4:00PM The drop in oil prices failed to boost stocks as Apple’s outlook worried investors.
Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.751% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.843%.

Gold declined $5.50 to close at $627.80 a troy ounce, silver lost 21.5 cents to end at $12.675 a troy ounce and copper lost 8.20 cents to close at 248.75 cents per pound.

Oil lost $1.890 to close at $50.350 a barrel and heating oil declined 3.630 cents to finish at 146.350 cents a gallon. Natural gas gained 9.4 cents to close at $6.328 per MMBtu. Gasoline went down 2.5 cent to end at 135.360 cents a gallon.

Asian markets closed higher led by the Philippines with a gain of 1.32%, Indonesia with an increase of 1.09% and Hong Kong with an advance of 1.06%. Most Asian markets gained as Japanese exporters benefited from Bank of Japan''s decision to keep interest rates on hold, while China Mobile helped lead Hong Kong higher despite losses in Chinese banks and real-estate developers. There were no decliners. Australia advanced 0.44%.

European markets closed mixed as weakness in the technology sector after cautious outlooks from companies on both sides of the Atlantic offset a rally in the automotive sector after crude-oil prices plunged around $2 a barrel. The advancers were led by U.K. with an increase of 0.09%, Belgium with a gain of 0.06% and Netherlands with an advance of 0.05%. The decliners were led by Spain with a decrease of 0.21%, Germany with a loss of 0.18% and France with a decline of 0.12%.

Latin America markets ended lower as the price of oil continued to plummet and as markets ingested a slew of economic data released in the U.S. The decliners were led by Mexico with a decrease of 1.59%, Argentina with a loss of 1.39% and Brazil with a decline of 0.76%. There were no advancers. Canada lost 0.74%.

1:00PM European markets closed mixed.
European stocks closed mixed on Thursday, with weakness in the technology sector offsetting a rally in the automotive sector. Shares in automakers BMW and Renault rose around 2% each after crude oil prices plunged around $2 a barrel. The tech sector was undermined by Apple''''s cautious Q2 outlook in the U.S. and a 15% drop in the shares of Finnish IT services firm TietoEnator, following news that its fiscal 2006 margin fell below expectations. Rivals also declined on the news, with shares in French Atos Origin falling 4.1% and Capgemini losing 2.4%. Semiconductor stocks, including Infineon Technologies and software firm Business Objects also moved lower. Among other gainers today, shares in French engineering group Alstom rose 2.7% as it posted a 15% increase in quarterly sales. Accor shares rose 1.4% after the hotels group said it expects adjusted operating profit before tax to be higher than earlier forecasts. Shares in Merck KGaA closed down 2.1% after touching a record high on Q4 profit increase. Both the German DAX 30 and the French CAC 40 lost 0.1%, while London FTSE 100 added 0.1%.

Crude oil prices dropped to a 20-month low after petroleum report showed strong crude and gasoline stockpiles. Benchmark light, sweet crude tumbled $2 to $50.24 a barrel. Heating oil fell 4 cents to $1.4610 a gallon, while gasoline dropped 4 cents to $1.3395. Natural gas rose 11 cents to $6.345 per 1,000 cubic feet. London Brent fell $1.76 to $51.02. The U.S. dollar traded mixed against its major currency rivals. The euro was quoted at $1.2958, up from $1.2932. The dollar bought 121.23 yen, up from 120.67. The British pound was quoted at $1.9726, up from $1.9691. European gold prices advanced. In London, gold traded at $632.95 per troy ounce, up from $631.64. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $631.35 per ounce, up from $627.85. Silver closed at $12.74, down from $12.78.


11:30AM Market averages traded mixed. Tech stocks led losers.
U.S. stock averages traded mixed, as investors digested recent economic data and the urgent tone of Fed Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who warned of looming budget crisis and gave little clue about the direction of interest rates. The Nasdaq continued to move lower as disappointing guidance from Apple and Intel raised concerns about the outlook for the technology sector.

