Bank deals hogged the limelight as well, with ABN Amro shares off 0.1% after an Amsterdam court announced on Saturday that it would decide next Thursday on whether or not to freeze the sale of ABN Amro LaSalle Bank to Bank of America.

Turkish lira plunged the most in 11 months and bonds and stocks slumped after the military threatened to block the presidential candidate of the ruling party because of his support for Islamist causes.

Oil and precious metals

Crude oil declined in New York as worries abated that supplies from Saudi Arabia would be disrupted, after security forces crushed a plot to attack oil fields and refineries in the world largest producer of petroleum. Crude oil for June delivery was at $66.13 a barrel, down 33 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude oil for June settlement was at $68.14 a barrel, down 21 cents, in electronic trading on the ICE Futures exchange.

Gold for immediate delivery dropped $4.10, or 0.6% to $677.45 an ounce in early trade in London.. Silver fell 7.5 cents to $13.46 an ounce, after a drop of 2.9% last week.

Currencies

The U.S. dollar was mostly higher against other major currencies in European trading Monday morning. The euro traded at $1.3607, down from $1.3643 late Friday in New York. The British pound traded at $1.9918, down from $1.9970. The dollar fetched 119.61 Japanese yen, down from 119.65.

5:30AM Gold and silver advance Friday on weaker dollar, thwarted terrorist plot.
June gold ended up $3.80 at $681.80 a troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while July silver finished 12 cents higher at $13.575 an ounce. June palladium settled up $1.05 at $374.45 an ounce, but July platinum bucked the overall trend and closed down $10.60 at $1,293. The most-active July copper contract rose 2.35 cents to settle at $3.5325 per pound.

The June crude oil contract advanced $1.40 to end at $66.46 a barrel. May gasoline surged 7.10 cents to finish at $2.3613 a gallon. May heating oil gained 2.44 cents to close at $1.9135 a gallon. June natural gas added 22.9 cents to end at $7.831 per million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, Arabica coffee futures May ended lower 0.6 cent at $1.0375 a pound, with July off 0.5 cent at $1.0675. On the Chicago Board of Trade, May corn lost 0.50 cent to $3.6425 per bushel, July fell 1.50 cents to $3.7375 and December settled 6.50 cents lower at $3.6750.