China and India may be the first countries that come to mind when speaking of emerging markets. But another important nation is Brazil, where the Bovespa stock index is near record highs.

Several Brazilian banks’ shares are also on the rise, including Banco Itau Holding Financeira. ()

The Sao Paulo-based firm is one of the largest banks in Brazil, serving consumers and businesses. It also has branches in the Cayman Islands, in New York and across Europe.

Its profit rose 56% in 2003, but growth has slowed since then. Its earnings grew 29% last year. Still, analysts see a rebound to 45% this year.

Its quarterly earnings picture has improved. Last month, the bank delivered a 53% jump in third-quarter results. That was its best performance in nine quarters and the third straight period of accelerating growth. Its after-tax margin rose for the third straight quarter, to 22.1%.

The bank suffered trading losses for Q3 due to market volatility. But its loan portfolio expanded 26.9% in the quarter, led by a 62% jump in auto loans and a 26% rise in credit to small and midsize firms.

Banco Itau’s nonperforming loans ratio fell to 4.7% from 5.1% in the second quarter.

Indexes faltered to a mixed close Wednesday as slipping crude oil prices and a possibly final interest-rate cut failed to buttress buyers.

The NYSE composite closed 0.2% higher, based on early figures, led by energy stocks.

But the Nasdaq notched a 0.6% loss. The S&P 500 slipped 0.4% while the Dow ended down a fraction.

Preliminary figures showed volume rose across the board, marking the Nasdaq’s second distribution day in recent weeks. It was also a distribution day for the S&P 500. The Dow’s loss was too small to be considered institutional selling.

The Nasdaq slipped despite a 3% jump by Google () as other tech stocks tumbled.

Research In Motion () took a pounding, losing 4.66 to 121.63. The smartphone maker appears to be adding another handle to its base.

On the upside, communications chipmaker NetLogic Microsystems () gapped up for a 3.93 gain to 32.79. The company handily topped Q1 consensus. The 14% jump left shares just below a possible buy point at 33.

On the foreign front, Brazil’s Bovespa index rose to a record high, blasting ahead 6.3% after Standard & Poor’s announced it was raising the country’s foreign bond rating. The move gives Brazil’s bonds investment-grade ratings, on par with India, Morocco and Romania, and may help attract additional foreign capital.

Brazilian home builder Gafisa ()jumped 5.89 to 43.55. Companhia Brasileira () added 3.94 to 45.49. Unibanco Holding () spiked up 15.28 to 145.41. Banco Itau Holding () gained 2.28 to 28.05. Banco Bradesco () rose 1.58 to 22.58.

3:15 p.m. Update: Stocks Retreat After Fed Announcement

By VINCENT MAO

The major stock indexes hovered near session highs in late trade Wednesday. Equities extended gains just after the Fed gave the market another rate cut, but they’ve pulled back some.

At 2:51 p.m. EDT, the Dow and Nasdaq were up 1% each. The S&P 500 gained 0.6% and Nasdaq 0.5%.

Volume was tracking higher on both exchanges.

Techne () climbed 2.43 to a near eight-year high of 74.22 in heavy trading. The biotech is following through after clearing a 71.52 buy point from a base-on-base pattern Tuesday.

Cummins () powered up 4.75 to 62.24 in heavy trade. Earlier today, the engine maker topped views with a 37% jump in Q1 earnings. That was its best performance in several quarters. Cummins is building a potential cup base.

On the downside, Cash America International () dropped 4.25 to 40.90 in busy trading. But it bounced from a session low of 38.30. Jefferies & Co. cut the pawnshop operator to hold from buy, citing valuation.

2:30 p.m. Update: Fed Cuts Rates As Expected

By ED CARSON

The Federal Reserve cut the fed funds rate by 25 basis points to 2%, as expected, citing weak U.S. economic activity and “stressed” financial markets. But it also cited rising commodity prices and inflation expectations, making the inflation outlook unclear.