The steep decline by the Nasdaq was contributed by substantial weakness among technology stocks, led by shares of Apple (AAPL: chart), down 4.3%. Shares of the iPod and PC maker slipped after it reported strong Q1 profit growth that came in above analyst estimates but forecast Q2 results below expectations. Other computer hardware stocks also came under pressure. Dell (DELL: chart) declined 1.9% and Sun Microsystems (SUNW: chart) dropped 2.5%. The semiconductor sector also showed significant weakness. Semiconductor equipment makers Applied Materials (AMAT: chart) dropped 5.2%, Novellus (NVLS: chart) fell 4.3%, and KLA-Tencor (KLAC: chart) slipped 4.6%. Dow component Intel (INTC: chart) was also a notable decliner, falling 1.6%.

Energy stocks declined, as the price of oil moved notably lower after government data showed strong crude oil and gasoline inventories. Exxon Mobil (XOM: chart) lost 1.4% and Chevron (CVX: chart) fell 1%. At the same time, oil-sensitive stocks benefited from the price decrease, with airline and retail stocks posting strong gains. Telecom stocks helped limit the downside for the Dow, with gains by Verizon (VZ: chart), up 1.7% and AT&T (T: chart), up 1.5%. Blue chips were also supported by earnings-inspired gains for brokerage giant Merrill Lynch (MER: chart). In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.28, or 0.03%, to 12,580.43. The Standard & Poor''''s 500 index was down 1.44, or 0.10%, to 1,429.18, and the Nasdaq composite index was down 20.02, or 0.81%t, to 2,459.40. Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.80% from 4.78% late Wednesday.

Crude oil and gasoline inventories climbed.
Government data released Thursday showed that crude oil inventories jumped sharply higher in the most recent week, reversing a draw down that took place in the previous week. Meanwhile, gasoline and distillate stockpiles also rose. The Department of Energy''''s Energy Information Administration said that crude oil inventories rose 6.8 million barrels in the week ended January 12. Specifically, the measure climbed to 321.5 million barrels from the previous week''''s level of 314.7 million barrels. This followed a decline of 5 million barrels in the previous week and a slide of 1.3 million barrels in the week before that. Oil inventories for the January 12 week were 0.7% lower than last year. Meanwhile, gasoline inventories showed a week-over-week increase of 3.5 million barrels. This added to a recent streak of gains, including a rise of 3.8 million barrels in the previous week. The level of gasoline inventories was 1.7% above last year. Distillate fuel oil also had an inventory increase during the week ended January 12. Stockpiles of these products, which include heating oil, edged up by 900,000 barrels. This added to an advance of 5.4 million barrels recorded in the previous week.


10:30 AM NY-9:30PM Mumbai Sensex ends at all-time high on Reliance rally.
The Sensex on BSE finished 86.41 points, or 0.6%, higher at 14,217.75. The market-breadth was positive, though it weakened at the end of trading. As 1,386 shares advanced on BSE, 1293 declined and 57 were unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, 20 advanced, while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 5053 crore, higher than Rs 4746 crore on Wednesday. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 10,178.12, compared to Rs 8,766.02 crore on Wednesday.

Economic news

The Commerce Ministry has postponed the meeting on Special Economic Zones scheduled to meet on January 22 The meeting should approve some policy changes in the SEZ rules and look into concerns and suggestions connected with land acquisition for Special Economic Zones which has become a burning issue in states like West Bengal.

U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley announced on Thursday that its real-estate arm has invested about $152 million in Indian real-estate developer Oberoi Constructions, asits third investment in an Indian property company.

The strong results of software large-caps in the last quarter have sparked hopes that the target of $60 billion worth of software exports by 2009-10 is well within reach.

Trading highlights

Oil refiner and petrochemical producer Reliance Industries Ltd on Thursday registered a quarterly net profit growth of 58 per cent. Reliance, the biggest maker of polyester fibre and yarn in the world, announced its net profit rose to Rs 2,799 crore from Rs 1,776 crore, much ahead of market expectations. Net sales advanced 45.7% to Rs 26,472 crore from Rs 18,168 crore. Petrochemical margins grew over 35% in Q3 on higher product prices and a decline in feedstock prices.

Tech Mahindra has posted a 16.5% jump in net profit at Rs 166.8 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2006 when compared with Rs 143.2 crore for the same period a year ago.