U.S. MARKET AVERAGES

U.S. markets averages opened the trading session up just like the futures had predicted. The higher opening was largely attributable to the semiconductor giant Texas Instruments which provided a boost to the market sentiment by releasing a 3Q lifted earnings and sales guidance. After a short decline, the stocks have moved upward again.

The energy sector is up 1.7%, standing out as one of the notable gainers in the trading session as oil climbed over $65 a barrel. The Natural gas sector is up 1.6%. The gold sector also joined the group of the big gainers. The housing sector rose 1% after Hovnanian sent it down yesterday on disappointing earnings report.

Transportation sector has notably declined by 1.4%. Airline sector is down 1.1% on lowered guidance by Continental. Trucking stocks weakened on lowered guidance from Yellow Roadway.

Investors also eyed a report, showing overall import prices for August rose 1.3% from 0.8% In July. Economists had expected an increase of 1.2%.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Intel Corp (INTC: chart) fell 0.9% in the early trading after the company cut its previous plans for third-quarter sales, but it expected sales to grow by 10% this year in comparison with 2004.

Texas Instruments Inc (TXN: chart) added 1% in pre-market trading because it lifted its third-quarter financial expectations due to a greater demand for its chips.

Yellow Roadway (YELL: chart) dropped 4.4% in pre-market dealings after the company narrowed its third-quarter earnings predictions and cited the hurricane as one of the reasons.

Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC: chart) also expected to cut its earnings and revenue as a result of Katrina's damage to its Gulf Coast shipbuilding operations. The company advanced 0.6% on Thursday.

The airline industry continues to suffer by high fuel prices.
Continental Airlines (CAL: chart) fell 0.7% because of its forecasts for a significant loss in 2005 due to higher fuel prices.

Biogen Idec (BIIB: chart) lost 1.3% as Citigroup downgraded the company after it cut 17% of its workforce in a try to free up cash for new drugs.

ECONOMIC NEWS

Friday morning, the Department of Labor released its report on import and export prices in the month of August. The report showed that import prices showed a notable increase while export prices fell modestly.

The Labor Dept. said that import prices rose 1.3 percent in August, extending a recent upward move after rising 0.8 percent in July and 1.2 percent in June. The continued increase in prices was largely due to higher prices for petroleum imports.

Prices for petroleum imports rose 7.1 percent in August after rising 6.1 percent in July and 8.6 percent in June. Excluding petroleum imports, prices were unchanged in August after falling 0.2 percent in the two previous months.

As mentioned above, the report also showed that export prices fell 0.1 percent in August after rising 0.1 percent in July. The decrease reflected a 0.6 percent drop in prices for agricultural exports, although prices still fell 0.1 percent excluding agricultural exports.

INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS

Asian-Pacific benchmarks ended the trading session mixed. The Nikkei climbed 1.3%, buoyed by optimism a day before the weekend parliamentary elections. Strong tech issues, supported by upbeat reports from Texas Instruments and Intel, also gave a boost. Across the region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finished flat, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.6%, while China’s Shanghai Composite declined 0.4% on profit-taking. The dollar was up 0.11% at 110.60 yen.

European stocks were trading in the positive territory, lifted by strong semiconductor sector after tech giants like Infineon, Phillips, STM, and ASML gained on U.S. upgrades. The German DAX 30 climbed 0.4%, the French CAC 40 added 0.6%, and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3%. The euro was up 0.16% against the dollar at $1.2427.