US stocks ended mostly higher on positive jobs data and mixed earnings results - The Dow Jones lost 11.0 pts or 0.1% to 12,705.4 pts, the S&P 500 added 0.1% to 1,325.5 pts, the NASDAQ rose 0.4% to 2,859.7 pts and the Russell 2000 gained 0.4% to 812.9 pts.

Pfizer (-0.9%) and Disney (-1.1%) led lower the Dow, while Alcoa (+2.2%) and Bank of America (+1.2%) advanced. The blue chip index was weighed down by drug makers after Merck (-0.5%) reported weaker than expected 4Q revenue. Among the S&P 500 sectors, financials (+0.5%) and energy (+0.5%) were the best performers, while materials (-0.5%) led the decliners. Initial jobless claims fell by 12,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 367,000, boosting investors’ confidence than Friday’s non-farm payroll report would also show signs of recovery in the job market. Economists had expected jobless claims to fall to 370,000. In other news, Ben Bernanke described the pace of the US economy recovery as “frustratingly slow”, but he said the Fed expects higher growth levels this year than those seen in 2011. The dollar index gained 0.1% and the 10-year Treasury yield fell 0.5 basis points to 1.82%.

European stocks edged higher after M&A activity outweighed disappointing earnings results – Stoxx Europe 600 (+0.2%), FTSE (+0.1%), DAX (+0.6%), CAC (+0.3%). A successful Spanish and French bond auctions provided further support to the market. Deutsche Bank lost 0.4% after a surprise quarterly loss, while AstraZeneca (-3.4%) and Uniliver (-4.3%) gave a negative outlook for this year. In London, Xstrata (+10.0%) and Glencore (+6.9%) rallied after the miner and commodities trader confirmed merger talks. BHP (+0.9%) and RIO (+1.8%) advanced.

Asian stocks finished stronger as manufacturing data from around the world showed some improvement - Nikkei (+0.8%), Hang Seng (+2.0%), Shanghai Composite (+2.0%), Kospi (+1.3%). In Tokyo, Nomura (+7.1%) led the gains after reporting strong quarterly profits due to a jump in revenue from its Investment Banking business in Europe. After the close, Sony (-2.6%) warned it was expecting a far worse than expected $2.9bn annual loss, driven by a sharp sales decline in its troubled TV unit. Financials were among the biggest winners across the region – ICBC (+3.7%), Bank of China (+2.1%), Mitsubishi UFJ FG (+2.5%).

WTI oil lost 1.3% to US$96.4/bbl, gold added 0.9% to US$1,759.9/oz and silver was up 2.0% to US$34.4/oz. Base metals ended lower - Copper (-1.1%), Nickel (-0.5%), Aluminium (-3.1%), Zinc (-1.7%). The AUD/USD was unchanged at US$1.071 and the EUR/USD lost 0.1% to US$1.31.