The Fed said it expects sharp rate cuts in recent months would support growth, but stood ready to act as needed.

The vote was 8-2, with the dissenters likely favoring no move. Many analysts expect that this would be the last Fed cut of the latest cycle of rate reductions.

Stocks, which were rallying just ahead of the Fed’s action, moved up and down after the news. At 11:24 a.m., the Dow was up 0.9%, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 rose 0.5%.

1:15 p.m. Update: Indexes Back Off Ahead Of Fed

By VINCENT MAO AND ALAN R. ELLIOTT

Stocks pulled back from session highs by midday Wednesday, ahead of the central bank’s decision on interest rates.

At 12:44 p.m. EDT, the Dow led with a 0.7% gain. A 13% jump in shares of General Motors () on an earnings report boosted the index. The Nasdaq and NYSE composites were up 0.5% each, the S&P 500 0.3%.

The Fed’s interest rate announcement is due at about 2:15 p.m. EDT. A quarter-point cut to 2% is expected.

May crude futures fell an additional $1.88 a barrel, slipping to $113.75. A 3.9-million-barrel increase in weekly inventories was nearly triple the consensus forecast and the 13th increase in the past 16 weeks. Gasoline inventories fell for a seventh straight week.

Crude pegged a record high Monday after the shutdown of some production and a major pipeline outage in the North Sea, along with various production interruptions in Nigeria. Oil dropped nearly 3% on Tuesday after the restart of the North Sea pipeline. It is now 5% off Monday’s high.

CyberSource () climbed 1.99, or 12%, to 18.29 in fast trade. It cleared a 17.66 buy point of a double-bottom base. Volume was tracking more than three times average. It’s in buying range until 18.54. After Tuesday’s close, the provider of online payment services posted a Q1 profit, excluding items, of 16 cents per share. That was 2 cents above views and double year-ago levels. Revenue surged 141% to $53.4 million, also above views.

NetLogic Microsystems () gapped up and rallied 3.40, or 12%, to 32.26. Late Tuesday, the chipmaker reported a 58% jump in first-quarter profit and a 46% rise in revenue. Both were ahead of views. The stock’s Accumulation/Distribution Rating has improved to B from a worst-possible E last month.

Open Text () gapped up and gained 1.67 to 35.65 in fast trade. This morning, the business software maker won two upgrades after posting better-than-expected earnings and sales late Tuesday. Research Capital upgraded the business software firm to buy from accumulate. And GMP Securities lifted shares to buy from hold. Both brokers raised their price targets on the stock.

On the downside, Bois d’Arc () gapped down and tumbled 1.95, or 8%, to 24.03 in huge trade. The oil and gas producer dropped despite news that it would be acquired by Stone Energy () in a deal valued at $1.8 billion. Stone shares tumbled 9%.

11:15 a.m. Update: Indexes Hold Ground In Mixed Volume

By ALAN R. ELLIOTT

Indexes clung to highs after an early jump spurred by earnings wins across a broad range of sectors.

The NYSE composite held a 0.7% gain, and the Nasdaq stuck with a 0.6% advance at 10:53 a.m. EDT. International issues led the NYSE’s upside, while biotechs scored solid gains for the Nasdaq. The S&P 500’s 0.4% rise lagged the Dow’s 0.7%. Citigroup () pulled both indexes lower.

Advancing stocks led decliners by better than 3-to-2 on both exchanges. Trading volume was lower on the NYSE, slightly higher on the Nasdaq.

Stocks were deeply mixed across Asia. The Shanghai composite bolted 4.8% as banks and insurers drove higher on solid Q1 earnings reports. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 0.6% ahead of a holiday Thursday.

In Europe and the U.K., indexes recovered from early losses and had posted moderate gains in late trading.

The April Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index, a broad gauge of manufacturing activity in the Midwest region, came in better than expected. The 48.3 reading was still below the crucial boom-bust 50 mark that would begin to indicate economic expansion. But it was the index’s third monthly gain after slipping to a six-year low in February.

