U.S. MARKET AVERAGES

U.S. stocks have been hovering near the flat line and posting modest gains throughout the morning sessions after a gauge of the U.S. economy rose more than expected and as the approaching holiday shopping raised hopes about strong year-end spending. Market sentiment was also supported by the world\''s largest automaker, General Motors Corp which advanced after announcing a restructuring plan.

Investors welcomed better-than-expected leading economic indicators index. The New-York based Conference Board said that its index of leading indicators rose 0.9% to 137.9 in October after a downwardly revised 0.8% decline in September, slightly exceeding economists\'' expectations of a 0.8% increase.

The housing sector has risen steadily through the session, and is now up about 1.4%. Helped by increasing oil prices, the energy sector has also been strong throughout the session and is currently up 1.1%, giving support to the broader market.

AMD (AMD: chart) has set a new 52-week high, extending a peak set last week. Smith International (SII: chart) is also building on last week\''s gains to establish a new peak. Express Scripts (ESRX: chart) has ticked above a recent trading range to set a fresh high.

Symantec (SYMC: chart) has fallen to a new 52-week low, reacting to a Bear Stearns comment initiating coverage on the stock at Underperform. Corinthian Colleges (COCO: chart) is at a fresh nadir, after revealing that its Florida Metropolitan University unit has received a subpoena from the Florida Attorney General\''s office.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

General Motors (GM: chart) announced a plan to eliminate 30,000 manufacturing positions from 2005 through 2008 in order to reduce its assembly capacity in North America. The company expects to reduce capacity by an additional 1 million units by the end of 2008, bringing its target down to 4.2 million units, a level that would represent a 30% decrease from 2002 levels. Company’s stock climbed 1.6%

Boeing (BBA: chart) received a $780-million order for six 787-8 Dreamliners from Low-Cost Aircraft Leasing. The company said that deliveries are set to begin in September 2009. Boeing’s shares rose 1.5%.

Viragen (VRA: chart) released initial studies of its Multiferon treatment that showed significant antiviral activity against the H5N1 strain of the avian flu virus. The early-stage in vitro studies found Multiferon to be significantly more active against the virus than recombinant alpha interferon, recombinant beta interferon or ribavirin, the Plantation. The stock jumped 12.3%.

ECONOMIC NEWS

The Conference Board released its report on leading economic indicators in the month of October on Monday, showing that its index of leading indicators rose in line with economist estimates.

The report showed that the leading index rose 0.9 percent in October, offsetting the 0.8 percent decrease seen in September. Economic had been expecting the index to increase by 0.9 percent.

The Conference Board said that the increase by the index reflected fewer initial jobless claims and an increase in average weekly hours in manufacturing.

The report also showed that the coincident index increased 0.1 percent in October following a 0.3 percent increase in September. The lagging index increased 0.8 percent in October.

At the start of the past half hour, the Conference Board revealed that its index of leading economic indicators climbed 0.9% for October, matching economists\'' consensus estimate. The advance reversed September\''s 0.7% slide, which was partially caused by the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. The fixed income market was not impacted by the news, with the 10-year yield still down 2.8 basis points to 4.474%.

INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS

Asian-Pacific benchmarks finished mixed on continuous decline of oil prices and solid U.S. markets gains Friday. In early trading the Nikkei hit a five-year high of over 14,800 to close up 0.4%, led by technology and automakers stocks, also supported by stronger dollar. Across the region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finished flat, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.3%, and Singapore straits Times lost 0.5%.

European markets closed generally in the positive strong resources sector and mildly positive U.S. trading. Gains were limited by British drug maker GlaxosmithKline, which fell 0.4% on new labels for its asthma drugs, proposed by the FDA. The German DAX 30 added 0.3%, CAC 40 gained 0.4%, and London’s FTSE inched down 0.1%.

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