U.S. MARKET AVERAGES

Averages rose on the rising sentiments for retailers.

After the morning session of weak sentiment market responded to the falling oil prices and retailers stocks were ignited for the rally. Better than earnings from Target added to the positive sentiment as investors shrugged off the inflation worries for today. Wal-Mart, Target, JC Penny, Costco, Federated, Chico’s, and Internet retailer Amazon.com and eBay led the rally.

Ten-year bonds fell from 4.65% to 4.56% yield.

Home builders joined the rally on falling yields. Lennar, Beazer Homes, and D R Horton led the surge.

Falling oil led a decline in the energy stocks as Exxon Mobil, Chevron and refiners such as Valero and Tessoro declined in the session.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

The auto maker General Motors (GM: chart) announced it will review its earnings for 2001 due to an accounting error led it to overstate its 2001 profit by up to $400 million. Yesterday the company’s stock was under pressure after Deutsche Bank warned that the company would be negatively impacted if auto parts maker Delphi suffers a strike. General Motors’ stock dropped 3.8%.

Cisco Systems (CSCO: chart) said yesterday its first-quarter earnings decreased as the company spent stock options for the first time, but profit excluding those costs rose 8%. The company’s stock lost 2.8%.

ECONOMIC NEWS

The U.S. trade deficit widened to a record high in September, according to a report from the Department of Commerce, with higher oil prices contributing to an increase in the value of imports.

The report showed that the trade deficit widened to a record high of $66.1 billion in September from a revised $59.3 billion in August. Economists had been expecting a more modest increase to $62.0 billion in September from the $59.0 billion originally reported for August.

The increase in the trade deficit came as the value of imports rose while the value of exports fell, with the rise in the value of imports partly due to higher oil prices.

The report showed that imports rose 2.4 percent to $171.3 billion in September from $167.3 billion in August, while exports fell 2.6 percent to $105.2 billion in September from $108.0 billion in August.

The number of people filing for first-time unemployment benefits ticked up in the most recent week and came in a little above economists'' expectation.

The U.S. Department of Labor revealed Thursday that initial jobless claims came in at 326,000 for the week ended on November 5, an advance of 2,000 from the previous week''s revised total. Economists had expected a level of around 320,000.

INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS

Asian-Pacific benchmarks closed mixed on weaker U.S markets Wednesday and deadly explosions in the Middle East. The Nikkei traded almost unchanged, edging up 0.06% on machinery orders data and ahead of GDP report Friday. China’s Shanghai Composite was the biggest decliner in the region, losing 1.8% on export-related issues. Singapore’s Straits Times index declined 0.5%, while Australia’s all Ordinaries gained 0.4%.

European markets closed Thursday session flat amid solid earnings from companies such as the German Siemens AG, Dutch insurers Aegon and ING, as well as the drinks segment. Pressure over U.S. markets also weighed on sentiment. The German DAX 30 gained 0.08%, the French CAC 40 lost 0.02% on GDP data, and London’s FTSE fell 0.3%.

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