Monolithic Power Systems () amped up for a 1.20 gain to 22.42. The semiconductor chip maker reported Tuesday it neatly topped Q1 views and said it planned to restate some prior tax figures to lower levels. The move broke shares above a 22.03 buy point from a handle in a six-month, double-bottom base. Cummins Diesel () powered ahead 5.38 to 62.87 after plowing over Q1 sales and earnings views.

Private college educator Strayer Education () jumped 16.18 to 196.07 on powerful volume. It, too, topped Q1 EPS views and upped Q2 guidance above consensus. The gap-up move launched the stock above the 196.01 buy point from a five-month cup-shaped base.

10:15 a.m. Stocks Rise On Mixed Volume

By VINCENT MAO

Stocks opened to the upside Wednesday and tacked on more gains ahead of this afternoon’s decision on interest rates.

At 9:54 a.m. EDT, the NYSE composite had gained 0.6% and the Dow 0.5%. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 each rose 0.4%.

Volume was tracking mixed, with NYSE higher and Nasdaq lower.

First Solar () gapped up and rose 13.37, or 7%, to 298.29. That puts the stock 5% past a 283.10 buy point from a cup base. Before the open, the maker of solar modules said Q1 earnings spiked to 57 cents a share, up from 7 cents a year earlier and a dime above views. Sales nearly tripled to $196.9 million, also above views.

Visa () added 1.10 to a new high of 81.98. On Tuesday, the credit card processor staged a huge reversal. Shares fell more than 6% early in the day but bounced back to close up 7%.

Fellow credit care firm MasterCard () extended Tuesday’s 13% pop, with Wednesday morning shares gaining 4.52 to 278.50. It’s now 25% past a 222.35 buy point.

On the downside, Rofin-Sinar Technologies () gapped down and slumped 8.27, or 18%, to 37.67 on huge trade. Before the open, the maker of laser cutting and welding tools posted fiscal Q2 earnings and sales below analysts’ expectations.

Chicago Bridge & Iron () gapped down and tumbled 6.20, or 13%, to 42.11 in heavy trading. The engineering and construction company reported Q1 profit shy of expectations.

9:15 a.m. Update: Stocks Poised For Higher Open

By VINCENT MAO

Stock futures pointed to a higher open Wednesday on better-than-expected GDP data.

Nasdaq futures climbed 6 points vs. fair value, S&P 500 futures gained 3 points and Dow futures rallied 37 points.

In economic news, the ADP Employment Survey predicted 10,000 new private-sector jobs in April.

The jobs report from the Labor Department will be out on Friday. A decrease of 80,000 jobs, both public and private, is seen.

The advanced reading of the first-quarter gross domestic product said the economy grew 0.6%, slightly above economists’ estimates for a 0.5% rise.

The employment cost index rose 0.7%, slightly below forecasts.

Just shortly after the open, the Chicago PMI index for April will be out. Forecasts call for a dip to 47.5.

The weekly energy inventories report is due out at 10:30 a.m. EDT.

Meanwhile, the Fed’s announcement on interest rates is due at 2:15 p.m. EDT. The central bank is widely expected to cut rates to 2% and then halt their string of cuts.

A couple of Dow components reported earnings.

General Motors () climbed 4% in the pre-market after reporting a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss. The auto giant lost 62 cents a share, excluding items, down from a profit of 17 cents a share the prior year. Sales fell 2% to $42.7 billion, but that was above analysts’ estimates for $40.1 billion. During the quarter, the company faced a number of challenges, including the weak economy an labor strikes.

Procter & Gamble () climbed 3% in pre-open trading after it beat views. The consumer products supplier reported fiscal Q3 earnings of 82 cents a share, up 11% from a year before and a penny above estimates. Sales hit $20.46 billion, also above estimates. P&G raised the lower end of its full-year guidance to a range of $3.48 to $3.50 a share vs. views for $3.50.

