4:00PM NY – 10:00PM Germany

Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.618% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.691%.

Gold decreased $1.50 to close at $623.80 a troy ounce, silver rose 5.5 cents to end at $12.945 a troy ounce and copper rose 0.55 cents to close at 3.0945 cents per pound.

Oil advanced 49 cents to close at $58.77 a barrel and heating oil gained 2.88 cents to finish at 169.20 cents a gallon. Gasoline increased 3.02 cents to end at 157.50 cents a gallon. Natural gas advanced 20 cents to close at $8.177 per mBtu.

Asian markets closed mostly higher led by Hong Kong with a gain of 1.14%, Singapore with an advance of 0.64% and India with an increase of 0.33%. The decliners were led by Philippines with a decrease of 0.37%, Japan with a loss of 0.28% and Australia with a decline of 0.12%. Stocks in Hong Kong rose helped by a demand for property stocks and Chinese banking shares.

European markets ended higher led by Belgium with an advance of 0.92%, U.K. with an increase of 0.70% and Germany with a gain of 0.68%. There were no decliners. European stocks finished higher with a rally in tech stocks offsetting a sharp drop in shares of London Stock Exchange and abandoned bid from Deusche Borse.

Latin America markets closed higher led by Brazil with a gain of 1.69%, Canada with an advance of 1.25% and Argentina with an increase of 0.46%. The only decliner was Mexico with a decrease of 0.07%. Canadian stocks ended higher on the back of oil prices.

1:00PM European markets closed higher, helped by tech stocks.
European stock markets closed notably higher Wednesday, boosted by a tech-stock rally which offset a sharp drop in shares of exchange operators. The German DAX 30 rose 0.68%, boosted by Infineon Technologies which gained 3.4% after its partially held unit Qimoda more than quadrupled quarterly profit. In exchange moves, Deutsche Boerse closed down 4.6% after withdrawing its offer for Euronext which fell 5.4%. London Stock Exchange also dropped 5.7% on news that a consortium of banks will create a trading platform to rival the London-based exchange. The French CAC 40 climbed 0.64%, led by strong tech stocks. Shares of Alcatel gained 2%, while STMicroelectronics rose 3.2%. London FTSE 100 climbed 0.7%, with telecom stocks giving a strong boost. Shares of Vodafone Group rose 2.6%, driven by earnings for a second day. Fixed-line operator BT Group also advanced, up 1.3%. Further push t o the upside was provided by British Airways, up 4.7%, and EMI Group, rising 1.4% on expectations to meet its target for the year.

Crude oil prices advanced after a weekly petroleum report showed that gasoline inventories dropped for a fifth straight week. Crude oil December contract fell 58 cents to $58.86 a barrel. Heating oil added 3 cents to $1.6953 a gallon, while gasoline gained 3 cents to $1.5750. Natural gas futures rose 13 cents to $8.102 per 1,000 cubic feet. The U.S. dollar traded higher against its rival currencies. The euro was quoted at $1.2804, down from $1.2823. The dollar bought 118.08 yen, up from 117.54. The British pound stood at $1.8866, down from $1.8930. European gold prices extended decline. In London, gold traded at $620 per troy ounce, down from $621. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $618.63 per ounce, down from $620.20. Silver closed unchanged at $12.75.


11:30AM The Dow rallied on gains for Altria and Boeing.
U.S. stocks extended Tuesday''s rally on easing concerns about the health of the economy and gains for blue-chips Altria and Boeing. Solid gains in the airline sector on the back of an $8 billion acquisition bid also contributed to the market strength.

Altria (MO: chart) rose 1.7% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the tobacco giant to buy from neutral, citing optimism about the company''s plans for its Kraft unit and improving international tobacco trends. Another Dow component, Boeing Co. (BA: chart) was up 1.5% on reports that the company may see $10 billion more in jet business in the near term. US Airways (LCC: chart) climbed 11.7% after launching an $8 billion bid for Delta Air Line. Following the news, other stocks in the airline sector moved higher. Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV: chart) added 4%, American Airlines parent AMR Corp. (AMR: chart) rose 4.4%, while UAL Corp. (UAUA: chart) climbed 6.8%.

In other corporate news, RailAmerica Inc. (RRA: chart) jumped 27.6% after the short line railroad operator agreed to be acquired by Fortress Investment Group LLC, a hedge fund manager, for $1.1 billion, or $16.35 per share, including debt. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF: chart) dropped 3.8% after the company announced plans to spend through 2007 to remodel stores and overhaul its information-technology systems. Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL: chart) dropped 4.7% after the contract manufacturer, said it would restate its 2005 results following a review of stock options practices. In late morning trading Wednesday, the Dow was up 26.73, or 0.22%, at 12,244.74, moving further into record territory. The Dow set a new intraday high of 12,247.22. The S&P was up 3.83, or 0.27%, at 1,397.05, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 11.30, or 0.46%, at 2,441.96. Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.60% from 4.57% late Tuesday.

Crude oil inventories gained, while gasoline stockpiles declined.
Crude oil inventories rose in the most recent week, according to government statistics released Wednesday. This added to an advance posted in the previous couple weeks. Meanwhile, gasoline and distillate stockpiles dropped sharply, continuing their recent streaks of draw downs. The Department of Energy''s Energy Information Administration said that crude oil inventories rose 1.3 million barrels in the week ended November 10. Specifically, the measure climbed to 336.0 million barrels from the previous week''s level of 334.7 million barrels. This added to an advance of 400,000 barrels in the previous week and a gain of 2 million barrels in the week before that. Oil inventories for the November 10 week were 4.3% higher than last year. Meanwhile, gasoline inventories showed a week-over-week decline of 3.7 million barrels. The level of gasoline inventories was 1% below last year. The draw down during the week added to a slide of 600,000 barrels recorded during the previous period. Distillate fuel oil also had an inventory decline during the week ended November 10. Stockpiles of these products, which include heating oil, fell by 3.6 million barrels. This added to a decline of 2.7 million barrels in the previous week.


10:30AM Banks, cement shares helped the Sensex gain 44 points on Wednesday.
The Sensex on BSE advanced 43.87 points, or 0.33 %, to close at 13,469.37. The market was highly volatile. The BSE Sensex traded withing a range of 115.29 points for the day. The market-breadth was weak. As 1,509 shares declined on BSE, 1,035 advanced and 69 stocks were unchanged. For every 2 advancers, there were 3 decliners. From the Sensex stocks 17 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 5,088 crore, lower than Rs 5,151 crore on Tuesday. The turnover on NSE was Rs 8,768.6 crore, higher than Rs 8,071.78 crore on Tuesday.

Economic news

The bonds rose to their highest in six weeks on Tuesday as central bank dollar buying in the foreign exchange market in the last three sessions eased concerns about liquidity in the banking system.

The central bank of India announced that the recent decline in global crude oil prices should help ease inflation pressures in the economy and that the macroeconomic environment remained favourable.

Advancers