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

Yield on 10-year U.S. bond closed at 4.596% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.727%.

Gold lost 80 cents to close at $624.60 a troy ounce, silver declined 15.5 cents to end at $12.635 a troy ounce and copper decreased 5.75 cents to close at 296 cents per pound.

Oil gained 13 cents to close at $63.590 a barrel and heating oil advanced 1.23 cents to finish at 173.10 cents a gallon. Gasoline was down 2.46 cents to end at 167.590 cents a gallon. Natural gas lost 29.8 cent to close at $6.785 per mBtu.

Asian markets closed higher led by Thailand with a gain of 11.16%, Indonesia with an advance of 1.73% and Hong Kong with an increase of 1.45%. The decliners were led by Philippines with a loss of 0.71% and India with a decline of 0.31%. Thai stocks surged after the country announced reversal of the Central Bank decision.

European markets closed higher led France with a gain of 0.54%, Germany with an increase of 0.51% and Netherlands with an advance of 0.44%. The only decliner was U.K. with a loss of 0.09%. European stocks closed positive helped by takeover activity from Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson and steel giant Arcelor-Mittal.

Latin America markets finished lower led by Mexico with a decline of 0.89%, Brazil with a loss of 0.20% and Argentina with a decrease of 0.02%. The only advancer was Canada with an increase of 0.04%.

3:00PM NY – CarMax reports strong rise in earnings and sales for the quarter.

Largest used-car dealer, CarMax Inc., reported third quarter earnings of 42 cents vs. 25 cents a year ago on a revenue rise of 24%. The used-car industry wide sales are down 4% for the year. The company reported that its sales from web advertising brought more than expected customers. The stock rose 15% in the early afternoon trading but settled 9.7% higher.

With 74 locations in the country, the company plans to open 13 new stores in the next 14 months, five of these stores will be in new markets. Used-vehicle sales form 95% of total sales. Sales of SUV and pick-up trucks drove 13% growth in the used-vehicle segment.

The company has revised upwards its full-year earnings target two times this year. The company now estimates full-year earnings between $1.75 and $1.85 per share up from its previous guidance of $1.55 to $1.65 per share. The company earned $1.26 per share in the fiscal year 2005. The company raised sales growth for the year between 8% and 9% from 6% and 8%.


1:00PM European markets closed mostly higher, helped by Ericsson and Arcelor-Mittal.
European stocks closed mostly in the positive Wednesday, lifted by takeover activity from Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson and steel giant Arcelor-Mittal. Ercsson shares rose 1.3% after the world's largest maker of mobile-phone networks agreed to buy Redback Networks Inc. for $2.1 billion in cash. Steelmaker Arcelor-Mittal rose 2.4% in France after it agreed to acquire Mexico's Sicartsa for $1.44 billion, continuing the steel-industry consolidation trend. In the aerospace sector, shares of Airbus parent EADS rose 4.1% after the company said its Airbus 400M military transport aircraft program is ‘continuing to fully meet its targets.’ On the side of the losers, shares in HMV Group closed down 4.8% after the U.K. book and music retailer warned that annual profit would come at the low end of market expectations. The French CAC 40 climbed 0.5%, the DAX 30 also gained 0.5%, while London FTSE 100 fell 0.1%.

Crude oil prices gained following a sharper-than-expected decline in U.S. oil inventories. Crude oil January contract rose 33 cents to $63.80 a barrel. Gasoline fell to $1.6905. Natural gas futures slipped 15 cents to $6.935 per 1,000 cubic feet. The U.S. dollar traded mixed against its major currency rivals. The euro was quoted at $1.3193, up from $1.3192. The dollar bought 118.19 yen, up from 118.08. The British pound was quoted at $1.9682, down from $1.9684. European gold prices were mixed. In London, gold traded at $620.66 per troy ounce, up from $620.20. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $618.10 per ounce, down from $619.95. Silver closed at $12.47, down from $12.61.


11:30AM Market was driven higher by merger activity.
Stock market averages gained ground in late Wednesday trading, driven higher by a flurry of merger deals which helped offset disappointing forecasts from Fedex Corp. and Palm Inc. Harrah's Entertainment (HET: chart) rose 0.6% after it agreed to be bought by private-equity firms. Telecoms equipment provider Ericsson (ERIC: chart) added 1% after it agreed to buy Redback Networks for $2.1 B. Steel giant Arcelor Mittal (MT: chart) rose 1% on news that it is buying Mexico's Sicartsa from Grupo Villacero for $1.44 billion. Again in the M&A news, M&F WorldWide Corp. (MFW: chart) agreed to buy John H. Harland (JH: chart) for $1.7 billion cash, or $52.75 a share. The offer is a premium of 19% above its Tuesday closing price of $44.47. Shares of M&F rose 3.7%, while John H. Harland climbed 12%. Shares of the NYSE fell 1.6% after its shareholders approved the exchange's merger with Euronext.

On the earnings news front, FedEx (FDX: chart) fell 2.6% after reporting a 9% gain in Q2 income, but a disappointing Q3 earnings estimate. Palm (PALM: chart) was another decliner, down 1% after posting a sharp drop in earnings, in line with expectations, but disappointed investors with its forecast for the current quarter. On a positive note, used car dealer CarMax (CMX: chart) rose 9.6% after its Q3 earnings nearly doubled on strong sales to the wholesale market and strong demand for trucks and sport utility vehicles. In late morning trading Wednesday, the Dow rose 24.51, or 0.20 percent, at 12,475.83. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 2.89, or 0.20%, at 1,428.44 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 11.12, or 0.46%, to 2,440.67. Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.60% from 4.59% late Tuesday.


10:30AM The Sensex declined Wednesday amid a highly volatile session.
The Sensex on BSE finished 41.80 points, or 0.31%, lower at 13,340.21. The benchmark index traded within a range of 335 points. The market-breadth was negative. As 1,465 shares declined, 1,094 advanced and 83 remained unchanged. From the Sensex stocks 21 advanced while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,383 crore, higher than Rs 4,183 crore on Tuesday.On NSE, the turnover amounted to Rs 10,066.83 crore, up from Rs 9,066.2 crore yesterday.

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