Elsewhere, Citigroup () announced late Tuesday that it’s seeking to raise $3 billion through a stock offering to help boost its capital. A day later the company raised the offering to $4.5 billion. Citi has been hurt by huge write-downs tied to the subprime mortgage crisis. Shares fell 3% in the pre-market.

Garmin also fell 3% in pre-open trading after it delivered Q1 earnings and sales below views. The GPS device maker is trading near two-year lows.

Chinese authorities appeared to have lifted a block on the English-language version of online encyclopedia Wikipedia, but politically sensitive topics such as Tibet and Tiananmen Square are still off limits.

Internet users in Beijing and Shanghai confirmed today they could access the English-language version of one of the world’s most popular websites, but the Chinese language version was still restricted.

While searches of random topics such as “Johann Sebastian Bach” and “dim sum” brought up English-language articles, sensitive words such as Tibet were met with a message that the browser was unable to connect to the internet.

The move comes after International Olympic Committee (IOC) inspectors told Beijing organisers that the internet must be open for the duration of the 2008 Olympics and that blocking it “would reflect very poorly” on the host country.

China’s government, keen to avoid sparking social discontent, keeps a tight watch over the media and often blocks or censors popular websites and forums where dissent may brew.

Wikipedia and Yahoo’s photo-sharing network Flickr have been periodically blocked before, while Google’s YouTube is often blocked during high-level political events in China.

Wikipedia, which is written collaboratively by volunteers, has more than two million articles in English.

These include politically sensitive subjects such as Tibet and Taiwan independence, the banned Falun Gong spiritual group and the bloodily suppressed pro-democracy protests of 1989.

REUTERS

It is the opening gambit of a growing type of corporate battle that often leaves blood on the boardroom carpet.

In the past couple of years, activist investors have challenged and brought down 40bn Dutch banking giant ABN Amro - eventually taken over by a group including

Now events last week at football club - worth a mere 4m - could provide fresh ammunition for activists.

Millionaire property developer Graham Ferguson Lacey, the largest shareholder, tried to call an extraordinary general meeting at Millwall, where Heather Rabbatts is chief executive, over the club’s development plans.

But directors refused the meeting, invoking the 2006 Companies Act and saying that he intended to wrest control of the club.

However, legal experts believe the same law could soon be used by activists to hit back at directors.

Tim Stocks, partner at top City law firm Taylor Wessing, said refusing to hold an egm was a big risk. ‘The power to do this comes from the latest Companies Act, but it also gives very significant powers to shareholders,’ he said. ‘It is almost an activists’ charter.

‘The Act gives shareholders the right to sue directors personally. In the past, if an activist thought a board was acting against the interests of investors, he had to get the company itself to sue, which was obviously almost impossible.’

The Act could be the latest weapon for shareholder agitators, some of whom have been coming under pressure.

Reports last week suggested giant American pension fund Calpers was withdrawing cash from activist Knight Vinke, which has demanded change at Britain’s biggest bank, However, Calpers told Financial Mail it would continue to place funds with Knight Vinke, run by Eric Knight, despite its underperformance.

‘We don’t bale out just because of a bad year,’ Calpers said. ‘We are long-term investors and we give people the benefit of the doubt. I’m not sure how long we will maintain this placing if the numbers deteriorate. I guess it’s ”watch this space”.’

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Glen Suarez, Eric Knight’s right-hand man, said activism was a vital part of keeping large companies in check. ‘It is shareholders who own the company and they ultimately take the risk,’ he said.

‘We should be able to question management on what they do. The only difference with activist funds is that we stand our ground and fight for our case.’ Research by the London Business School in 2006 suggested activist investors could help improve value at Millwall companies, but recent performances have been mixed. Shares in activist Brian Myerson’s Principle Capital Investment Trust have slumped 29% in the past six months, while hedge funds and SRM lostms on investments in Northern Rock.

More successful activists include hedge fund Toscafund, which has a stake in housebuilder , whose shares jumped last week after a merger approach from rival .

