[R]10:00PM Frankfurt, 4:00PM New York, 8:00AM Sydney – European markets fell after weak earnings from Unilever, Infineon, Glaxo, and Unibail-Rodamco.[/R]

European Markets

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 151.30 or 2.58% to 5,724.10, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 92.63 or 1.92% to close at 4,723.80 and in Frankfurt DAX index lower 113.79 or 1.66% to close at 6,733.72. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 145.44 or 1.92% to close at 7,420.01.

-The ECB left interest rates at 4.0% and the Bank of England lowered rates by 0.25% to 5.25%.

North American Markets indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 46.90 or 0.38% to a close of 12,247.00, S&P 500 closed up 10.46 or 0.79% to 1,336.91, and Nasdaq Composite Index traded up 14.28 or 0.63% to a close of 2,293.03.

In Toronto TSX Composite closed up 58.17 or 0.450% to close at 12,925.37.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average, 20 closed higher, 10 closed lower, and none were unchanged.

Hewlett Packard led the gainers in the index with a rise of 3.9% followed by gains in Microsoft of 1.4%, in IBM of 1.2%, in AIG of 0.86%, and in Citigroup of 0.82%. JP Morgan Chase led the gainers in the index with a rise of 3.2%, in Home Depot of 2.7%, and in General Motors of 2.3%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500, 346 closed higher, 152 fell, and 2 were unchanged. Of the index stocks, 71 rose more than 3% and 13 stocks fell more than 3%.

EDS led the decliners in the index with a fall of 8.7% followed by losses in Prudential Financial of 7.7%, in JDS Uniphase of 5.3%, in Mylan Inc of 5.2%, and in Qwest Communication of 5.04%. Intercontinental Exchange led the gainers in the index with a rise of 12.5% followed by increases in Family Dollar of 11.7%, in Big Lots of 11%, and in Moody’s of 10.4%.

-January retail sales fell more than expected.
-Weekly unemployment claims fell 22,000 to 356,000 at the end of last week.

South American Markets Indexes

In Latin Markets Argentina led the decliners in the region with a loss of 1.39% followed by decreases in Venezuela of 0.87%, in Chile of 0.51%, and in Peru of 0.39%.

Mexico edged 0.53% higher in the region.

Asian Markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed higher 107.91 or 0.82% to 13,207.15, in Australia ASX 200 index lower 12.70 or 0.23% to close 5,596.70. Hong Kong was closed today.

Thailand SET index closed lower 1.46 or 0.18% to 793.17. Sensex index in India decreased 612.60 or 3.36% to 17,526.93. Market of South Korea and Indonesia were closed today.

Bond Yields increased on 10-year U.S. bonds to 3.77% and on 30-year bonds gained to 4.52%.

-Japan foreign exchange reserves rose to a record high of $996 billion.