U.S. MARKET AVERAGES

Short term interest rate now at 4% and Dell disappoints.

Market was under pressure of weak revenue forecast from Dell and general inflation worries. Morning trading was light but in the negative territory but the lower level of oil prices helped market to bounce back. However, market lost its strength before the Fed’s release of interest rate hike which was widely expected by traders and investors.

Market made a feeble attempt to climb to the positive territory but declined as buyers failed to materialize after three days of rally.

October auto sales for GM and Ford declined by 23% but that of Daimler Chrysler rose 37% from a year ago. Sales of Toyota and Honda rose 5.2% and 4% and that of Nissan fell 19%. Auto stocks were largely unchanged on the news.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Computer maker Dell Inc. (DELL: chart) announced third-quarter earnings would come at the low end of the company’s estimates, while sales would be below analyst expectations. The company cited as a reason for this negative results the weakness in its U.S. consumer and U.K. business operations. Dell''s revised forecast brought up downgrades from financial brokers Bear Stearns and UBS Investment. Rival Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL: chart) was also under pressure on Dell’s news. Dell stock lost 9.5%.

Consumer products company Procter & Gamble (PG: chart) presented profit results that came in slightly ahead of analyst estimates as unit volume rose 6% in the period. Rival household products maker Colgate-Palmolive Co (CL: chart) also reported strong results. Procter & Gamble stock is currently down 0.3%.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT: chart) and three private-equity firms are focusing on an aquisition price of about $64-$65 a share for Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC: chart). Computer Sciences stock is down 6.2%.

ECONOMIC NEWS

Tuesday morning, the Department of Commerce released its report on construction spending in the month of September, with spending reaching a new all-time high.

The report showed that construction spending rose 0.5 percent to $1.120 trillion in September from a revised $1.115 trillion in August. Economists had been expecting spending to increase by 0.5 percent.

The increase in spending was largely due to a 0.6 percent increase in private construction spending, which came as a 1.0 percent increase in residential construction more than offset a 0.3 percent drop in non-residential construction.

At the same, public construction spending was roughly unchanged in September, as a 0.9 percent drop in highway construction offset a 1.3 percent increase in educational construction.

Activity in the manufacturing sector expanded for the 28th consecutive month in October, according to a report from the Institute for Supply Management, although the pace of growth slowed from September. The pace of growth was still stronger than expected.

The ISM said that its purchasing managers index fell to 59.0 in October from 59.4 in September, with a reading above 50 indicating growth in the sector. Economists had expected the index to fall to 57.0.

The report showed that the new orders index slipped to 61.7 in October from 63.8 in September, while the production index came in at 62.0 in October compared to 63.1 in September.

At the same time, the report showed some improvement in employment in the sector, with the employment index rising to 55.0 in October from 53.1 in September.

The ISM said that the prices index surged up to 84.0 in October from 78.0 in September. The agency noted that 70 percent of supply executives reported paying higher prices in October.

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS NEWS

Asian-Pacific Benchmarks ended mostly higher, awaiting the U.S. Fed Reserve decision on interest rate, expected to be increased by a quarter of a percentage point to 4%. In Japan trading in stocks and convertible bonds was suspended because of a computer glitch, but when trading was resumed at mid-afternoon, the Nikkei jumped 1.9%, reaching a four-year peak. Other regional gainers were South Korea’s Kospi, up 2.7% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, up 1.3%. Shanghai closed down.