP) $52.27 +1.02%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) $37.84 -1.12%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $41.75 -0.60%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $66.58 -0.39%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $19.41 -0.36%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $37.31 -0.35%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $56.87 -0.21%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $64.30 -0.08%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $85.83 -0.03%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $31.22 +5.69%
Warner Chilcott Plc (WCRX) $16.35 +3.88%
Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) $35.16 +2.93%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $27.62 +2.66%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $40.73 +2.62%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $122.27 +2.42%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $49.49 +2.40%
Infosys Technologies Ltd. (INFY) $57.06 +2.33%
Foster Wheeler AG (FWLT) $22.87 +2.10%
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (CHKP) $58.89 +1.94%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
First Solar Inc. (FSLR) $25.80 -6.62%
Research in Motion Ltd. (RIMM) $12.90 -1.71%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $45.48 -0.87%
VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $35.98 -0.61%
Nll Holdings Inc. (NIHD) $16.98 -0.47%
Altera Corp. (ALTR) $37.15 -0.43%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $19.41 -0.36%
Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $48.48 -0.14%
Patterson Companies Inc. (PDCO) $30.54 -0.13%
Expeditors International Of Washington Inc. (EXPD) $43.47 -0.09%

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