4:00PM NY, 10:00 PM Frankfurt, 1:30AM Mumbai – Global Markets

Yields edged higher on 10-year U.S. bonds and closed at 5.134% and 30-year bond rose to close at 5.224%.

Crude oil lost 6 cents to close at $72.50 per barrel, natural gas closed down 10 cent to $6.50 per mBtu, and gasoline futures down 4 cents to close at 226.63 cents per gallon.

Gold gained $6.20 to close at $668.40 per ounce, silver gained 20 cents to close at $13.18 per ounce, and copper futures lost $45.50 to close at $8,048 per metric ton.

In New York trading investors bought with enthusiasm supported by retail sales data, takeover offer for Alcan and revised outlook for GDP growth rates. Three popular averages gained better than 1.5%.

Dow Jones soared 283.36 to 13,861.73, Nasdaq surged 49.94 to 2,701.73, and S&P 500 added 28.94 to 1,547.70. Retailers bounced back after selling in the last three weeks. Worries related to sub-prime lending and higher energy prices had left the sector in turmoil. Investors looking for safer ground had sold stocks in the sector. Same store sales released for June month showed a mild improvement across various retailers. Apparel retailers, discount retailers, and department stores showed healthy gains. The so called big box retailer Wal-Mart (WMT: chart) reported better than expected sales gains in June month of 2.5% and Costco sales surged 6%.

Alcan, Canadian aluminum maker and subject of hostile takeover from Alcoa (AA: chart), agreed to merge with Rio Tinto for $101 per share valuing the total company at $38 billion. The offer from Rio is 33% higher than $76 per share offer from Alcoa. Both the companies last year reported revenue of nearly $23 billion. With the Alcan acquisition the revenue in aluminum sector will jump nearly four times at Rio Tinto.

Target (TGT: chart) surged 6% on the news that activist investor Ackman has accumulated nearly 5% stake in the company. Traders speculated that its credit card division may be sold or spun-off.

Latin Markets closed surged on the back of advance in New York trading. Brazil, with a gain of 2.23% closed at a record level, followed by 1.1% gain in Mexico, and 1.0% increase in Argentina. Bucking the trend, Chile fell 0.4% and Venezuela edged lower. Colombia and Peru gained in the region as well.

In Sao Paolo trading iBovespa surged 1,256.92 to 57,613.05, a rise of 2.23%, a second day advance this week. Banks, telecom and commodities related stocks led the rally. Itau gained 4.2% and Banco Bradesco advanced 3.68%. Retailer Pao de Acucar soared 5% and Lojas Renner gained 2.2%. CVRD, iron ore miner, surged 5% on the news that Alcan has received a bid of $38 billion from Rio Tinto. For the fist five months, bank loans have been rising at 22% from a year ago and retails sales have been growing at more than 11% in the first quarter and are likely to accelerate in the coming months.

In Mexico City trading IPC index gained 1.1% or 344 to 32,261.10. Index rallied with other regional markets supported by a surge in Mexico. Telecom stocks recovered after two days of sell-off. American Movil (AMX: chart) gained 1.1% and Telmex edged a fraction but Carso Telecom dropped a fraction. Femsa UBD and Televisa led in the IPC stocks with a gain of 2.2%.

Asian Markets continued to climb with the help from central banks. Philippines led the region with a gain of 1.6% followed by 1.3% increase in Shanghai, 1.2% rise in India, 1.1% in South Korea, and 0.9% jump in Hong Kong and Singapore. Japan fell 0.4% followed by 0.3% in Thailand. The central banks in Korea and Philippines lifted the interest rates but in Japan rates were left unchanged. Bank of Japan left the rates at 0.5%, Korea raised its rate by 0.25% to 4.75%, and Philippines in a surprise move cut the overnight lending rate to 6% from 7.5% and eliminated graduated interest rate system encouraging lending.


1:00PM NY, 5:00 PM Frankfurt European markets rallied, led by mining stocks.

European stock markets posted solid gains to close at a month-high Thursday. Mining companies were leading gainers, benefiting from news that Rio Tinto Group offered $38.1 billion to buy Canadian miner Alcan, continuing consolidation in the industry. U.S. market gains also contributed to the strength among regional markets. Germany climbed 2%, followed by France with an increase of 1.7% and U.K. 1.3%.

Alstom SA, the world's third-biggest maker of power plants, surged 8.5% on 27% sales increase. Nokia rose 2.9% after Motorola said it lost market share.

In Frankfurt auto maker Volkswagen AG advanced 1.8% after the company said first-half sales rose 7.8% on strong demand for Audi and Skoda models.

In Paris oil company, Total climbed 3% after Gazprom chose it to help develop Shtokman, an Arctic offshore field.

In London resource companies BHP Billiton and Xstrata stood out among advancers. The world's biggest mining company rose 4%, while the copper producer climbed 4.7%. The gains in the resource sector came after Rio Tinto launched a $101-a-share bid for aluminum producer Alcan, outbidding Alcoa‘s $76-a-share hostile bid. Rio Tinto shares declined 4.6%. Elsewhere, CSR, maker of microchips used in Nokia's handsets, surged 5.9%.