4:00PM Stocks closed in the positive, supported by a slide in oil prices.
Wall Street closed higher in a light post-holiday trading session Tuesday, with stocks boosted by a considerable decline in oil prices. Weaker oil lent support for the stock markets as prospects of lower gasoline prices prompted improvement in consumer spending. Retail shares were in focus amid early reports of weaker-than-expected holiday consumer spending. Amazon.com and other retailers were pressured by concerns about the strength of holiday-shopping sales. According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 64.41, or 0.52%, to 12,407.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 6.14, or 0.44%, at 1,416.90, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 12.33, or 0.51%, at 2,413.51.


Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.607% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.742%.

Gold gained $4.20 to close at $626.50 a troy ounce, silver increased 10 cents to end at $12.755 a troy ounce and copper advanced 2.45 cents to close at 287.8 cents per pound.

Oil declined $1.410 to close at $61 a barrel and heating oil lost 5.85 cents to finish at 162.35 cents a gallon. Gasoline was down 5.08 cents to end at 157.22 cents a gallon. Natural gas decreased 58 cents to close at $6.055 per mBtu.

Asian markets closed higher led by India with a gain of 1.76%, Taiwan with an increase of 1.06% and Hong Kong with an advance of 0.51%. The decliners were South Korea with a decrease of 0.25%, Philippines with a loss of 0.15% and Indonesia with a decline of 0.10%.Japanese stocks gained after automaker Toyota forecast 2007 worldwide sales growth of 6%.

European markets closed lower due to thin trading ahead of the Christmas break Friday. The decliners were led by Germany with a loss of 1.08%, France with a decrease of 1.02% and Netherlands with a decline of 0.78%. The only advancer was U.K. with a gain of 0.10%.

Latin America markets finished higher led by Mexico with an increase of 0.96%, Brazil with an advance of 0.57% and Argentina with a gain of 0.13%. The only decliner was Canada with a loss of 0.15%.The Toronto Stock Market was closed for Boxing Day.


11:30AM Bond prices supported market sentiment. Retailers showed weakness.
Stocks posted modest gains in light trading Tuesday as bond prices helped offset a generally disappointing report on holiday retail sales. The possibility of lower-than-expected holiday sales exerted pressure on retail stocks. Target (TGT: chart) lost 0.6%, while electronics chain Best Buy (BBY: chart) fell 1.6%. With little corporate and economic news on release today, an advance in bonds drew investors'' attention. The 10-year bond was little changed, but its yield fell to 4.59% from 4.60% on Friday.

The Dow was helped move higher by gains for Exxon Mobil (XOM: chart), Chevron (CVX: chart) and ConocoPhillips (COP: chart), made on the back of higher oil prices. Independent oil and gas producer Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC: chart) traded up 1.1% after it said it plans to sell two gas fields in Louisiana to EXCO Resources Inc. for $1.6 billion. The company is selling assets to cut its debt level after it spent $22.5 billion earlier this year on the buyout of rivals Kerr-McGee Corp. and Western Gas Resources. Shares of miners like Entree Gold Inc. (EGI: chart) and Crystallex International Corp. (KRY: chart) showed notable strength, helped by higher gold prices. Entree Gold jumped 13%, while Crystallex International rose 5%.

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT: chart) moved below the flat line after security experts said they had found potentially serious flaws in Microsoft''s new Vista operating system. In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 24.99, or 0.20%, to 12,368.21.The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was up 3.32, or 0.24%, to 1,414.08, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 5.32, or 0.22%, at 2,406.50.


10:30 AM The Sensex gains on Tuesday supported by a rally in large-caps.
The Sensex on BSE finished 236.60 points, or 1.76% higher, at 13,708.34. The market-breadth was strong. There were more than 3 advancers for every two decliners. As 1,644 shares advanced, 956 declined and 76 remained unchanged. From the Sensex stocks 26 advanced while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 3,051 crore, lower than Rs 4,188.60 crore on Friday. The turnover on NSE was 6,163.81, compared with Rs 7,570.55 crore.

[Economic news

The Reserve Bank of India, on Friday, made possible for up to 49% foreign investment in stock exchanges. The rule change may pave international bidding for investment in some of the fastest growing exchanges in India. The Reserve Bank of India also permitted international investing up to 49% in depositories and clearing corporations servicing exchanges. Under the new regulations, foreign direct investment will be restricted to 26%, while foreign portfolio investments would be limited to 23% in all such entities.

Foreign funds have invested $8.2 billion in Indian equities this year, lower than $10.7 billion in 2005.

Most-active stocks

Great Offshore was the most active stock with a turnover of Rs 212 crore followed by Tech Mahindra and Sobha Developers.

Advancers