7:30AM Asian stocks advance on positive overseas sentiment.Asian markets finished higher. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 25 Average advanced 1.77% to close at 15970.76 points. Among gainers in Tokyo were Toshiba Machine, advancing 2.8% and Nippon Steel, climbing 2.6%. Banking and other financial sector shares also recovered some of their losses Friday after Thursday’s sell-off. Resona Holdings soared 7.3% and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance reported a 2.9% gain. Hong Kong stocks recouped, led by property and export companies. The Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 1.3% to 15895.10. South Korea’s Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, finished up 2.1% at 1322.43, hitting a six-month low on Thursday. Kookmin Banksurged 7.4%, SK Telecom advanced 5.1% and Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance rose 7.4%. Taiwan’s Weighted Price Index advanced 0.3% to 6879.51 and Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.4% to 1613.89. The Shenzhen Composite Index advanced 2% to 404.43 and Australia''s S&P/ASX200 index gained 1.6% to 5053.7.


6:30AM Europe advances in the morning on Arcelor and U.S. higher close.
European markets started higher in the morning session of trading. On the corporate front, Arcelor, still fighting a hostile takeover bid from Mittal Steel, announced that it had agreed to buy Russia’s Severstal. Despite the deal, Arcelor fell 4.1%, while its rival Mittal Steel gained 2.8%. Another steel maker, Thyssen Krupp, also added 4.2%. Natexis Banque Populaire, an investment bank soared 10% on hopes that the merger with Caisse d’Epargne’s IXIS can now proceed. Deutsche Börse jumped 3.9% and Euronext climbed 2.4% after being upgraded both by Credit Suisse to “outperform”.

Crude oil advanced 15 cents to $71.47 a barrel by 0247 GMT; London Brent crude gained 17 cents at $70.88. Gold bullion opened Friday at a bid price of $650.80 a troy ounce, higher than $643.75 late Thursday. The dollar gained against the euro. The euro bought $1.2785 in morning European trading, down from $1.2793 in New York late Thursday. The British pound remained virtually unchanged, moving up to $1.8718 from $1.8717. The dollar advanced to 111.92 Japanese yen from 111.76 yen.