4:00PM NY – 10:00PM Germany
Ahead of U.S. Congressional election, U.S. averages gained. Oil prices dropped but natural gas prices rose.

Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.645% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.738%.

Gold decreased $1.20 to close at $626.50 a troy ounce, silver declined 5.5 cents to end at $12.62 a troy ounce and copper lost 0.55 cents to close at $3.36 cents a lb.

Oil declined 95 cents to close at $59.07 a barrel and heating oil lost 3.5 cents to finish at $1.6834 a gallon. Gasoline decreased 0.25 cents to end at $1.5265 cents a gallon. Natural gas advanced 27 cents to close at $7.759 per mBtu.

Asian markets closed higher led by Philippines with an advance of 1.04%, Malaysia with an increase of 1% and Australia with a gain of 0.86%. The only decliner was India with a decrease of 0.23%. Japan’s stocks advanced on gains in Sony Corp. and Honda Motor after a strong performance in U.S. markets.

European markets finished higher led by an increase of 0.66% in France, an advance of 0.64% in Spain and a gain of 0.53% in Netherlands. The only decliner was Norway with a decline of 0.92%. The higher ending of U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer offset some weakness in the media sector results and boosted broader European indexes.

Latin America markets closed lower led by Brazil with a decline of 0.48%, Mexico with a decrease of 0.28%. Canada lost 0.23%. There were no advancers in the South American region.

1:00PM European markets closed higher on retailers and rising oil.
European stock markets finished higher, as oil prices surpassed $60 a barrel and gains in the retail sector countered weakness among media stocks.

The French CAC 40 led regional gainers, closing up 0.55%. The index was lifted by oil giant Total which benefited from the rising oil price, as well as by 2.7% gain for airline Air France-KLM due to increased number in passengers varied in October. Media company Vivendi was a drag on the index, falling 2.3% amid lower-than-expected Q3 sales.

The German DAX 30 added 0.17%, supported by shares in apparel maker Puma which rose 3% after it held to its revenue forecast for the year. Industrial gas and engineering group Linde AG gained 1.2% following an upgrade by Societe Generale to buy from hold. However, shares of reinsurance company Munich Re fell 1.9% on weaker-than-expected Q3 profit.

London FTSE 100 closed up 0.06%, helped by 6.3% rise by shares of retailer Mark & Spencer. Shares in Yell Group limited the upward move, as the publisher of telephone directories dropped 5.9% on 44% first-half profit decline.

Crude oil stabilized after rising $1 on Monday. Crude oil December contract rose 3 cents to $60.05 a barrel. Heating oil rose fell slightly to $1.7176. Natural gas futures dropped 15 cents to $7.336 per 1,000 cubic feet. The U.S. dollar dropped against its rival currencies. The euro was quoted at $1.2805, up from $1.2721. The dollar bought 117.38 yen, down from 118.27. The British pound stood at $1.9104, down from $1.8972. European gold prices also declined. In London, gold traded at $625.50 per troy ounce, down from $626.10. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $624.65 per ounce, down from $625.70. Silver closed at $12.61, up from $12.51.


11:30AM The Dow hit an all-time high. The Nasdaq struck a 6-year peak.
U.S. stocks sharply jumped, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting a new all-time high and the Nasdaq rising to a six-year peak. The Dow hit an all-time high of 12,181.43 and the Nasdaq rose as high as 2,391.34, its highest since February 2001. The broad rally was contributed by optimism over corporate earnings and the health of the economy which offset concerns about the outcome of the congressional elections. Analysts say that if the election results in political gridlock, that could be a near-term positive for stocks as there would likely be fewer government policy initiatives. Opinion polls show Democrats could take control of the House of Representatives from Republicans for the first time since 1994.

Boosting the Dow, shares of plane maker Boeing Co. (BA: chart) jumped almost 2% on news that Boeing will boost production rates for its new 787 long-range aircraft in response to higher-than-expected demand. The Nasdaq was boosted by network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO: chart), which rose 1.26% after brokerage UBS raised its price target for the stock. Toyota Motor Corp. (TM: chart) also helped lift stocks, as the automaker rose 1.7% on surging Q3 earnings by 34%. Another notable gainer was Emerson Electric Co. (EMR: chart), which jumped 7.8% after reporting a 26% jump in quarterly profit. Further boos was given by RealNetworks (ROK: chart) which surged 8% after it said Q3 profit nearly quadrupled on a strong demand for its games.

The markets benefited from continued strength among airline, semiconductor, and networking stocks. Altera (ALTR: chart) rose 5.9%, helping to lead the semiconductor sector higher after reporting Q3 earnings growth. In late morning trading, the Dow rose 63.95, or 0.53%, to 12,169.50. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index rose 5.76, or 0.42%, to 1,385.54, and the Nasdaq composite index added 20.56, or 0.87%, to 2,386.51. Bonds gained, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.65% from 4.70% late Monday.


10:30AM The Sensex slips Tuesday on volatility in frontline large-caps.
The Sensex on BSE finished 30 points, or 0.23%, lower to 13,156.66. The market-breadth turned weak in late trading. As 1,390 shares declined on BSE, 1,124 advanced and 80 stocks were unchanged. For every 6 decliners there were 5 advancers. From the Sensex stocks, 10 advanced while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,714 crore, higher than Rs 4,265 crore on Monday. The turnover on NSE was Rs 9,066.78 crore.

Economic news

The National Council for Applied Economic Research has revised up its 2006/07 economic growth forecast to 8.1% from 7.9% previously due to good monsoon rains, robust exports and foreign investment inflows. Expressing satisfaction on the UPA government performance in the last 30 months, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the economy will continue to grow at more than 8% in the next few years.