5:15PM Market averages advanced on payroll data.

-Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.73% and 30-year bond closed at 4.88%.

-Crude oil dropped $1.07 to close at $69.19 per barrel. Natural gas dropped to $5.877 per MBTu to a three-month low.

-Gold dropped $1.60 to $626.60 per ounce. Silver rose 5 cents to close at $12.95 and copper closed up 0.60 to $3.475.

-Asian Markets closed higher except markets in Tokyo and Sydney. Indonesia gained 0.9% and India rose 0.8%. Thailand advanced 0.8%. Tokyo lost 0.04% and Sydney declined 0.3%.

-European Markets closed to a three-month high. France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland closed up near 0.4%. The U.K. index rose 0.73% and Norway rose 1.3%.

-Latin American Markets surged on the U.S. payroll data. Brazil gained 3% on the report that international trade surplus in August was recorded at $4.5 billion and for the year stood at $29.6 billion. Argentina and Mexico gained 0.9% and 0.7% respectively.


12:30PM European markets ended at a three-month high.
European markets finished at a three-month high on Friday, supported by well received U.S. job-creation data that helped ease interest-rate fears and corporate news from French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis. The company’s stock rose 0.9% after it won a ruling from a U.S. judge blocking sales of a generic version of Plavix. The ruling outweighed news that the company had cut its 2006 earnings forecast. Resources and financial companies also provided support. Regional gainers were ked by London FTSE 100 with an advance of 0.7%, followed by the French CAC 40, up 0.4%, and the German DAX 300, up 0.3%.

Oil prices slipped below $70. Light crude October delivery fell 46 cents to $69.80 a barrel. London Brent October delivery slipped 32 cents to $69.93. The dollar gained versus major currencies. The euro traded at $1.2797, down from $1.2806. The dollar bought 117.36 yen, up from 117.33. The British pound stood at $1.9019, down from $1.9041. European gold prices extended gains. In London the precious metal traded at $623.20, up from $619.40 per ounce. In Zurich gold traded at $623.10, up from $623. Silver closed at $12.78, up from $12.70.


11:30AM Stock markets traded higher ahead of holiday.
Stocks traded in the positive Friday morning as concerns about economy and inflation receded following August employment report. The data showed moderate employment growth along with a modest increase in average hourly earnings. In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 44.82, or 0.39%.The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 4.10, or 0.31%, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 5.24, or 0.24%. Bonds were little changed, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note edging up to 4.74% from 4.73% late Thursday.


10:30AM The Snesex gains led by auto and pharma stocks.
The Sensex on BSE gained 78.97 points, or 0.68%, to finish at 11,778.02 hitting its highest closing level in three straight months since May 17th of this year. The market-breadth was positive with 1,345 stocks advancing, 1,179 declining and 62 were unchanged. The turnover on BSE was Rs 2,812 crore, compared to Thursday’s Rs 2,774 crore. The turnover on NSE was Rs 5,900 crore.

India's wholesale price index gained 4.91% in the 12 months to Aug. 19, barely lower than 4.92% a week earlier on a slight decline in energy prices. The figure was higher than a analysts’ forecast for 4.85%. The wholesale inflation rate was 3.71% during the corresponding week of the previous year.

For the week, the Sensex gained 1.7%, State Bank of India and ICICI bank gained the most. In today’s session, auto stocks led the advancers on hefty sales for August and following reports that the government will not raise fuel prices. Bajaj Auto gained 3% to Rs 2,786, Maruti Udyog advanced 1.6% to Rs 875, TVS Motor surged 4% to Rs 96.85 and Mahindra & Mahindra added 1.8% to Rs 661.

Auto large-cap Tata Motors (TTM: chart) advanced 2.8% to Rs 869 and Ashok Leyland gained 5% to Rs 41.70. Hero Honda rebounded from a lower level despite its report of a 13% decline in sales for August 2006. The stock gained 1.3% to Rs 730, off an early low of Rs 706. ICICI Bank advanced 2% to Rs 609.55 on strong foreign investment flows. HDFC Bank climbed 2.3% to Rs 873.

Renewed interest in pharma stocks boosted the sector. Cipla advanced 3% to Rs 258, Dr Reddy’s Lab gained 3% to Rs 743 and Ranbaxy Labs added 2.2% to Rs 416. Cipla gained on a strong volume of 11 lakh shares on BSE. Zee Telefilms advanced 3.3% to Rs 284, making an intra-day rebound. It had fallen 5.6%, to a low of Rs 259.40 earlier in the day.
Steel shares advanced despite producers announcing a reduction in the metal price. SAIL gained 1.5% to Rs 73.35 and Tata Steel added 1.2% to Rs 502.25. Select stocks not part of the Snesex group soared. Shares of Mazda, DCW, SKS Ship, Lakshmi Machine Works, Paramount Communications, Orient Paper, IL&FS Investment Mangers, Jaiprakash-Hydro Power, Essar Oil, and Harita Seating gained between 7.6% and 20%.


09:45AM Stocks opened higher on tame wage inflation.
Stocks opened higher Friday on news that wage inflation was tamer-than-expected last month. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was dragged by a notable weakness in the semiconductor sector. Shares of Monster Worldwide (MNST: chart) came under pressure, with the provider of online recruitment services down 5.3% on brokerage downgrade to Market Perform from Outperform. On the other hand, Shares of Devon Energy (DVN: chart) advanced 2.4% after Morgan Stanley upgraded its rating on the oil and gas company to Overweight from Equal Weight.