9:45AM Stocks advanced at opening, awaiting the outcome of the Congressional elections.
Stocks advanced modestly at opening, as traders awaited the outcome of mid-term congressional elections that could be favorable for the Democrats. Toyota Motor (TM: chart) provided a boost in early trading after reporting quarterly profit up 34%. Applied Materials (AMAT: chart) helped tech stocks up after Bank of America raised its price target on the chip maker. The stock rose 2.35%. Dow component General Motors (GM: chart) also contributed to the upward move after it said in a SEC filing that its Q3 loss was reduced by $24 million, due to additional loan sales that had not been previously reported by its GMAC arm. The stock added 0.2%.

The airline sector continued its strong performance, with Southwest Airlines (LUV: chart) helping to lead the airline sector higher. The discount airline rose 3.4% after Credit Suisse upgraded its rating on the stock to outperform from underperform. Semiconductor stocks extended Monday’s advance, with Altera (ALTR: chart) posting a notable gain after reporting Q3 earnings growth. Housing stocks were under pressure after Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL: chart) forecast a 10% drop in quarterly home building revenue. Beazer Homes USA Inc. (BZH: chart) fell after it posted a 44% drop in earnings due to lower demand for new homes. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 25.61, or 0.21%, to 12,131.16. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.31, or 0.09%, to 1,381.09, and the Nasdaq composite index added 4.36, or 0.18%, to 2,370.31.


9:30AM London benchmark index advances supported by Marks and Spencer.
The FTSE 100 in London moved 0.1% higher to 6,232.5, a gain of only eight points but
enough to take it to renewed five-year highs.

Advancers

Retailers led the advance after strong interim numbers from Marks and Spencer. Shares in the high street favourite were 5.8% stronger after its adjusted profit before tax rose 32%.

The improving sentiment on US equities markets helped Amvescap, the fund manager highly exposed to the US, to gain 0.8%.

Barclays advanced 0.6% after it announced the 240 million euros purchase of Indexchange, a German provider of exchange traded funds.

Industrial materials group Cookson says its full-year results would be slightly ahead of its previous expectations following an encouraging performance in the third quarter. Cookson advanced 5.27%.

Decliners

Interim numbers of Yell Group were poorly received, sending shares in the directories group down 5%.

Associated British Foods was 2.5% weaker after it revealed a 4% decline in full-year profits. The company, which also owns the Primark chain of discount clothing stores, said restructuring costs at its British Sugar unit amounted to 97 million pounds.

Brewer Scottish & Newcastle fell 2.2% after it said consumer markets in western Europe were variable and warned of increasing costs. It also said the upcoming smoking ban in England and Wales would have an adverse effect on its market.

EasyJet, the budget airline, fell 1.3% after it revealed its aircraft were less full in October. The market reacted negatively to this morning recommended all share offer from Celtic Resources for Eureka Mining, as Eureka fell 11.71%.


9:00AM Stock futures turned flat after strong rally Monday.
Following last session''s strong rally, U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat opening Tuesday as voters headed to the polls for the mid-term Congressional elections.

Toll Brothers (TOL: chart) dropped 2.25% in pre-market trading, as it gave a mixed picture on the housing market, saying that it hasn''t spotted a recovery in the housing market, but added the market may improve faster if the current inventory overhang is absorbed and consumer sentiment turns positive. Toll Brothers cut its home delivery forecast for 2007, and reported a 10% decrease in Q4 home building revenue. Peers Beazer Homes USA (BZH: chart) and WCI Communities (WCI: chart) didn’t express optimistic views about the housing market and reported sharply lower profit.

Diversified manufacturer Emerson Electric Co. (EMR: chart) reported a 26% increase in Q4 earnings on strong global demand from industrial, energy and high-technology customers. The company earned $1.29 per share, compared with $1.01 per share a year earlier. The company projected a double-digit profit increase in 2007.

Sara Lee Corp. (SLE: chart), a packaged-food and consumer-products company, reported sharply higher Q1 net income, buoyed by tax benefit and sales gains. The company reported earnings increase of 44 cents per share, up from 9 cents per share last year on 5% higher revenue, beating expectations of 25 cents per share on revenue of $3.15 billion.

Toyota Motor (TM: chart) reported a 36% jump in Q1 earnings and lifted its earnings outlook for the year. Toyota also took nearly a 6% stake in Isuzu.