dollar

Buying momentum has continued as hopes fade for a quick resolution of conflicts in Libya. Last week, crude-oil futures traded at $106 a barrel and prices have only climbed since then.

The weakening of the U.S. dollar and uncertainty over a possible U.S.

Light crude for May delivery approached the $112 a barrel level, while Brent crude futures rose $1.74 to $124 a barrel.

Light, sweet crude oil for April delivery finished up 2.4% to $106.72 a barrel. In other energy futures, heating oil was up 1.7% to $3.09 a gallon while natural gas was up 0.99% to $4.39 per million British thermal units.

Meanwhile, gold futures ended at a record high helped in part by a weaker dollar.

Gold for June delivery finished up $15 to $1,439.90 an ounce.

Commodities rallied to finish higher Thursday as both crude oil and gold futures surged as the first quarter came to a close.

Carnival Chairman and CEO Micky Arison noted that the quarter's earnings were at the high end of the company's December guidance due to lower than expected costs which offset higher than expected fuel prices.

Accounting for higher fuel prices and a weakening U.S.

Carnival Corp. (NYSE:CCL) reported Q1 earnings Monday, posting an EPS of $0.19, which was in-line with consensus estimates. The company saw revenues of $3.4 billion for the quarter ended February 28, 2011 compared with revenues of

Light, sweet crude oil for April delivery finished up 3.5%, or $3.44 to $101.42 a barrel. In other energy futures, heating oil was up 1.31% to $3.05 a gallon while natural gas was down 0.15% to $3.93 per million British thermal un

Meanwhile, gold futures rose, helped by a weaker dollar

Gold for April delivery finished up $8.10 to $1,404.20 an ounce.

Commodities ended trading mostly higher as crude oil and gold futures finished in positive territory on news that work to control the damaged nuclear power plant in Japan made progress.

The company sees Q1 GAAP EPS of $0.30 to $0.32 and 2011 GAAP EPS of $1.50 to $1.60.

Ron Sargent, Staples' chairman and chief executive officer, said, "I'm proud of all that we achieved in 2010. We got back to growing the top-line, achieved solid operating margin expansion and earnings growth, and generated over a

Staples (NASDAQ:SPLS) reported Q4 EPS of $0.39, missing consensus estimates of $0.41 per share. Revenues for the quarter rose less than 1% year-over-year to $6.42 billion, missing consensus estimates of $6.46 billion.

The bond insurer also reported an adjusted pre-tax loss of $311 million in the latest quarter, versus an adjusted pre-tax loss of $541 million in the fourth quarter of 2009.

MBIA Inc.

MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) reported net income available to common shareholders of $451 million, or $2.24 per share, which may not be comparable with the consensus estimate for a loss of $0.27 per share. Adjusted Book Value was recorded

Financial shares are mixed in mid-session trading while Goldman Sachs (GS) makes a move to comply with the Volcker rule. Shares of Goldman Sachs are higher after Bloomberg reported that it will shut its Global Macro Proprietary Tr

Polo Ralph Lauren (RL) posted net income of $168 million, or $1.72 per diluted share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2011, versus net income of $111 million, or $1.10 per diluted share, for the same period in fiscal 2010. The Str