U.S. stocks trade flat as upbeat economic data offset flu concerns

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

NEW YORK, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street traded
flat on Tuesday, as bigger-than-expected increase in consumer confidence and a
slower drop in home prices offset concerns about the swine flu outbreak and the
banking industry.

The U.S. Conference Board, an economic research
group, said its consumer confidence index rose to 39.2 in April, up from a
revised 26.9 in March. The reading marks the highest level since November and
surpasses the reading of 29.5 economists had expected.

Moreover, the Standard Poor's/Case-Shiller
index showed home prices in 20 major cities tumbled by 18.6 percent in February
from a year ago. It is the first time the index didn't set a record since
January 2007 and was slightly better than January's 19-percent decline.

Airlines stocks still got hammered on Tuesday on
fears that worried travelers would stay home, as the deadly swine flu virus is
rampant in Mexico.

Banking stocks were traded lower after the U.S.
government said Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. may need more capital.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 8.05 points, or 0.10 percent, to 8,016.95. The Standard Poor's 500 index dropped 2.35points, or 0.27 percent, to 855.16. The Nasdaq composite index fell 5.60 points, or 0.33 percent, to 1,673.81.

China's upbeat stock market brings more commission income to brokers in Q1

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

BEIJING, April 13 (Xinhua) -- More than half of
China's brokerage firms earned more than 100 million yuan (14.6 million U.S.
dollars) of commission income each in the first quarter of this year because of
the upbeat stock market performance in the first three months.

Figures released Monday by Shanghai Securities News
Data Center show China's 103 brokerage firms saw their total commission income
hit 25.5 billion yuan in the first quarter, up 69.4 percent from the previous
quarter.

The income for 58 brokerage firms exceeded 100
million yuan each, and that for about 20 percent of the total number of firms
was than 500 million yuan each, according to the data center.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index has gained
30.3 percent in the first quarter. Combined turnover of the Chinese stock
markets jumped 81 percent from the previous quarter to 9.44 trillion yuan.

Among the top gainers, China Galaxy Securities earned
1.48 billion yuan of commission income in the first quarter, up 63.2 percent
compared with the previous one. Guotai Junan Securities made 1.4 billion yuan,
up 56.5 percent.

Pacific Securities was the first of the nine listed
brokerage firms to present first-quarter results. Its net profit topped 112
million yuan, up 144.93 percent year on year.

Guotai Junan Securities forecast earlier this month
net profits for China's listed brokers would rise more than 70 percent in the
first three months over the previous quarter.

The company's analyst Liang Jing said it was a good beginning, which paved the way for a good performance of brokers in the whole year.