6:30AM European markets move slightly higher Wednesday as banks rally.
European markets were higher on Wednesday. By mid morning, FTSE 100 in London was up 0.1% to 6,160.7, Frankfurt Xetra Dax was flat at 6,476.33, and the CAC 40 in Paris was 0.1% higher at 5,434.65.

Advancers

Inditex, owner of the Zara, Pull and Bear and Massimo Dutti clothing brands, advanced 4.6% as its net income for the first nine months of 2006 grew 22% to 634 million euros as revenue also rose 22%, to 5.67 billion euros.

Raiffeisen International, the Austrian bank with significant operations in central and eastern Europe, including Russia, advanceed 2.6%, after Citigroup upgraded it to buy and raised its price target.

Erste Bank, another Austrian bank which also has substantial holdings in eastern Europe, gained 1%. Dutch bank ABN Amro advanced 3.3% after putting forward impressive strategy for next year.

Fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz gained 0.6% in Stockholm, while London-listed peer Next advanced 1.9%.

Lagardere, the largest publishing group in France, rose 3.5% in Paris after UBS analysts upgraded their rating on the media company to buy from neutral.

Decliners

Safran, the French aero engine maker, fell 6.4% after reducing its full-year operating profit margin target to 4% from its previous goal of 5.5-6%.

Oil and gold

Crude oil held near a two-week low after the IEA reduced its forecast for Chinese demand. Crude oil for January delivery fell 13 cents to $60.89 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange in early trading in London. Brent crude fell 31 cents, or 0.5%, to $61.21 a barrel and traded at that price on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Gold declined in London for a second straight day as oil prices traded close to the lowest in two weeks. Gold for immediate delivery in London fell as much as $1.70, or 0.3%, to $628.35 an ounce.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar traded mixed versus other major currencies in European trading Wednesday. The euro was at $1.3268, down from $1.3277 late Tuesday. The British pound traded at $1.9711, up from $1.9700. The dollar bought 117.08 Japanese yen, up from 116.90.

5:00AM Gold and silver futures slipped as market awaited FOMC decision.
February gold declined $3.10 to end at $631.70 a troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange and March silver shed 4.5 cents to $13.98 an ounce. In later trading, the metal rebounded by 2 cents. January platinum settled up $5.80 to $1,115 an ounce while its sister metal palladium lost $2.85 to close at $330.90 an ounce. March copper contract dipped 3.90 cents to settle at $3.0945 per pound.

January crude oil slid 20 cents to finish at $61.02 a barrel and January heating oil declined 0.19 cent to $1.7224 a gallon. January unleaded gasoline lost 0.38 cent to end at $1.5950 a gallon. January natural gas advanced 0.3 cent to close at $7.430 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, March Arabica coffee futures finished 0.90 cent lower at $1.2775 a pound. Futures on raw sugar in foreign ports for March moved 0.05 cent lower at 11.37 cents a pound.