4:00PM NY – 10:00PM Germany
Cisco rose 7% on 28% rise in earnings. Gold jumped more than $18 on the news that China may diversify its dollar holdings.

Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.632% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.725%.

Gold rose $18.50 to close at $636.80 a troy ounce, silver declined 1.5 cents to end at $13.035 a troy ounce and copper advanced 0.10 cents to close at $3.31 cents an lb.

Oil advanced $1.17 to close at $61 a barrel and heating oil gained 3.01 cents to finish at 174.07 cents a gallon. Gasoline increased 2.59 cents to end at $1.5895 cents a gallon. Natural gas advanced 7.6 cents to close at $7.867 per mBtu.

Asian markets closed mostly higher led by Philippines with a gain of 2.31%, South Korea with an advance of 1.40% and Malaysia with an increase of 1.25%. The decliners were led by Australia with a loss of 0.49%, Taiwan with a decline of 0.38% and Japan with a decrease of 0.11%. Markets in Australia and Japan were hurt by concerns over rising interest rates.

European markets finished mostly lower led by Netherlands with a decline of 0.74%, Switzerland with a decrease of 0.14% and U.K. with a loss of 0.12%. The advancers were led by Norway with a gain of 0.92%, France with an increase of 0.21% and Germany with an advance of 0.15%. European markets ended lower as earnings-related gains from companies such as industrial conglomerate Siemens and InBev were offset by weakness from the health-care and financial arenas.

Latin America markets ended mostly higher led by Argentina with a gain 1.06% and Canada with an advance of 0.49%. The decliners were Brazil with a loss of 1.26% and Mexico with a decrease of 0.01%. Positive results were contributed by a boost in oil prices and post-election political climate in the U.S.

1:00PM European markets closed mixed.
European stock markets closed mixed, reflecting earnings-inspired gains from industrial conglomerate Siemens and brewer Inbev and weakness in the healthcare and financial sectors.

London FTSE 100 finished down 0.1%, as losses among banking and pharmaceutical stocks like HBOS, GlaxoSmithKline, and AstraZeneca weighed on the index. The financial sector moved lower after the Bank of England raised its key interest rate by 5%. Drug stocks continued its recent decline amid the election victory by the U.S. Democrats. BT Group declined 2.3% despite a 28%in Q2 profit.

The German DAX 30 added 0.2%, boosted by 3.1% gain for Siemens on higher profit and sales for 2006. On the telecommunications front, shares of Deutsche Telekom ended 0.2% higher as the company outlined cost-cutting goals.

The French CAC 40 rose 0.2%, helped by EADS. Company’s shares rose 6.8% on reports linking Dubai International Capital with a potential EADS stake buy but eventually ended with a gain of just 1.1%. Shares of French bank Societe Generale edged 0.7% lower after it said its Q3 net profit rose 12.4% to 1.27 billion euros.


Crude oil climbed to the highest level this month a day after data showed weaker gasoline and diesel fuel inventories. Crude oil December contract rose $1.12 to $60.95 a barrel. London Brent climbed $1.51 to trade at $61.10. The U.S. dollar traded mixed against its rival currencies. The euro was quoted at $1.2782, up from $1.2756. The dollar bought 118.37 yen, up from 117.80. The British pound stood at $1.8990, down from $1.9049. European gold prices advanced. In London, gold traded at $625.20 per troy ounce, up from $623.20. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $624.33 per ounce, up from $623.33. Silver closed at $12.75, up from $12.62.

11:30AM Blue-chip stocks declined, while tech shares advanced.
Stocks reversed from earlier gains, as weaker-than-expected consumer sentiment data and higher oil prices limited the advance generated by Cisco profit, a narrowing trade deficit and lower import prices. Gold stocks rallied along with the price of the precious metal. Computer hardware and oil services stocks also moved to the upside.

With technology stocks benefiting from better-than-expected quarterly results from Cisco (CSCO: chart), the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced in morning trading on Thursday. Cisco boosted networking stocks, rising 7% on 28% profit jump. At the same time, losses by Merck (MRK: chart) and Pfizer (PFE: chart) helped to drag the Dow lower. The stocks turned in two of the pharmaceutical sector's worst performances, falling 2.3% and 1.8% respectively. However, Dow component Hewlett-Packard (HPQ: chart) rose 1.5% after Goldman Sachs raised earnings estimates and the price target for the stock. Gold stocks rallied along with the price of the precious metal. Computer hardware and oil services stocks also moved to the upside.

Media giant Viacom (VIA: chart) dropped 2.1% as the company reported a 16% decline in Q3 earnings, but the results topped analyst forecasts. In late morning of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 17.12, or 0.14%, to 12,159.42. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.04, or 0.09%, at 1,386.92, while the Nasdaq composite index added 14.95, or 0.63%, to 2,399.86. Bonds were mostly flat, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note at 4.63% from 4.64% late Wednesday.


AM 10:30 The Sensex goes back to winning ways after two days of losses.
The Sensex on BSE finished 64.98 points, or 0.5%, higher to end at 13,137.49. The Sensex traded in a range of 123.04 points. The market-breadth was strong. As 1,473 shares advanced on BSE, 1,033 declined and 88 stocks were unchanged. For every 4 advancers there were 3 decliners. From the Sensex stocks, 17 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,088 crore, lower than Rs 4,305 crore on Wednesday. The turnover on NSE was Rs 7,837.47 crore, lower than Rs 8,572.66 crore on Wednesday.

Economic news

The Union Cabinet on Thursday discussed lifting a ban on sugar exports but did not set a date for such a move, a cabinet minister announced.