4:30PM New York, 10:30PM Frankfurt, 2:00 AM Mumbai

Market averages in New York trading were lifted as investors hoped that the Fed is leaning towards rate cut. Speeches from the President and the Fed Chairman calmed the nerves of traders for the day. The news lifted market averages in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America.

FTSE 100 Index in London increased 91.30 or 1.47% to 6,303.30, in Tokyo Nikkei 225 closed at 16,569.09, up 2.57% or 415.27, and in Brazil, iBovespa Index traded up 1779.40 or 3.37% to 54,637.24.

Yields edged higher on 10-year U.S. bonds and closed at 4.54% and 30-year bond rose to close at 4.84%.

Crude oil declined 68 cents to close at $74.04 per barrel, natural gas closed down 17 cents to $5.47 per mBtu, and gasoline futures decreased 48 cents to close at 196.45 cents per gallon.

Gold lost $8.00 in New York trading to close at $681.90 per ounce, silver closed 27 cents higher to close at $12.23 per ounce, and copper for August month deliver in London gained $34 to $7,464.00 per pound in New York trading.

In New York trading ahead of weekend investors bid up the stocks on the hopes of rate cut and a promise of help for troubled homeowners but not for lenders. The Fed Chairman Bernanke at an annual gathering of economists and academicians spoke about the troubled credit market and said that the government will not and should not help investors and lenders for their failures. However, most analysts and economists viewed the Fed speech as a positive signal for the rate cut on the next meeting on September 18th.

The Commerce Department reported that the price index for personal consumption expenditures rose 1.9% excluding food and energy.

Meanwhile President Bush promised to change tax code and asked for the Federal Housing Administration mortgage program to be expanded and help people refinance their mortgages. He also cautioned that government can only plat a limited role and bailout of lenders will only set a wrong precedent.

Trading volume was light ahead of three-day weekend. Tech and financial stocks led the rising stocks. The investors looking for safe havens gravitated to tech stocks and worried that there are significant unknowns in the financial sectors. But all the talk of troubled credit market was forgotten and forgiven in trading today.

Two speeches calmed nervous markets for now but if the Fed fails to follow through with a rate cut then volatility will return to market with a downward bias.
Accredited Home Lenders surged 43% on the lower buyout offer from Lone Star Funds. The revised offer at $214 million valued the company at $8.50 per share is 44% lower than previous offer. Beazer Homes, D R Horton, Toll Brothers, and Hovnanian rebounded. Home Depot and CB Richard Ellis jumped more than 3%. Oil and gold jumped sharply on the news.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average listed, 3 closed lower and 27 closed higher. Honeywell, Boeing, and Verizon declined a fraction. Home Depot led the gainers with a rise of 3.4% followed by increase of 1.9% in Hewlett Packard, Intel, and 3M. American Express jumped 1.6%, Caterpillar edged 1.5%, and Citigroup added 1.4%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500, 47 stocks closed lower and 450 gained, 3 stocks closed unchanged. Of the index stocks 14 companies closed above 4%. Jones Apparel led the gainers with a rise of 6.3% followed by increase of 6.2% in Cummins, 5.5% in E*Trade, and 5.2% in ITT and Nvidia and 5% in CB Richard Ellis and US Steel.

Asian Markets rose across the region. Thailand led the region with a gain of 2.7% followed by increase of 2.6% in Japan, 2.4% in Taiwan, 2.2% in Hong Kong and Singapore. Australia added 1.8%, Korea gained 1.7% and India increased 1.3%.

Trading volumes rebounded in the region but remained well below the average volume. India reported second quarter economic growth of 9.3%.

In Latin Markets trading Brazil led the region with a gain of 3.4% followed by Mexico with a rise of 2.1%, and Chile with an increase of 1.6%. Argentina increased 1.1%. Of the 60 stocks listed in iBovespa index in Brazil, 3 fell and 55 increased and 2 remained unchanged. Gerdau led the index stocks with a rise of 6% followed by CTE Paulista and Perdiago increasing 5.8%. Light SA led the declined with a loss of 1.8% followed by 1% decline in Cosan, 0.2% decrease in Sabesp.


2:00PM New York, 6:00PM London-UK shares raced third day in a row led by mining and financial stocks. Barclays to extend Cairn Capital $1.6 billion debt. Thomas Cook offered cautious business outlook. Rolls-Royce wins $400 million share of Tiger Airways V2500 order.

London stocks rose sharply in Friday trading on higher U.S. shares after Federal Reserve boss Ben Bernanke intimated rates may be slashed to “promote general financial stability.” Financial and mining shares gained the most. London gained 1.5% on top of 1.3% rise in Thursday. Stocks in London fell over 1% in August. Of the 102 FTSE 100 index stocks, 92 rose and 10 declined. Of the index shares, 17 gained over 2%.

In London trading FTSE 100 rose 1.47% or 91.3 to 6,303.30 helped by news U.S. authorities would intervene in the subprime mortgage crisis.