4:25PM Markets in Europe and Americas rise. Larger Asian markets fall.

-Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.58% and 30-year bond closed at 4.71%.

-Crude oil dropped 40 cents to $61.05 and natural gas closed nearly unchanged and $5.81 per mBtu.

-Gold rose $1.20 to close at $591.60, silver gained 17 cents to $11.79 and copper edged 1.85 cent to close at $3.4660.

-Larger Asian Markets closed lower led by 1.4% decline in Hong Kong, 0.5% loss in Japan and 0.83% fall in Korea. India gained 1.2% and registered a new high for the year. Mining stocks dragged Australia to a mere 0.07% rise, Philippines rose 0.5% and Thailand gained 0.3%.

-European Markets closed higher tracking the rise in New York trading. Norway led the rise in the region with a gain of 2.7%, Spain with 1.8%, France, Netherlands, Switzerland up 1.3%, UK up 1.4% and Germany rose 1.0%.

-Latin American Markets surged on the rally in Europe and New York trading. Brazil gained 2.4%, Argentina up 1.5%, Chile edged 1.23% and Mexico rose 0.54%. Canada advanced 0.54% on rise in energy, metals and tech stocks.

12:30PM European markets closed steeply higher.
European markets posted solid gains at close, reaching a four-month high on the back of strong technology and resource stocks. Positive mood on Wall Street and a decline by the euro also contributed to the upward move. The European currency dropped 0.5% to $1.2685 against the dollar, helping exporter stocks. The French CAC 40 was the leading gainer, rising 1.4%, followed by London FTSE 100, up 1.3% on strong commodities-related stocks. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto advanced 3.4% each. The German DAX 30 rose 1%, boosted by tech shares like chipmaker Infineon Technologies and software maker SAP. Shares of German utility E.On fell 2% after Spanish construction company Acciona bought a 10% stake in Spanish utility Endesa at 32 euros a share. Shares of media company Vivendy added 1.2% after it confirmed it made a 2.5 billion-euro bid for Deutsche Telekom''s 49% stake in Polish mobile operator PTC. Deutsche Telekom inched up 0.2%.

Oil prices advanced slightly. Light sweet crude November delivery gained 33 cents to $61.78. London Brent November contract lost 54 cents to $60.26.Gasoline was marginally higher to $1.5077 a gallon, while heating oil was steady at $1.6565. Natural gas futures gained 2.5 cents to $4.50 per 1,000 cubic feet. The U.S. dollar was strong versus major currencies. The euro traded at $1.2667, down from $1.2757. The dollar bought 117.13 yen, up from 116.48. The British pound stood at $1.8939, down from $1.9014. European gold also advanced. In London the precious metal traded at $591.10, up from $581.10 per ounce. In Zurich gold traded at $588.95, up from $584.25. Silver closed at $11.20, up from $11.

11:30AM Home builders rallied on strong consumer confidence data.
U.S. stocks extended gains after a report showing a stronger-than-expected growth in consumer confidence on the back of lower gasoline prices helped ease concerns about slowing economy. The Conference Board said that consumer confidence rose to 104.5 from a revised reading of 100.2 in August, exceeding forecasts of a rise to 103. Following the confidence data, home improvement stores Home Depot Inc. (HD) and Lowe''s Cos. (LOW) gained 1% and 1.5% respectively. House builder Lennar (LEN) fell 1.2 after it cut its Q4 earnings outlook and reported 39% drop in third-quarter profits. Transportation stocks, brokers, energy and oil services stocks were other notable gainers. At the same time, drug stocks, semiconductor companies and the telecom sector showed some weakness. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 47.71, or 0.41%. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 5.11, or 0.39%, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 3.27, or 0.15%. Bonds fell after a sharp rally Monday in what was perhaps some profit-taking. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.58% from 4.54% late Monday.

Consumer confidence index rose to 104.5.
Tuesday morning, the Conference Board released its report on consumer confidence in the month of September, showing that confidence improved more than economists had been expecting. The improvement was likely due to the recent decrease in gasoline prices. The Conference Board said that its consumer confidence index rose to 104.5 in September from an upwardly revised 100.2 in August. Economists had expected the index to increase to about 102.0 in September compared to the 99.6 originally reported for August. The report showed that the present situation index rose to 127.7 in September from 123.9 in August, as those claiming conditions are good increased to 27.4 percent while those claiming conditions are bed fell to 15.4 percent. At the same time, consumers'' assessment of the labor market was mixed, with those saying jobs are plentiful rising to 25.9 percent while those claims jobs are hard to get edged up to 21.3 percent. The Conference Boars also said that the expectations index rose to 89.0 in September from 84.4 in August, as those expecting conditions to worsen fell to 10.6 percent while those expecting conditions to improve were unchanged. The outlook for the labor market improved moderately.

10:30AM The Sensex gains 147 points on banks, auto and Reliance Industries.
The Sensex on BSE surged 147.28 points (1.2%), to settle at 12,321.19, its highest closing since May 2006. The market-breadth was almost even. Against 1,229 shares that advanced on BSE, 1,249 declined and 109 shares were unchanged. The turnover on BSE reached Rs 3,478 crore, compared to Rs 3,503 crore a day ago. The turnover on NSE was Rs 7,055.94 crore. From the 30-issue Sensex stocks 29 advanced and only 1 declined. Index heavy Reliance Industries advanced 1.3%, to Rs 1,179.50 and the stock is now very near to an all-time high of Rs 1,195, attained in early May 2006.

Advancers

Banks led the advancers on Tuesday. State Bank of India advanced 2.8% to Rs 999, ICICI Bank gained 2.7% to Rs 678 and HDFC Bank rose 1.3% to Rs 890. Software stocks were in demand. Wipro rose 2.5%, to Rs 527.50, TCS gained 1.8%, to Rs 1,044, Satyam Computer advanced 0.8%, to Rs 835 and Infosys gained 0.5%, to Rs 1,828.

Auto stocks gained on hopes of strong sales in the upcoming festive season. Car maker Maruti Udyog gained 2% to Rs 945, Hero Honda gained 2% to Rs 788, Bajaj Auto rose 1% to Rs 2,895 and Tata Motors advanced 1.3% to Rs 858. BSE Auto index rose 67.01 points or 1.2% to 5,262.12.

Hindustan Lever advanced 2.2%, to Rs 258.50. The stock has advanced over the past few days on reports that the company had raised prices by about 3% on key products, July onwards. BHEL jumped nearly 2.2% to Rs 2,379. Bhel reported that it has secured an order of over Rs 800 crore.

Real estate firms were in focus too. Real estate developer Mahindra Gesco Developers jumped 6% to Rs 844 and Unitech rose 5% to Rs 305.20. From a recent low of Rs 701.45 on 11 September, Mahindra Gesco Developers has surged 20.3% in a short while. Unitech has soared 58.7% from a low of Rs 192.25 on 1 September 2006.

Grasim Industries advanced 1% to Rs 2,495 although the company stated on Tuesday that production at its chemical division would be halved due to repairs to a captive power plant, affecting profitability in the second and third quarters.

Decliners

There were few major decliners today. Orient Paper lost 1.2% to Rs 583. The company announced on Tuesday its board would meet on Oct. 5 to consider a rights issue to raise equity capital.