[R]4:00PM NY, 10:00 PM Frankfurt, 1:00AM Mumbai – Global Markets[/R]

Yields traded lower on 10-year U.S. bonds and closed at 5.12% and 30-year bond rose to close at 5.224%.

Crude oil fell $2.17 to close at $64.76 per barrel, natural gas lost 16cent to close at $7.66 per mBtu, and gasoline futures fell 6.5 cents to close at 212.71 cents per gallon.

Gold dropped $14.90 to close at $650.30 per ounce, silver lost 44 cents to close at $13.04 per ounce, and copper futures gained $9 to close at $7,504 per metric ton.

Asian Markets closed lower on the worries that rates in Europe and U.S. may continue to rise. A fall of 1.9% in Indonesia led the region followed by 1.5% decline in Japan, Singapore and South Korea, loss of 1.4% in Hong Kong and 1.3% in Australia, and 1% decline in India and Thailand. Shanghai bucked the regional trend and rose for the fourth day. Bank of Korea left its target short term rate unchanged to 4.5%. Korean stocks traded lower, but the index is the third best performing in the region with 18% rise for the year so far. Weekly measure of inflation in India fell below the target set by Reserve Bank of India.

Japanese stocks closed lower led by 4% loss in Sumitomo Trading, 2% fall in Toyota, and 1.6% decline in Fanuc. Machinery orders in April rose 2.2% from March orders, lower than expected. Consumer lending companies in Japan came under heavy pressure for the second day in a row. Credit Saison plunged 9% and Aiful Corp lost 4%. Supreme Court in Japan ruled that consumers can sue these sub prime lending companies to recover excess interest rates charged above legal limits.

Shanghai stocks surged for the fourth day on smaller compaies joining the rally and belief that factors driving economic growths are still in place and corporate profits are growing at a healthy pace. Ping An Insurance, second largest insurance company gained 2.6% and China Yangtze advanced 2.3%. Shanghai market, the best performing market in the world for a second year in a row is expected to advacne further by local securities analysts, despite government efforts to curb market rise.

European Markets closed lower every day of the week, five day of losses on rising interest rates and energy and metals prices. Nickel, copper, and zinc price volatility brought several mining and metals companies stocks lower. Bank and insurance companies led the region in decline. Barclays, Allianz, ABN Amro and Credit Suisse fell more than 0.5%. Newspaper Les Echos reported in Paris that Societe Generale is looking at ways to prepare a bid for BNP Paribas stoking takeover rumors. Germany, France and UK are still up more than 10% for the year so far.



Latin American Markets closed higher in sympathy to rising markets in the U.S. Chile led the region with a gain of 1.3% followed by 0.7% gain in Argentina and Brazil. Mexico gained 0.8%. Analyst price revision helped paper board company, Masisa SA in Chile, the stock jumped 4.2% and largest supermarket chain Distribucion y Servicio gained 1.6%, after three days of decline, and is likely to rise in the coming weeks. Rossi Residencial in Brazil advanced 2.5% on revised earnings revision from a broker. Airport operators in Mexico gained on May traffic rise. OMA traffic rose 26% and at Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, operator of 12 airports, traffic rose 20%.


[R]1:00PM NY, 5:00 PM Frankfurt European markets ended lower for a fifth straight session, dragged down by rate worries.[/R]

European stock markets closed lower Friday for a fifth consecutive session, pressured by continuous worries about the impact of higher interest rates. The downward trend was bucked by gains in the shares of BNP Paribas which rose amid takeover speculations.

Shares of the French bank gained 1.5%. Strength among chip makers, led by Infineon Technologies and STMicroelectronics failed to lift sentiment. Vodafone was among advancers for a second day in a row, moving up 1% as investors continued to assess restructuring prospects for the company.

Mining companies stood out among losers, with Vedanta Resources losing 2.5%, Kazakhmys falling 1.4%, and BHP Billiton losing 1.4%. Shares in oil giant Royal Dutch Shell added 0.8% after it was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merrill Lynch with the broker lifting its price target to 2,150 pence. The U.K. FTSE 100 finished unchanged at 6,505.10, the German DAX Xetra 30 fell 0.4% at 7,590.50 and the French CAC-40 slipped 0.1% at 5,883.29.


[R]11:30AM U.S. market averages traded slightly higher. Lower trade deficit boosted the dollar and bonds.[/R]

U.S. stock market averages moved modestly higher, as investors turned to bargain hunting after recent weakness, with concerns about the outlook for interest rates still weighing. News that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed by 6.2% in April helped boost the dollar and the bonds. In recent action, the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond was up 5.124%.

Some positive sentiment was generated by a notable decline by the price of oil. Shares of Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA: chart) traded in the U.S. were among the leading gainers in the oil group, rising 1%. At the same time, gold stocks posted weakness amid a continuous drop by the price of gold. Gold futures tumbled nearly 2%, extending their four-session losing streak, as the dollar rallied against other major currencies.