U.S. MARKET AVERAGES

U.S. stocks have been hovering near the flat line and posting modest gains throughout the morning sessions. Gains were limited by the fact that many market participants were absent ahead of the Thanksgiving day.

A gauge of the U.S. economy rose more than expected and the approaching holiday shopping raised hopes about strong year-end spending. Market sentiment was also influenced by news that the world's largest automaker General Motors Corp was taking radical restructuring steps.

There was only limited stock market interest in the better-than-expected leading economic indicators index. The New-York based Conference Board said that its index of leading indicators rose 0.9% to 137.9 in October after a downwardly revised 0.8% decline in September, slightly exceeding economists' expectations of a 0.8% increase.

The housing sector has risen steadily through the session, and is now up about 1.4%. Helped by increasing oil prices, the energy sector has also been strong throughout the session and is currently up 1.1%, giving support to the broader market.

Incyte Corp. (INCY: chart) is one of the best performers of the day after it announced a research and license deal with Pfizer (PFE: chart). The stock is currently posting a gain of 35%.

AMD (AMD: chart) has set a new 52-week high, extending a peak set last week. Smith International (SII: chart) is also building on last week''s gains to establish a new peak. Express Scripts (ESRX: chart) has ticked above a recent trading range to set a fresh high.

Symantec (SYMC: chart) has fallen to a new 52-week low, reacting to a Bear Stearns comment initiating coverage on the stock at Underperform. Corinthian Colleges (COCO: chart) is at a fresh nadir, after revealing that its Florida Metropolitan University unit has received a subpoena from the Florida Attorney General''s office.

In corporate news, Campbell Soup Co. (CPB: chart) reported adjusted first quarter earnings per share rose 7% and that it will buy back $600 million in stock Plane maker Boeing (BA: chart), which announced $4.6 billion worth of 787 midsized aircraft sales to leasing buyers. J.P. Morgan Securities downgraded the athletic shoe maker NIKE Inc (NKE: chart) to ‘neutral’ from ‘overweight’ and the company’s share are expected to fall.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

General Motors (GM: chart) announced a plan to eliminate 30,000 manufacturing positions from 2005 through 2008 in order to reduce its assembly capacity in North America. The company expects to reduce capacity by an additional 1 million units by the end of 2008, bringing its target down to 4.2 million units, a level that would represent a 30% decrease from 2002 levels. Company’s stock climbed 1.6%

Boeing (BBA: chart) received a $780-million order for six 787-8 Dreamliners from Low-Cost Aircraft Leasing. The company said that deliveries are set to begin in September 2009. Boeing’s shares rose 1.5%.

Viragen (VRA: chart) released initial studies of its Multiferon treatment that showed significant antiviral activity against the H5N1 strain of the avian flu virus. The early-stage in vitro studies found Multiferon to be significantly more active against the virus than recombinant alpha interferon, recombinant beta interferon or ribavirin, the Plantation. The stock jumped 12.3%.

ECONOMIC NEWS

The Conference Board released its report on leading economic indicators in the month of October on Monday, showing that its index of leading indicators rose in line with economist estimates.

The report showed that the leading index rose 0.9 percent in October, offsetting the 0.8 percent decrease seen in September. Economic had been expecting the index to increase by 0.9 percent.

The Conference Board said that the increase by the index reflected fewer initial jobless claims and an increase in average weekly hours in manufacturing.

The report also showed that the coincident index increased 0.1 percent in October following a 0.3 percent increase in September. The lagging index increased 0.8 percent in October.

INTERNATIONAL MARKET NEWS

Asian-Pacific benchmarks finished mixed on continuous decline of oil prices and solid U.S. markets gains Friday. In early trading the Nikkei hit a five-year high of over 14,800 to close up 0.4%, led by technology and automakers stocks, also supported by stronger dollar. Across the region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finished flat, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.3%, and Singapore straits Times lost 0.5%.