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CANNES, France: The apocalypse came early to the Cannes Film Festival this year, filling screening rooms with snarling dogs, bursting bombs, shouting men and screaming women. Midway through Day 2, on Thursday, characters had gone blind, gone to prison, gone to war. One had turned into a piece of furniture, and another had crawled out of a sewer, slimed in waste that the filmmaker threw at the audience with giggles, metaphorically speaking, ofcourse.

Cannes has a tradition of shaking audiences up, sometimes all the way out the nearest exit. Last year on Day 1, the festival unveiled “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” the Romanian film about illegal abortion during the Ceausescu era, which took home the Palme dOr. This year that same competition slot was occupied by another powerhouse film, “Waltz With Bashir,” an animated documentary from Israel about the 1982 massacre at the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. Written and directed by Ari Folman, who has made some half-dozen live-action documentaries, and animated by the Bridgit Folman Film Gang, the movie is a soldiers story by one of their own: the haunted young man at its center is Folmanhimself.

He plunges us right into his nightmare with a harrowing vision of low-down and dark dogs running at the camera, teeth bared and eyes glowing bilious orange-yellow. The dogs run and they run, gathering in number as they cut a swath through everything and everyone ? men, women, children ? in theirpath.

People scatter like pebbles, and a ribbon of slobber lashes the camera lens. Finally, the dogs stop under a window where a man several stories up from the street warily looks down at the snapping, barking, growling menace below. Cut to a bar, where a man, Ari ( Folman), asks his friend Boaz, the man who has dreamed himself into that phantasmagoric scene, what happens next. “I wake up,” Boazsays.

Like Boaz, who is haunted by the war in Lebanon (or rather his absence of its memories), Ari is plagued by a past he cant recall. And so he sets out to uncover history, to sift through the memories of other Israeli soldiers ? all but two of the nine testimonials are firsthand accounts ? and to make sense of the one image he does retain, that of three young soldiers rising naked out of the sea and somnolently drifting into the Beirut battlefield. As in “Maus,” Art Spiegelmans two-volume graphic novel about the Holocaust, the animation in “Waltz With Bashir” initially works as something of a distancing device, giving you the space ? intellectual, emotional ? to process the story and its accumulatinghorrors.

Folman isnt a revisionist: he points fingers at the followers of Bashir Gemayel, the charismatic Christian militia leader and Lebanons president-elect whose assassination preceded the mass murder at the camps, and saves hard words for Ariel Sharon, then the Israeli defense minister. Folman also doesnt blink when it comes to what young soldiers do in wartime: at the sniper who lethally picks a man off a donkey, at the tank that crushes flowers and then cars under its wheels, taking down men drinking coffee and buildings alike. First pop songs fill the air and then yellowflares.

Brought to vital, plausible life in a combination of Flash, classic and 3-D animation, the characters look as if they stepped right out of a graphic novel. Their faces and bodies, for instance, are outlined in black, but their faces are so ductile and expressive that I was surprised that they hadnt been rotoscoped (the animation technique in which live-action movement is traced over). The fluidity of the figures accentuates the air of surreality ? one soldier compares war to an acid trip ? which deepens as the story reaches its terrible end. That finale, which finds the animation violently giving way to live-action documentary footage, is stunning, at once a furious act of conscience and alament.

“Waltz With Bashir,” which as of Thursday afternoon did not have American distribution, was a welcome tonic, given the cloying aftertaste left by the festivals opening selection. Bad openers are another Cannes tradition, so it wasnt much of a surprise that “Blindness” is such a misfire. The film, which heads to American theaters later this year (via Focus Features), was directed by Fernando Meirelles, who shook up screens in 2002 with “City of God,” an art-house exploitation film with lots of bullets and not enough brains, and then went higher-brow with an adaptation of John le Carr?s “Constant Gardener.” Based on a novel by the Nobel laureate Jos? Saramago, this new film goes higher up the brow still, with an allegory with a very large capitalA.