Wall Street opened Monday session in the positive after the Fed said that it would add liquidity, following a move by the Bank of Japan to inject $5 billion into the markets and an addition by the ECB of $65.3 billion. Commerce Department''s report showing a 0.3% increase in July retail sales also generated positive sentiment.

In corporate news, Goldman Sachs (GS: chart) posted steep losses at its Global Equity Opportunities fund but said the firm made a $3 billion investment in it. Company''s shares added 1.4%. Sears Holding (SHLD: chart) warned on Q2 profit but added $1.5 billion to its stock buyback authorization plan. The stock rose 4%.

Hovnanian Enterprises (HOV: chart) added 1.8% after it said it delivered 31% fewer homes in Q3. The home builder also said it would take pre-tax charges of $90 million to $110 million on land impairment and development cost write-offs.

Blackstone Group (BX: chart) was another notable gainer, rising 4% on a stronger-than-expected Q2 profit. In its first quarterly report as a public company, Blackstone posted revenue of $975.3 billion, below analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. The company''s IPO in June raised about $4 billion, but the stock fell short of expectations.

In the opening minutes of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 82.27, or 0.62%, to 13,321.81. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index rose 10.12, or 0.70%, to 1,463.76, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 26.97, or 1.06%, to 2,571.86.


09:00AM U.S. stock futures indicated a higher opening after recent steep declines.

U.S. stock futures pointed to recovery Monday, following a week of steep declines amid worries about the impact of subprime-mortgage defaults over the economic growth. However, overseas central banking injections helped relieve tensions. Banks are expected to release updates on the hits they have taken from the subprime crisis. Citigroup (C: chart) reportedly lost more than $700 million in credit business in recent weeks.

In other corporate news, home builder Hovnanian Enterprises (HOV: chart) added 1.4% in pre-market trading after it said it delivered 31% fewer homes in Q3. Sears Holdings (SHLD: chart) warned on Q2 profit but added $1.5 billion to its stock buyback authorization plan. Sears shares rose 1.4%.

Among pre-market highlights, Blackstone Group (BX: chart) jumped 6% after it posted a stronger-than-expected Q2 profit. The private-equity house also posted a loss of $52.3 million during the last 11 days of Q2 and warned that challenging financial market conditions continue.

On the economic news front, the Commerce Department said that U.S. retail sales rebounded in July, with total sales rising 0.3%, slightly below expectations of an increase by 0.4%. Stock futures accelerated throughout the morning. S&P 500 futures rose 17.1 points at 1,468.10 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 22.5 points at 1,951.50. Dow industrial futures rose 128 points.


8:30AM New York, 8:30 PM Hong Kong – Asian markets corrected sharply on weakness in European and New York markets.

Asian markets rebounded after a volatile day of trading. Shanghai led the region with a gain of 1.5% followed by 1.2% advance in Korea, 1.0% rise in India and Australia, 0.65% addition in Singapore, and 0.45% increase in Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong trading stocks fell sharply at the opening but regained in the afternoon. Daily turnover on the main board dropped to HK$63.1 billion from HK$ 65.2 billion and volume on GEM market was reported at HK$0.7 billion, a decline of 20% from the previous session. Hang Seng Index at mid-day trading fell in the negative zone but attempted several rebounds in the afternoon trading and closed higher. Banks led the decliners. HSBC dropped 2% and Bank of East Asia fell 3%.

July consumer price index, a measure of inflation, jumped 5.6% on a sharp increase in food prices of 15.4% and meat price surge of as much as 45%. The inflation in June gained 4.4%. Expenses for food form 33% of basket of consumer spending. The rising food and energy prices have fueled the inflationary pressure and kept the inflation level above the target level for the last three of the six months. Inflation has been hovering around 3.5% for the first six months of the year and is likely to jump higher in the coming months. Inflation in non-food items jumped to 0.9%, lower than 1% in prior three months.

China reported July trade surplus of $24.4 billion, 67% jump from a year ago, and declined from $26.9 billion from June. The elevated surplus is fueling sharp rise in bank deposits, real estate prices, and stock market valuations. The rising demand is also fueling inflation in energy and food prices above the target set by the central bank. The People’s Bank of China said that the broadest measure of money supply, M2, rose 18% in July. Outstanding local currency loans in the month surged 16.6% and deposits in the local currency increased 16%. The foreign direct investment in the first seven months jumped 13% to $37 billion and keeping the economic growth rate at 12%.

Shanghai Composite Index led the region with a rise of 1.5% to close at 4,820.06, record high.

In Sydney trading ASX 200 gained 75.60 or 1.3% to 6,011.60. Of the total 201 stocks in the index, 136 gained, 55 declined, and 10 remained unchanged. Banks led the rising stocks after the Reserve Bank of Australia added liquidity in the system for the third day.

St. George Bank led the banking sector with a rise of 4% followed by Commonwealth 2.6% in National Bank of Australia, and 2.3% rise in Commonwealth Bank of Australia.