U.S. MARKET AVERAGES

In the end Fed’s minutes triumphed.

Market faced several hurdles in the morning as oil price spiked 3% and construction spending fell more than expected. Market worried that housing market may be cooling faster than estimated and that nation’s manufacturing may be slowing.

Mid-afternoon release of the Fed’s minutes showed that members agreed that rate hike may not be necessary in the coming months; the only debate was when to stop the hikes.

Crude oil prices continued to surge amidst weekend stand-off between Russia and Ukraine and Iran’s threat to resume nuclear research. European buyers of Russian gas have said that they have been begun to receive normal gas delivery through as pipelines controlled by Russia and Ukraine.

General Motors (GM: chart) lost 52 cents to $18.90 to a 23-year low. Bank of America lowered the price target on the stock from $16 to $13.

Walgreen, CBS and Affiliated Computer Services were in the news. Walgreen delivered better than expected earnings, CBS and Viacom began trading post-split basis and Affiliated Computer is reported to be taken private for as much as $8 billion.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

BriteSmile (BSML: chart) agreed to sell its professional teeth whitening associated centers assets to Discus Dental for $35 million, using the proceeds from the sale to reduce debt, to sell its spa centers business and to continue legal claims. The company’s shares surged 46.7%.

Piper Jaffray lifted its price target on Google (GOOG: chart) to $600 from $445, citing a belief that 2006 will be a ‘banner year’ for the company. The stock gained 1.3%.

Pilgrim''s Pride Corp. (PPC: chart) lowered its Q1 earnings outlook to a range of 36 to 41 cents a share, citing worse-than-expected performance in its Mexico operations. Analysts, on average, expected the company to post earnings of 82 cents a share. The company said it plans to further restructure its turkey business, and expects to cut 300 jobs. The stock slid 20.4%.

JetBlue (JBLU: chart) was downgraded at Merrill Lynch to neutral from buy. The stock dropped 6.7%.

Digitas (DTAS: chart) agreed to acquire Medical Broadcasting Co., a privately held provider of healthcare interactive marketing services, for $30.4 million in cash and stock with the deal expected to close in the first quarter. The company said the consideration will consist of $22.4 million in cash and $8 million in Digitas common stock. Digitas hopes the acquisition will add to earnings in 2006. The company’s shares declined by 3.3%.

ECONOMIC NEWS

The Department of Commerce released its report on construction spending in the month of November on Tuesday, showing that spending rose much less than economists had been expecting.

The report showed that construction spending rose 0.2 percent to $1.146 trillion in November from a revised $1.144 trillion in October. While the growth lifted spending to a record high, economists had been expecting an increase of about 0.7 percent.

The Commerce Dept. said that spending on private construction rose 0.2 percent to $892.4 billion in November from a revised $891.0 billion in October. The increase came as non-residential construction spending rose 0.6 percent while residential construction spending was unchanged.

The report also showed that public construction spending rose 0.3 percent to $253.9 billion in November from a revised $253.2 billion in October. Education construction spending rose 1.3 percent while highway construction spending rose 1.6 percent.

Tuesday morning, the Institute for Supply Management released its report on business activity in the manufacturing sector in the month of December, showing that the pace of growth in the sector slowed more than economists had been expecting.

The report showed that the ISM''s purchasing managers index fell to 54.2 in December from 58.1 in November. While a reading above 50 indicates growth in the sector, economists had expected a more modest decline to a reading of 57.5.