Crude oil prices rose aback above $70 after the sharp fall on gasoline inventories increase. Light sweet crude June delivery gained 68 cents to $70.62 a barrel. Gasoline added 2.5 cents to $2.0200, while heating oil rose 2 cents to $1.9570. Natural gas futures climbed 21 cents to $7.120 per 1,000 cubic feet. London Brent rose to $71.18. European gold futures hit new 25-year highs. In London the precious metal rose to $681.70 per troy ounce, up from $673.35. In Zurich gold fell to $672.05, down from $673.85. Silver opened unchanged at $13.90. The U.S. dollar rose in European trading. The euro traded at $1.2695, down from $1.2715. The dollar bought 113.84, up from 113.38 yen. The British pound was quoted at $1.8499, down from $1.8542.


8:15AM European markets advanced at mid-day on merger deals.
European markets traded in the positive at mid-day, lifted by strong U.S. markets close Thursday, merger-and-acquisition news and oil prices below $70 a barrel. Stocks traded in a tight range ahead of U.S. economic data on April nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate. Deal talk provided a boost to the market sentiment, with banking group Alliance & Leicester, up 6.7% on speculation that the company is in bid talks with Spain''s Banco Santander Central Hispano. Dutch media company VNU gained 4.8% after a consortium of private-equity firms upped their bid for the company to $11 billion. The German DAX 30 rose 0.4%, the French CAC 40 climbed 0.6%, and London FTSE 100 advanced 0.6%.


7.30AM Australia advanced on commodities, Taiwan up on tech stocks.
Asian markets closed higher today, with a great part of the markets closed for public holidays. Shares in Australia gained on strong commodities, the Australian index S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.28% to 5,255.40. The rally was spurred by Bulliton’s optimistic outlook on the copper market, which caught short-seller off-guard on Thursday. Taiwan’s Weighted index finished 0.3% higher to 7,370.44, mainly on tech stock and financial shares, amid the positive revision of Credit Suisse‘s year-end target for Taiwan''s stock index from 7,300 to 8,000 on positive earnings outlook and less political risks. Southeast Asia ended up mixed. Shares in Malaysian advanced 0.76%, while Indonesia shed 0.09%. The Singapore Straits Times Index declined 0.46%. New Zealand’s shares also finished lower, the benchmark NZX-50 Index edging down 1.1%