[R]4:00PM ExxonMobil earnings, slowing housing market and strong durable goods orders.[/R]

-Yield on 10-year bond closed 5.04% and 30-year bond closed at 5.115%.
-Crude oil rose 60 cents to close at $74.54 per barrel.
-Gold traded up $10.50 per ounce to close at $632.50.

-Asian Markets rose sharply, led by a 2% rise in Japan, 1.8% in Hong Kong and 1.6% in Singapore and 1.2% in India.
-European Markets rose across the board led by 1.4% rise in Germany and 1.8% rise in Norway. Russia surged 3.2%.
-Latin American Markets closed mixed but Mexico gained more than 1% and Argentina lost 0.8%.

Strong rise of 3.1% in durable goods orders in June, steep rise in new homes for sale inventory and mixed batch of earnings from Aetna and Cigna cooled the early gains in the market. Market averages turned negative near close. Commerce Department reported new home sales declined 3% and inventory of unsold homes rose 24%.

ExxonMobil reported quarterly profit of $10.36 billion on revenue of $99.03 billion. The earnings per shares jumped 43% to $1.72 from $1.20.

Aetna (AET: chart) lost 1% on Q2 earnings due to the costs of large claims and pressure from competitors. The reported net income for the quarter declined to $389.5 million, from $394.9 million a year ago. In line with analyst’s estimates, operating earnings rose 23% to 64 cents a share, which excludes reserve development. Guidance from the company raised the Q3 for operating earnings per share to $2.77 to $2.79, up from previous guidance of $2.74 to $2.76.

Navteq (NVQ: chart) reported Q2 earnings of 25 cents per share, down from 27 cents a share a year ago. The total earnings for Q2 were $23.8 million down from $25.3 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 11% to $135.9 million from $122.8 in the year earlier period. Analysts had been expecting earnings of 28 cents per share on revenue of $142.4 million.


[R]12:30PM European markets closed higher.[/R]
European markets closed in the positive for a second day in a row, as earnings and sales reports from major companies boosted market sentiment. Leading advancers Thursday were oil and gas companies, as well as automakers. Royal Dutch Shell increased 2% after it said that its Q2 cost of supplies earnings rose 36% to $6.31 billion. German automaker DaimlerChrysler rose 1.8% after saying its Q2 net income more than doubled to $2.31 billion. Shares of Volkswagen soared 8.8% after the carmaker said its Q2 profit more than doubled thanks to a one-time benefit from the sale of its Europcar division and higher sales. The German DAX 30 surged 1.4%, the French CAC 40 rose 1.2%, and London FTSE 100 gained 0.9%.

Oil prices advanced above $74 on strong demand for motor fuel in the U.S., supply disruptions in Nigeria and ongoing violence in the Mid-east. Light crude September delivery rose 28 cents to $74.22 a barrel. London Brent gained 90 cents to $74.90. The dollar further declined versus major currencies. The euro traded at $1.2728, up from $1.2698. The dollar bought 115.49 yen, down from 116.28. The British pound stood at $1.8635, up from $1.8528. European gold prices advanced. In London the precious metal traded at $632, up from $618.50 per ounce. In Zurich gold traded at $635.88, up from $616.15. Silver closed at $11.37, up from $10.96.


[R]11:30AM The Dow rallied.[/R]
Stocks continued to show some strength in morning trading. The Dow outperformed the Nasdaq and S&P 500, although all the major averages fell off their best levels for the session. Blue chips rose after Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM: chart) posted earnings that beat forecasts, but the broad market gave back some of earlier gains due to some high-profile earnings disappointments. Comcast Corp. (CMCSA: chart), the biggest U.S. cable operator, also exceeded expectations, and its stock hit a 52-week high. Exxon shares rose 1.3% to $67.42, while Comcast shares climbed 4.6% to $34.02.

The semiconductor sector posted some strength, helping to keep the tech-heavy Nasdaq in positive territory. National Semiconductor (NSM: chart) and KLA-Tencor (KLAC: chart) moved notably higher. Oil service stocks traded higher as the price of oil rose on the heels of news of supply outages in Nigeria. The brokerage, telecommunications, and computer hardware sectors also moved to the upside. Among computer hardware stocks, Dow component Hewlett-Packard (HPQ: chart) gained 2.1%. Meanwhile, health insurance stocks remained under pressure, with Aetna (AET: chart) falling 19.4% as Q2 net income fell on higher medical costs. The health insurer stood out as the biggest drag on the S&P. Again on the downside, Dow Chemical Co. (DOW: chart) the largest U.S. chemicals maker dropped 10% on profit that missed analysts'' estimates. Networking stocks also showed significant weakness, dragged by Tellabs (TLAB: chart). In late morning trading, the Dow climbed 75.08, or 0.68%. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was up 4.80, or 0.38%, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 9.83, or 0.47%. Bonds wobbled, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note flat at 5.03%from late Wednesday.

[R]New home sales notably declined in June.[/R]
Thursday morning, the Department of Commerce released its closely watched report on new home sales in the month of June, showing that new home sales showed a significant decline compared to a downwardly revised reading for the previous month. The report showed that new home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.131 million units in June from a downwardly revised rate of 1.166 million units in May. Economists had expected sales to fall to a 1.164 million unit rate compared to the 1.234 million unit rate originally reported for the previous month. The drop in new home sales was partly due to a significant decrease in sales in the Northeast, which fell 11.3 percent. Sales in the Midwest and the South also fell 7.9 percent and 6.0 percent respectively. At the same time, sales in the West increased by 8.2 percent in June, helping to the limit the downside. The report also showed that the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of June rose 0.7 percent to 566,000. The Commerce Department said that this represents a supply of 6.1 months at the current sales rate.


[R]10:30AM Sensex in India rallied for the fourth day in a row.[/R]
Sensex gained 124.32 points or 1.1% to close at 10,741. The index traded in a highly volatile pattern on the day of derivative contracts settlements. The daily turn-over volume on the BSE rose to $622 million, a jump of 15% from the previous session. Investment flows from the international investors are running annual rate of $9 billion, lower than $10.9 billion in the year 2005.

State Bank of India reported first quarter total income decline of 1% and net profit decline of 34%. The largest national bank reported net income of Rs 789.5 crore on net income of Rs 10,958 crore. The bank stock rose 3.5% and closed at Rs 798. The bank has asked Indian government for a permission to raise more capital from local investors. Local investors currently hold less than 7% in the bank, foreign investors hold less than 20% and rest is owned by Government of India. The bank has one of the largest branch networks in the world reaching out to the smallest villages in India.

Maruti Udyog, largest automaker in India, reported 19% rises in sales and 63% growth in earnings. The company reported revenue of Rs 3,125 crore and net profit of Rs 369 crore. The company sold in the quarter 144,948 vehicles.

Luxury hotel chain Indian Hotels rose 3.5% to close at Rs 1,195 on the news of 10 to one stock bonus and earnings report of Rs 38.5 crore. The company has seen no significant room cancellation despite recent bombings in Mumbai, India.


[R]9:45AM Stocks opened in the positive on Exxon and Shell.[/R]
Stocks advanced at opening as surging profit growth at Dow components Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell offset the negative sentiment generated by weak results at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. Exxon''s earnings jumped 36% to reach the second-highest level ever reported by a public U.S. company, while Shell saw a 40% rise in profit.