1:30PM European markets finished higher, supported by banking stocks.
European stocks closed modestly higher Friday, as gains in the banking sector managed to offset weakness among mining stocks. European markets were particularly volatile in afternoon trading as traders digested better-than-expected U.S. jobs data. Barclays climbed 3.3% in London on speculations Bank of America is interested in making a bid for $117.6 billion, offering a premium of 25% to 30%. Other U.K. banking stocks, including Lloyds TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland, also advanced. Other European banking stocks were broadly lower, with Societe Generale, down 0.2% and BNP Paribas down 0.7% in Paris after Citigroup downgraded the European banking sector to neutral from overweight. Weakness in metals shares limited gains. Shares in BHP Billiton lost 2.8%, shares of Rio Tinto dropped 1.9% and shares of AntoFagasta closed down 4.2% after Merrill Lynch downgraded the mining sector to neutral, citing concerns over a slowing global economy next year and manipulation of metal prices by hedge funds and other investors. The U.K. FTSE 100 rose 0.3%, followed by the German DAX 30, up 0.2%, and the French CAC 40, up 0.1%.


Crude oil prices surpassed $63 on concerns over oil production cuts and violence in Nigeria. Crude oil January contract jumped $1.01 to $63.50 a barrel. Heating oil added to $1.7970 a gallon, while gasoline added to $1.6385. Natural gas rose 5 cents to $7.772 per 1,000 cubic feet. London Brent rose 93 cents to $63.50. The U.S. dollar was mixed against its major currency rivals. The euro was quoted at $1.3321, up from $1.3280. The dollar bought 115.40 yen, up from 115.29. The British pound was quoted at $1.9673, up from $1.9620. European gold prices advanced. In London, gold traded at $636 per troy ounce, up from $626.35. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $632.85 per ounce, up from $625. Silver closed at $13.90, up from $13.50.


11:30AM Stocks turned higher, shrugging off disappointing consumer confidence data.
Stocks turned higher as market shrugged off a lower-than-expected consumer confidence reading and focused on better-than-expected employment report. The University of Michigan''s preliminary consumer confidence reading for December came in at 90.2, lower than the reading of 92 and the 92.1 seen in November. In another report, the Labor Department reported that the U.S. economy added 132,000 jobs last month, greater than the expected increase of 105,000.

Small-cap firms Heelys and Allegiant Travel rallied 60% and 40%, respectively, in their stock market debuts Friday. Heelys (HLYS: chart), a maker of children''s sneakers, jumped over its price range of $16 to $18 to set its IPO at $21 a share. The stock opened at $30.30 and rose to $34.70 for a gain of about 65%. Allegaint (ALGT: chart) priced its IPO at $18, above its $15-$17 range. The IPO opened at $24 a share and rose to $25.23 for a gain of 41%.

Airline stocks declined amid rising oil prices, with Frontier Airlines (FRNT: chart), down 4.4% and Alaska Air (ALK: chart), down 1.1%. In other corporate news, Xilinx Inc. (XLNX: chart) fell 5.8% after the chip maker lowered its Q3 forecast, pointing to unexpected weakness in its business. Dow component 3M Corp. (MMM: chart) fell 1.4% after Prudential Equity Group cut his rating on the diversified manufacturer. Yum Brands Inc. (YUM: chart) fell 3.4% on brokerage downgrade. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 39.33, or 0.32%, at 12,317.74. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was up 4.93, or 0.35%, at 1,412.22, and the Nasdaq composite index was up 13.52, or 0.56%, at 2,441.21. Bonds were little changed with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note flat at 4.49% from late Thursday.


10:30AM The Sensex fell Friday due to profit-booking and consolidating positions.
The Sensex on BSE lost 172.54 points, or 1.23% to end at 13,799.49. It opened higher, at 14,007.67 but finished off the intra-day high due to profit-taking. The market-breadth was weak, with over 3 decliners for every 2 advancers. As 1,606 shares declined, 967 advanced. and 57 shares were unchanged. From the Sensex stocks, 27 declined, while the remaining 3 advanced. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,061 crore, higher than Rs 3,819 crore on Thursday. The turnover on NSE was Rs 7,556.04 crore, higher than Rs crore 7,480.37 on Thursday.

Economic news

The wholesale price index of India advanced 5.30% in the 12 months to 25 November, slipping from the previous week annual increase of 5.45% as food and energy prices declined.

Delivering a speech at the first Indo-Arab World CEO Summit in Dubai, Indian Commerce Minister stated that India with an infrastructure investment requirement of about $400 billion in the next 5 years and a favorable investor policy environment, would surely be an excellent investment opportunity over the long term.

Most-active stocks

Reliance Communications was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 160.35 crore followed by HDFC, Reliance Industries, i-flex and Parsvnath.

Advancers

Reliance Energy led the advancers, gaining 1.96% to Rs 552.65, on 3.02 lakh shares. The stock traded in a broad range of Rs 567.90 - Rs 541. Grasim also added 0.06% to Rs 2,750 and Dr Reddy’s advanced 1.50% to Rs 769 in a session of declines.

i-flex solutions zoomed 16.90% to Rs 2,047, after Oracle Corp sweetened the open offer price for i-flex to Rs 2,100 per share. Oracles wants to have a 90% stake in i-flex, a much larger one than the previously thought 75% stake.

Oracles move triggered a rally in some IT stocks. Polaris Software jumped on the bandwagon, 8.22% higher to Rs 146.75, Geometric Software surged 5.26% to Rs 119, Nucleus Software gained 4.66% to Rs 529.45 and Subex Azure soaring 5.14% to Rs 665.35.

Sugar stocks continued their upward trend on beliefs that the sugar export ban may be lifted soon. Bajaj Hindusthan gained 1.80% to Rs 254, Simbhaoli Sugars was 2.10% higher to Rs 69.50), Rajshree Sugars moved up 1.67% to Rs 88.40 and Balrampur Chini added 1.42% to Rs 89.25.

Decliners