Merck declined 2% and Procter & Gamble fell 1.4%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 458 stocks increased, 42 declined, and none were unchanged. Of the stocks in the index, 177 stocks fell more than 3% and 14 gained more than 3%.

Titanium Metals led the gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 9.5% followed by increases in KLA Tencor of 8.5%, in CIT Group of 8.3%, in Tesoro of 7.8%, in SanDisk of 7.7%, and in Freddie Mac of 7.6%.

SLM Corp led decliners in the index with a fall of 7.5% followed by losses in LSI Corp of 6.45, in Safeway of 5.2%, in Liz Claiborne of 4.5%, in JC Penney of 3.5%, and in United Health Group of 3.4%.

South American Markets Indexes

Brazil led the gainers in South American trading with a rise of 2.45% followed by increases in Argentina of 1.90%, in Mexico of 1.70%, in Chile of 0.99%, and in Peru of 0.26%. Venezuela fell 0.44%.

Asian Markets
In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed higher 155.55 or 1.20% to 13,146.13, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index decreased 22.98 or 0.10% closed to 23,878.35. In Australia ASX 200 index higher 69.90 or 1.29% to close 5,470.30. In Malaysia KL Composite index increased 9.44 or 0.76% closed to 1,253.64.

In South Korea Kospi Index increased 16.39 or 0.94% to close at 1,758.56, in Thailand SET index closed higher 6.28 or 0.76% to 833.38 and Indonesia JSE Index edged increased 43.67 or 1.90% to 2,337.92. Sensex index in India increased 90.53 or 0.56% to 16,244.19.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil increased $1.12 to close at $114.91 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas increased 20 cent to $10.40 per mBtu, and gasoline futures increased 4.99 cents to close at 293.09 cents per gallon.

Gold increased $16.30 in New York trading to close at $948.00 per ounce, silver closed up $0.06 cents to $17.85 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery increased 9.50 cents to $3.955 per pound.

Wheat futures increased 28.5 cents in Chicago trading and closed at $9.39 per bushel. Sugar increased 3.00 cent to $13.34 per pound. Soybean future closed down 36.00 cents to $13.61 a bushel.

Dollar edged lower and traded at a record low against euro to $1.5952 and edged lower against yen to 101.75.

Yields on U.S. bonds increased to 3.68% with 10 years of maturities and increased 4.49% with 30-year of maturities.