Bulls May Take A Breather; Global Cues Mixed

Stocks are likely to remain in a consolidation mode on Friday after a sharp rally in the previous session. The market is likely to take cues from the Asian markets which had a tepid start.

US stocks rose on Thursday, with the Nasdaq turning positive for the year-to-date, as a batch economic data that was not as dire as expected fed optimism the economy's worst days were behind.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 174.75 points, or 2.25 per cent, to 7,924.56. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 18.98 points, or 2.33 per cent, to 832.86 and the Nasdaq Composite Index added 58.05 points, or 3.80 per cent, to 1,587.00.

Stocks across the Asia Pacific were trading mixed following cues from Wall Street. The Nikkei climbed 0.8 per cent, Topix rose 0.93 per cent, Hang Seng edged 0.04 per cent lower and Straits Times fell 1 per cent.

Back home, bulls were on a rampage fourth day running Thursday, helping the Sensex reclaim the 10,000 mark. The Nifty also tested the 3100 mark during the day but retreated towards the fag end of the session.

The market opened trade on a firm footing, and then there was no looking back. In step with strong global markets and boosted by short-covering on the last day of monthly derivatives contracts, the Indian stock market marched northward.

Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex settled at 10,003.10, up 335.20 points or 3.47 per cent. The index soared to an intra-day high of 10,061.36 after opening trade at 9,739.93. This is the first time since January 7, 2009 that the 30-share index scaled the 10000 mark.

National Stock Exchange’s Nifty advanced 3.28 per cent or 97.4 points to 3082.25. The 50-share index rose to a high of 3103.35 during the day. Midcaps and smallcaps space was also buzzing with activity. The BSE Midcap Index was up 1.16 per cent and the BSE Smallcap Index rose 0.69 per cent.

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Drop Charges Against Zuma

he leader of the ruling ANC Jacob Zuma, will have more than 700 counts of fraud and corruption charges against him dropped soon.

This follows representations made by Mr. Zuma's lawyers to the National Prosecution Authority(NPA), which has instituted the charges against the ANC leader.

The representations follow a recent rejection by the Appeal Court against a ruling by the Pietermaritzburg High Court that the charges be thrown out. Mr. Zuma subsequently made representations to the Constitutional Court, which ruled that

Mr. Zuma should be entitled to make representations to the NPA and that the ANC could be a friend of Zuma in court.

Mr. Zuma has been charged with fraud and corruption after his Indian-origin financier and comrade, Schabir Shaik, was convicted of bribing Zuma to the tune of more than 25,0000 USD over a ten year period since 1995. Shaik was released three weeks ago on medical parole after only serving two years of a 15-year sentence.

Mr. Zuma is scheduled to appear in court again in August, four months after he's expected to be elected President of the country.

The wide speculation about the dropping of charges against Zuma has reached a feverish level in South Africa after Shaik's brother, Mo Shaik, told a university students meeting in Pretoria yesterday that newspapers would report that the NPA would drop the charges against Mr. Zuma.

Carroll Helps Missouri Pull Away From Texas Tech

Oklahoma City, OK (Sports Network) - DeMarre Carroll led the way with 19 points and five rebounds, as 14th-ranked Missouri returned some order to the Big 12 Tournament, blitzing Texas Tech, 81-60, in a quarterfinal matchup at the Ford Center.

A 31-31 halftime tie quickly turned into a 50-point second half for the Tigers, who used the full court press and efficient execution to overwhelm the Red Raiders (14-19).

J.T. Tiller and Matt Lawrence added 13 points apiece for the Tigers (26-6), who are the only top-four seed remaining after the wild quarterfinals. Kansas, Oklahoma and fourth-seeded Kansas State all fell on Thursday, leaving Baylor, Oklahoma State, Texas and Missouri left in Oklahoma City.

Missouri will face Oklahoma State in the semifinals.

Mike Singletary, one day after scoring 29 straight points as part of a 43- point effort, managed only 17, while Nick Okorie added 13 points for Texas Tech.

A 35-35 stalemate turned into a 13-point Tigers lead in a flash. Leo Lyons converted two buckets from in close off the bat, Tiller scored from in close right after that and Carroll's bucket put Missouri in front, 48-35 just over five minutes in.

Alan Voskuil's free throws brought the Red Raiders back within single digits, 55-46, but they never got closer. The margin grew to 67-48 on Zaire Taylor's two free throws with 6:11 to play, and Missouri rolled from there.

Game Notes

Missouri shot 55.4 percent on the game, while Texas Tech made just 36.7 percent of its shots, including only 4-of-15 from beyond the arc...The Red Raiders bench scored more points than their starters (31 to 30).

Chris Paul Leads

New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - Chris Paul scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half and dished out 15 assists, as the Hornets stretched their season-best winning streak to six games with a 104-88 dismantling of the Dallas Mavericks.

David West netted 19 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for the Hornets, who also received 10 points and 11 boards from Tyson Chandler. Rasual Butler scored 18 in the win.

"We're definitely not peaking, but we're playing a lot better than we were," said Paul. "Ever since I got my big man back, we're 6-0, so I'm glad to have (Chandler) back and we're doing a good job right now."

After losing 21 straight games to the Mavericks in the all-time series, the Hornets have won four of the last six meetings, eight of the last 11 games including their 4-2 first-round playoff series win over Dallas last season.

Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and seven rebounds for the Mavericks, who have dropped two of their last three contests. Jason Kidd added 13 points and Jason Terry scored 10 for the Mavs, who shot 39.5 percent from the field, while allowing the Hornets to make 56 percent of their attempts.

"We could never get a consistent string of shot making," said Dallas coach Rick Carlisle. "We were playing from behind all night. We just couldn't sustain them."

Nowitzki nailed a three-pointer to extend Dallas to a 51-46 lead just over two minutes into the third quarter, but the Hornets came back with a stinging 25-7 spurt to take control. Butler's three-pointer capped the burst for a 71-59 lead with barely over two minutes left in the third.

Paul and Chandler combined for 18 points in the third quarter as New Orleans shot 66.7 percent (12-of-18), while holding Dallas to 29.4 percent (5-of-17) in the period.

"In the first half, we weren't aggressive enough," said Paul. "We didn't push the tempo enough. In the second half, I knew that was my job, and that's what I tried to do. In the first half, they started switching ball screens. I was passing, deferring to my teammates. Coach told me I just needed to be more aggressive. I attacked him (Nowitzki) a few times, and finally my jump shot started falling."

Facing a 75-67 deficit entering the final quarter, the Mavs fell apart defensively as the game turned into a rout. Paul's three-pointer expanded the lead to 91-76 and that was the start of a sealing 10-0 flurry, which was culminated by a Butler three-point play.

New Orleans led 24-21 after the opening quarter and the game remained tight until the half, when it was tied at 45. Nowitzki hit a jumper at the buzzer to seemingly give Dallas the lead, but the basket was waived off as replays showed the shot barely came after the red light went on before he fully released the ball.

"In the first half I thought we played their style of basketball, they looked like the younger fresher basketball team which I wasn't really happy about," said Hornets coach Byron Scott. "So I let the guys know at halftime that we have to come out there and be more aggressive. Then we got going in the third quarter at both ends of the floor."