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SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Halliburton Co., coming off a banner year in the energy sector and flush with Pentagon contracts abroad, announced Thursday a series of measures to share the spoils with shareholders. The Houston-based company said its board of directors approved a two-for-one stock split that would double its shares outstanding to 2 billion. Stockholders must still sign off on the  ...

| Watchdog alarmed at Russian market growthBy Neil Buckley in MoscowPublished: February 16 2006 18:19 | Last updated: February 16 2006 18:19The dizzying growth of Russia’s stock market in the past year has run ahead of economic fundamentals and is “not without danger”, Russia’s financial regulator warned on Thursday. // Oleg Vyugin, head of Russia’s Federal Financial Markets Service, made the remarks during a meeting with government ministers where he won support for a reform package aimed at c ...

The world's biggest computer maker, Dell, has more than doubled its fourth quarter profits thanks to stronger-than-expected sales growth. Dell said it earned $10.1bn (£580m) in the quarter, up 52% from the $667m posted in the previous year. Profits growth was fuelled by strong sales to business and international customers, where sales increased by 21%, Dell said. The upturn follows two disappointing quarters of slowing sales growth. Price cutting and restructuring charges also dogged th ...

By Matthew Garrahan, Leisure Industries Correspondent, in LondonPublished: February 16 2006 20:37 | Last updated: February 16 2006 20:37Playtech, a software group that builds systems for online gaming operators, is poised to unveil plans for an Aim float that will value it at £550m and net £70m for Teddy Sagi, the Israeli entrepreneur, its largest shareholder. The group, which could announce the  ...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks closed sharply higher Thursday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average strode to a new 4-1/2-year high, bolstered by robust data and better-than-expected earnings in the technology sector. Despite the buoyant tone, there also were worries in the market that the strength of the economy could compel the Federal Reserve to continue raising interest rates to keep  ...

Wall Street powered ahead for a third consecutive day on Thursday, with technology stocks leading the way after sector bellwether Hewlett-Packard delivered a stronger-than-expected set of quarterly earnings. // HP shares jumped 7.4 per cent to $34.02 after the technology conglomerate beat both revenue and earnings forecasts. Net income rose 30 per cent to $1.227bn, helped by its restructuring eff ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Air France KLM, the biggest carrier in Europe, reported higher fiscal third-quarter earnings more than tripled on Thursday even as jet fuel spending rose 27% to 1 billion euros. Improving pricing and full planes helped the quarter's results, the company said. The company'snet income totaled 77 million euros ($91.7 million), or 0.29 euro a share, up from 23 millio ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) -- Advance Auto Parts said Thursday improved same- store sales helped boost fourth-quarter profit 23%, but its shares dipped as January sales softened. Advance Auto Parts (AAP) stock fell $2.17, or 4.9%, to close at $41.74. The Roanoke, Va.-based company posted fourth-quarter earnings of $39.4 million, or 36 cents a share, up from $32.1 million, or 29 cents, a year ea ...

By Keiron Henderson LONDON (Reuters) - Talk that another big bid is on the cards boosted the FTSE 100 index to its highest close since June 2001 on Thursday, while mobile phone giant Vodafone bounced on talk of a boardroom rejig. Dealers reported talk that Vodafone Chief Executive Arun Sarin could be under pressure to step down amid a major boardroom reshuffle, although an industry source said that this was untrue. The shares closed up 3.8 percent. "There is talk of Arun Sarin going and whole ...

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Hewlett-Packard Co. rose to near five-year highs early Thursday in the wake of its latest earnings as the broader technology sector trudged ahead. H-P rose nearly 5% to $33.18, hitting an intraday high not seen since April 2001, as several analysts upgraded the stock. After Wednesday's closing bell, the printing and computer services giant (HPQ) reported first- ...