4:00PM NY, 10:00PM Frankfurt, 1:30AM Mumbai – Global Markets Update

In New York trading market averages rose again for the third day in a row on strong earnings from Microsoft, Cummins, Waste Management and Gehl Co. First quarter GDP rose at 1.3% on weakness in housing market and lower capital spending from businesses. European markets closed lower across the region and weakness in Spain and construction stocks in the country dominated the news. Bank of Japan left its key interest rate unchanged on Friday. China Citic Bank, largest IPO in the world, rose 22% in Hong Kong trading.

Yields on U.S. bonds for 10-year bond closed at 4.705% and 30-year bond closed at 4.887% in New York trading.

Oil price in New York trading closed $1.40 higher to $66.46 per barrel and natural gas futures rose 22 cents to close at $7.83 per Mbtu. Gasoline futures rose 7 cents to close at 236.13 cents.

Gold future rose $6.70 to close at $684 per troy ounce, silver future rose 0.22 cents to close at $13.68 and copper future price fell $196 to close at $7,687 per metric ton.

Asian Markets closed lower across the region ahead of holiday period in Japan and China. Markets in Japan will be open on Tuesday and Wednesday and in China on Monday only. Stocks in Japan fell 0.2% and in Hong Kong dropped 0.7% ahead of the closure. China Citic Bank listed its share in Hong Kong and Shanghai at HK$ 5.80 per share and rose 21.8% at close. The largest IPO in the world so far raised $5.4 billion. Baidu.com, Chinese search engine surged 18% in New York trading on better than expected earnings. Insurance, banks and industrial stocks declined on the report that industrial production declined. India led the decliners with a loss of 2.25% despite solid profits from Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel. Wholesale inflation in India rose to 6.09%.

European Markets closed lower on record level in euro against dollar and weakness in Spanish construction stocks. Spain lost 1.45% on the weakness in property, home builders and real estate stocks. U.K. fell 0.8%, Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland dropped 0.66%, France lost 0.23% and Germany declined 0.12%. Norwegian Statoil dropped 2.3% as it made an acquisition of $2 billion for Canadian sand tar energy company to diversify its holdings and on a sell recommendation from a broker on company lowering its production target of 1.3 million barrels a day. In Paris Dassault Systems advanced 11% on 15% rise in sales.

Latin American Markets closed mixed with Brazil dropping 0.2% and Mexico down 0.13%. Steel and mining stocks came under pressure on the account of slow economic growth report in the U.S. Brazil market takes its cue in the morning trading from the trading direction in New York. American Movil and Wal-Mart de Mexico in Mexico dropped 2%. Homebuilder Homex fell 2.5% and Grupo Aeroporturario del Pacifico were down 0.8%.


2:30PM NY – U.S. Movers: Breakfast menu and high calorie burger lift sales at Burger king.

Burger King (BKC: chart), fast food chain operator reported third quarter earnings of 25 cents per share vs. loss of 11 cents a year ago. The company reported earnings of $34 million in the quarter compared to a loss of $12 million on revenue growth of 8.9% to $539 million. The same-store sales in the U.S. and Canada rose 2.6% and gained 3.2% system-wide across the globe. Burger King has made an aggressive push to increase its breakfast sales that trails the others in the industry. The company introduced $1 breakfast and also introduced 1,000 calorie Double Texas Whoppers. In the quarter the company incrased number of stores in operation by 92.

Waste Management (WM: chart), largest trash manager, reported first quarter earnings of $222 million compared to $186 million on a slight revenue fall to $3.19 billion. The company is paying more focus on profitability. In the quarter the company cut its service to several businesses and cities by 5.2% and increased its profit by 16%. The company revised its earnings guidance for the full year between $2.03 and $2.07 per share from $1.96 and $2.00 per share.


Gehl Co. (GEHL: chart), agricultural and construction equipment maker, reported first quarter $6.3 million compared to a loss of $2.7 million or 51 cents in the quarter vs. loss of 12 cents a year ago. The company revenue fell 5.7% to $115.2 million. The company revised its sales guidance from the range of $465 to $495 million to $475 million to $500 million. The company revised continuing income between $2.15 and $2.35 per share from $2.00 and $2.30 per share.


1:00AM NY, 5:00 PM Frankfurt - European stocks closed lower on surging euro.

European stock markets retreated from recent highs on Friday as the euro hit an all-time record versus the dollar on the back of weaker-than-expected U.S. growth data. Major oil companies were the biggest decliners, followed by Spanish property stocks. In the energy sector, Statoil fell 2.3% after making a $2 billion acquisition of a Canadian oil sands producer. BP dropped 1.7% and Royal Dutch Shell fell 1.3%.

Among Spanish property stocks, Grupo Immarcal dropped 2.3%. Banks were also in focus, with shares of Dutch bank ABN Amro up 1.2%. Royal Bank of Scotland slipped 1.5%, Banco Santander dropped 2.7%, and Fortis lost 1.7%. Deutsche Post climbed 5.3% and Deutsche Postbank rose 2.3%, lifted by takeover speculation.

In the tech sector, Infineon Technology fell 2.3% after the chipmaker said its Q2 net loss narrowed, but missed analysts'' expectations. The U.K. FTSE 100 fell 0.8% at 6,418.70, the German DAX Xetra 30 lost 0.1% at 7,378.12 and the French CAC-40 slipped 0.2% at 5,930.77. Spain''s Ibex-35 index lost 1.4% to end at 14,403.60.


11:30AM U.S. stock averages traded in a lackluster fashion. Airlines declined.

U.S. stock market averages traded in a lackluster fashion, as investors weighed a weaker-than-expected GDP report against surging quarterly profit at Microsoft (MSFT: chart). The tech-heavy Nasdaq was given a boost by the software giant which traded up 4.3%.