[R]4:00PM New York, 10:00PM Frankfurt, 8:00AM Sydney[/R]

[R]Global Markets Indexes[/R]

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 237.44 or 1.83% to a close of 12,743.44, S&P 500 decreased 2.32% or 33.48 to 1,407.22, and Nasdaq Composite Index lost 55.61 or 2.14% to a close of 2,540.99. In Toronto TSX Composite decreased 146.15 or 1.09% to close at 13,321.05.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average, 2 closed higher, 28 closed lower, and none was unchanged.

Home Depot led the decliners in the index with a fall of 5.1% followed by losses in American Express of 3.8%, in JP Morgan of 3.6%, in AT&T of 3.4%, and in Microsoft of 3.3%. Johnson & Johnson increased 0.7% and Boeing added 0.44%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500, 48 closed higher, 450 fell, and 2 were unchanged. One hundred and fifty seven stocks fell more than 3% and none increased 3% or more.

Verisign Inc led the gainers in the index with a rise of 2.7% followed by increases in Transocean of 2.46%, in Aetna of 2.36%, in Fluor of 2.34%, in Mattel of 2.1%. CIT Group led the decliners in the index with a loss of 17% followed by losses in E*Trade of 13.7%, in Countrywide Financial of 11%, in Fannie Mae of 10%, in KB Home of 9.4%, in Circuit City of 8%, in Centex of 7.9%, and in Washington Mutual of 7.7%.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed down 81.60 or 1.30% to 6,180.50, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 62.78 or 1.30% to close at 5,458.39, and in Frankfurt DAX index decreased 41.60 or 0.55% to close at 7,567.36. In Zurich trading SMI declined 10.67 or 0.13% to close at 8,361.16.

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index added 246.44 or 1.66% to close at 15,135.21, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index closed up 1,085.53 or 4.09% to 27,626.62, in Australia ASX 200 closed up 141.20 or 2.23% to close 6,471.40. India gained 2.09% or 394.67 to 19,247.54.

In South Korea Kospi Index increased 82.45 or 4.65% to close at 1,855.33, Thailand closed down 8.53 or 1.03% to 832.78, and Indonesia edged higher 63.70 or 2.46% to 2,648.04.

In Latin Markets Brazil led the decliners with a loss of 3.12% followed by losses in Mexico of 2.9%, in Chile of 1.72%, and in Argentina of 0.96%. Venezuela led the gainers with a rise of 0.16% followed by increase of 0.13% in Peru.

Bond Yields edged lower on 10-year U.S. bonds to 3.84% and 30-year bonds decreased to 4.29%.

[R]Commodities, Metals, and Currencies[/R]

Crude oil declined $0.48 to close at $97.70 per barrel for a front month contract, up 47.00% for the year, natural gas increased 2 cents to $7.72 per mBtu, and gasoline futures decreased 2.56 cents to close at 244.14 cents per gallon.

Gold edged higher $1.80 in New York trading to close at $826.50 per ounce, silver closed up 9.50 cents to $14.83 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery increased 2.10 cents to 305.05 cents per pound and in London trading closed up $150.50 to $6,690.50.

Dollar edged lower against euro to $1.4872 and lower to 107.4100 yen.


[R]1:30PM New York – U.S. market averages fell after investors focused on the credit market worries and holiday sales.[/R]

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 27 to 12,954, Nasdaq declined 9 to 2,587, and S&P 500 lost 7 to 1,433.

Credit market worries and jitters related to housing market, and uncertainty related to holiday retail sales kept the U.S. averages in check.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell 7% after a downgrade from UBS analyst, E*Trade fell another 10% after a report in the Wall Street Journal raised questions on the quality of the mortgage portfolio. Citigroup, Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, and Lehman Brothers fell between 3% and 4% after the credit market worries dragged financial services companies.