4:30PM NY, 10:30 PM Frankfurt, 2:00AM Mumbai – Global Markets

Yields gained on 10-year U.S. bonds and closed at 4.96% and 30-year bond closed at 5.06%.

Crude oil rose $1.07 cents to close at $65.08 per barrel, natural gas fell 6 cent to close at $7.88 per mBtu, and gasoline futures rose 4.13 cents to close at 224.45 cents per gallon.

Gold rose $10.20 to close at $676.90 per ounce, silver gained 22 cents to close at $13.74 per ounce, and copper futures advanced $182 to close at $7,452 per metric ton.

Asian Markets closed higher across the region led by 2.3% rise in Thailand, 2.1% increase in Philippines, 1.4% gain in Indonesia, and 1.3% advance in Taiwan. Singapore and South Korea gained nearly 1%. Various indexes in Shanghai fell between 2% and 3.5% for the second time this week. Gains in Exporters and auto companies led the rise in Tokyo with the Nikkei Index closing up 0.5%. Toyota rose 2.2% on the expectations of strong sales in the U.S. in May. Thai SET index rose to 12-month high on the hopes that elections in December will allow several parties to participate. Constitution Tribunal cleared Democratic Party of electoral fraud but dissolved Thai Rak Thai party controlled by former Prime Minister Thaskin. Indian market advanced on lower inflation.

European Markets closed higher across the region on optimism of economic growth in the U.S. and merger speculation in telecom and utility industries. Germany led the region with a gain of 1.4% followed by a near 1% rise in Spain, Norway, Switzerland, France and UK markets. Renault rose 7% on recent meeting with investors. Rumors of takeover kept telecom stocks rising led by gains of 4% in Deutsche Telekom, 3% in Vodafone and 2.5% in France Telecom. Talks of further investment from Belgian billionaire in utilities sector lifted E.On by 1.5% and EDF by 4.5%. British Energy Group rose 2% after the British government raising money to pay for nuclear reactor decommissioning.

Latin American Markets rose across the region led by gains of 2.2% in Brazil, 1.73% in Mexico and 0.6% in Chile. Good employment report in the U.S. lifted markets in the region. Steel, telecom and beverage companies rose in Brazil. AmBev, subsidiary of InBev gained on the hopes of merger with Anheuser-Busch. Mexican peso rose on the U.S. employment report and yield differential with the U.S. 10-year bond declined to 2.6%. Peso traded near seven-month high and Colombian peso reached seven-year high against dollar. Consumer prices in Venezuela rose 1.7% in April, after gaining 1.2% in March, bolstering fears that inflation in 2007 may top 16% inflation in 2006.


9:45AM U.S. stocks opened higher, helped by economic optimism and gains in the tech sector.

Wall Street opened higher, lifted by stronger-than-expected job growth in May and gains in the tech sector. Market gladly received news that nonfarm payrolls rose by 157,000, exceeding last-month growth and analyst expectations. The unemployment rate wad steady at 4.5%, as expected. Further boost to the market sentiment was given by a report which showed that inflation fell back into the Fed Reserve's comfort zone and data showing strengthening manufacturing sector.

Technology stocks showed significant strength after Dell (DELL) posted Q1 profit results that topped expectations. The company also said it would cut 10% of its work force within the next two years in order to reduce costs. Dell rose 3%. Dow Jones & Co. (DJ) climbed 15% after the Bancroft family said they will meet with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS), which had offered $5 billion for the company. In other deal news, 3M (MMM) said it acquired the manufacturing and marketing rights to the Peridex brand periodontal rinse product from Zila Inc. for $9.5 million in cash.

Commodities also moved higher in early trading. Crude oil futures gained 43 cents to $64.44 a barrel and the front-month gold contract rose $6.60 to $667.60 an ounce. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 43.64, or 0.32%, to 13,671.28. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.19, or 0.47%, to 1,537.81, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 17.14, or 0.66%, to 2,621.66. Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.93% from 4.89% late Thursday.

Nonfarm payrolls advanced 157,000 in May.
The U.S. economy added more jobs in the month of May than economists had been expecting, according to a report released by the Department of Labor on Friday, although the job growth was exclusively in the service sector. The report showed that employers added 157,000 jobs in May following a downwardly revised increase of 80,000 jobs in April. Economists had been expecting an increase of 135,000 jobs compared to the increase of 88,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. The better than expected job growth was entirely due to increased employment in the service sector, which rose by 176,000 jobs in May after adding 119,000 jobs in April. Strong growth in health care and food service jobs contributed to the strength in the sector.

At the same time, the manufacturing sector continued to lose jobs, as manufacturers cut 19,000 jobs in May after losing 20,000 jobs in the previous month. Employment in the construction sector was flat after showing a notable decline in April. The report also showed that the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.5 percent, as economists had expected. Additionally, the Labor Department said that average hourly earnings rose by $0.06 or 0.3 percent to $17.30. With the increase, average hourly earnings are up 3.8 percent compared to the same month last year.


9:30AM The UK benchmark index FTSE 100 is higher on miners, retailers.

The FTSE 100 in London was 10 points, 0.15%, higher at 6,631 in early afternoon trade.

Advancers

Home Retail Group was 2.8% higher as there are rumors of a possible buyout by private company CVC. Hammerson is also in positive territory, 2.2% higher on bid interest from British Land. Pub operator Punch Taverns advanced after Goldman Sachs hikes its rating on the stock to buy from neutral.

Miners were stronger on favorable prices. BHP Billiton gained 0.65%, while Vedanta Resources advanced 1.7 per centas copper prices struck their highest level in more than a week in London.