In South Korea Kospi Index close at decreased 43.68 or 2.30% to close at 1,853.45, in Thailand SET index closed lower 13.83 or 2.19% to 616.90, and Indonesia JSE Index decreased 14.32 or 0.52% to 2,731.51. Sensex index in India closed higher 164.59 or 0.81% to 20,465.30.

China led the region in 2007 with a rise of 120% followed by 52% rise in Indonesia, 47% increase in India, 39% gain in Hong Kong, 14% increase in Singapore, and 11.8% advance in Australia.

Bond Yields decreased on 10-year U.S. bonds to 3.90% and 30-year bonds to 4.35%.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil rose $3.320 to close at $99.30 per barrel for a front month contract, natural gas increased 37 cents to $7.859 per mBtu, and gasoline futures increased 7.22 cents to close at 256.30 cents per gallon.

Crude oil futures crossed a previous intra-day high $99.29 on the rising worries that the U.S. weekly inventory report due to be released tomorrow will show another decline in inventories and growing violence in Nigeria. Natural gas and heating oil rose nearly 5% on the harsh winter in the North East region of the U.S.

Crude oil for the year rose 60% in 2007.

Gold surged higher $22.00 in New York trading to close at $860.00 per ounce, silver closed up 37.00 cents to $15.29 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery increased 2.30 cents to 306.40 per pound and in London copper futures fell $159.50 to $6,650.50.

Gold in 2007 rose 31%, its best annual rise in twenty eight years.

Dollar edged lower against euro to $1.4715 and lower to 109.7120 yen. For the 2007 dollar lost 11.8% against euro.



11:00AM New York – U.S. stocks lost its earlier gains after the manufacturing report and rise in oil and commodities prices.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 117.05 to 13,151.86, Nasdaq declined 14.18 to 2,638.10, and S&P 500 lost 8.98 to 1,459.38.

The manufacturing index published by the Institute of Supply Management fell to 47.7 in December from 50.8 in November. The index level below 50 suggests a decline in manufacturing activity. The index of prices paid by manufacturers rose to 68 from 67.5.

Market averages quickly changed its course and lost their gains in the first 30 minutes of trading to losses.

The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce announced today that construction spending during November 2007 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,165.1 billion, 0.1% above the revised October estimate of $1,163.6 billion. The November figure is 0.1% below the November 2006 estimate of $1,166.3 billion. During the first 11 months of this year, construction spending amounted to $1,076.2 billion, 2.5% below the $1,103.9 billion for the same period in 2006.

Amazon.com (AMZN: chart) gained $3.62 to $96.26 after an analyst at Citigroup revised rating on the company to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’.

Oil jumped $2.00 to $97.98 a barrel, gold surged $12.60 to $850.60, corn front month futures rose 2.6%, and wheat front month futures increased 3.4%.

Restaurant stocks declined in the morning trading after investors worried that rising oil prices will hurt consumer spending. Cheesecake Factory (CAKE: chart) fell $1.61 to $22.08, Darden Restaurants Inc declined 74 cents to $26.97, and P F Chang’s China Bistro fell $1.02 to $21.82.