[R]4:30PM New York, 10:30 PM Frankfurt, 2:00AM Mumbai – Strong U.S. retail sales and benign wholesale inflation reports lifted market averages. European markets were nearly unchanged. Asian markets hovered near record levels. Mexico led the global markets in trading today.[/R]

[R]Global Markets Indexes[/R]

Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 77.96 or 0.56% to a close of 14,093.08, S&P 500 edged higher 0.48% or 7.39 to 1,561.80, and Nasdaq Composite Index traded up 33.48 or 1.21% to a close of 2,805.68. In Toronto TSX Composite gained 46.75 or 0.47% to close at 14,296.19.

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

General Electric led the decliners with a fall of 1.4% followed by losses in Citigroup of 0.9%, Pfizer of 0.75%, and Verizon of 0.33%. General Motors led the gainers in the Dow followed by increases in AT&T of 1.6%, in McDonalds of 1.4%, and Honeywell of 1.3%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 316 closed higher, 178 fell, and 6 closed unchanged.

Nineteen stocks rose 3% or more and 11 fell 3% or more. General Motors led the gainers with a rise of 6.6% followed by increases in Teradata of 5.9%, in Safeway of 5.9%, and in Eastman Kodak of 5.2%. Ford Motor, Compuware, and Electronics Art advanced more than 4%. Allegheny Technology led the decliners with a fall of 6.6% followed by declines in Centex of 5.2%, in Lennar of 4.7%, and Dillards of 4.4%. MGIC, M&T Bank, and Synovus declined more than 3%.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed up 6.20 or 0.09% to 6,730.70, in Paris CAC 40 index fell 18.88 or 0.32% to close at 5,843.95, and in Frankfurt DAX index increased 0.09% or 7.52 to close at 8,041.26. In Zurich trading SMI dropped 0.23% or 20.80 to close at 9,197.48.

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.73% or 127.81 to close at 17,331.17, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index closed down 1.01% or 294.65 to 28,838.37, in Australia ASX 200 closed down 0.34% or 23.00 to a record close of 6,748.90, Sensex in India dropped from the record high by 2.10% or 395.02 to 18,419.04. In South Korea Kospi Index added 32.41 or 1.57% to a record close of 2,026.44. Markets in Indonesia were closed today.

In Latin Markets Mexico led the gainers with a rise of 1.26% followed by increases of 1.10% in Peru, 0.55% in Argentina, and 0.43% in Chile. Colombia led the decliners with a fall of 0.70%.

Mexico Bolsa Index increased 1.26% or 488.40 to close at 32,469.35. Markets in Brazil were closed today.


Bond Yields edged a fraction on 10-year U.S. bonds to 4.64% and 30-year bond edged higher to close at 4.873%.

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

Crude oil rose $0.61 to close at $83.69 per barrel for a front month contract, up 36.0% for the year, natural gas increased 0.10 cents to $6.97 per mBtu, and gasoline futures increased 2.2 cents to close at 208.84 cents per gallon.

Gold dropped $2.90 in New York trading to close at $753.80 per ounce, silver closed down 8 cent to $13.90 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery in London fell $102.00 to $8,131.00 per pound.

Dollar edged higher against euro to $1.417 from $1.418 and higher to 117.50 yen from 117.24 yen.

[R]12:30AM New York, 10:00PM Mumbai – Sensex ended a three day winning streak. Suzuki and Tata Motors enter in different joint venture deals.[/R]

The BSE 30-share Sensex ended down 2% or 395 to 18.419. The CNX Nifty edged lower at 1.8% or 96.6 to 5,428.3. The BSE reported a turnover of 9,320 crore rupees and NSE reported turnover of 22,767.20 crore rupees.

Of the 30 shares of the Sensex, 4 gained and the remaining declined. Of the BSE stocks, 1,022 advanced, 1,692 declined, while 377 remained unchanged.

Maruti Suzuki Indian Ltd and its parent company Suzuki Motor Corporation have entered into a joint venture agreement with an Italian company Magneti Marelli, an arm of Fiat to establish a manufacturing hub for electronic control units in India.