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

Market averages in New York closed higher on better than expected same store sale in August. Subprime borrowers defaulted at growing rate according to a private report. European markets closed fractionally higher.

FTSE 100 Index in London increased 42.60 or 0.68% to 6,313.30, in Tokyo Nikkei 225 closed at 16,257.00, up 0.61% or 98.55, and in Brazil, iBovespa Index traded down 0.3% or 161.17 to 54,569.00.

Yields edged higher on 10-year U.S. bonds and closed at 4.50% and 30-year bond rose to close at 4.79%.

Crude oil increased 57 cents to close at $76.30 per barrel, natural gas closed down 22 cents to $5.58 per mBtu, and gasoline futures decreased 2.48 cents to close at 197.17 cents per gallon.

Gold gained $13.90 in New York trading to close at $704.60 per ounce, silver closed 18 cents higher to close at $12.53 per ounce, and copper for August month deliver in London fell $148 to $7,215.00 per pound in New York trading.

In New York trading averages managed to close higher on the back of same-store sales report. Market had anticipated a slowdown in spending leading to weak growth in retail same store sales. According to International Council of Shopping Centers same store sales gained 2.9%, lower than 3.5% in July.

Retail store sales generally rose across a variety of retail markets and chains but luxury retailers led the rise. Saks sales in August jumped 18% and sales at Nordstrom increased by 6.6%. Apparel retailers Limited Brands sales in the month increased 1.1% and sales at Gap fell 1%. Specialty retailers AnnTaylor reported a rise of 2.9% sales and at Chico’s sales fell 9.3%.

Teenage retailer American Eagle Outfitters sales increased 9% and Abercrombie & Fitch sales rose 6%. J.C. Penney sales increased 4% and said that it expects the sales to increase in at the same or higher pace for the rest of the quarter. Sales at Kohl’s fell 0.6% on the weakness in home accessories and apparel sales.

In other economic news, initial claims of unemployment benefit fell 19,000 to 318,000 at the end of last week. Nonfarm business productivity increased at 2.6% and unit labor costs increased 1.4%.


Bank of England and European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged. ECB left the rates at 4% and the BoE left the rate at 5.75%. ECB also added 42 billion euros into short-term money market. The Reserve Bank of Australia widened the kind of collateral it will accept for loans but central bank in China increased the reserve required from the banks to curb lending growth. The Federal Reserve Bank in the U.S. added $31.25 billion leading the overnight lending rate below its target rate of 5.25%. The infusion from ECB also lowered the rate to 3.7% from 4.68% in yesterday trading in the euro zone.

The central banks around the world in the last five weeks have added nearly $395 billion in liquidity.

Yesterday, the Bank of Canada did not change interest rates and left its target rate at 4.5% and the operating band for the overnight lending was left unchanged. The Bank of England increased the reserves that lenders need to keep wit the bank. Libor or London interbank rate jumped to 6.8%, nine-year higher.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average listed, 7 closed lower and 23 closed higher. Honeywell led the gainers with a rise of 2.6% followed by gains in Merck and United Tech of 2.2%, Coca Cola of 1.8%, and 1.6% in General Electric. Home Depot led the decliners with a fall of 3.5% followed by 1.2% loss in AIG, and 0.7% in Citigroup.

Of the stocks in S&P 500, 162 stocks closed lower and 336 gained, 2 stocks closed unchanged. Of the index stocks 45 companies gained more than 4%. Biogen Idec led the gainers in the index with a rise of 5.8% followed by increases of 5.2% in Lexmark, 5.1% in Consol Energy, 4.9% in Peabody, and 4.7% in News Corp. Office Depot led the decliners with a fall of 6.3% followed by a losses of 4% in The Gap, 3.5% in Campbell, and 2.9% in MGIC and Tyson Foods.

In Latin Markets trading Argentina led the gainers with a rise of 0.9% followed by increase of 0.3% in Brazil, 0.02% in Mexico and a loss of 0.6% in Chile.

1:00PM NY, 5:00 PM Frankfurt European markets closed higher as the ECB and BoE kept rates unchanged.

European stock markets finished in the positive territory Thursday, helped by strength among mining companies on the back of rallying metals prices, deal speculation and a decision made by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England to keep interest rates unchanged. Upbeat U.S. data also generated positive sentiment, helping to ease fears of a greater-than-expected slowdown in the U.S. economy. Across the region, the U.K. led advancers with a gain of 0.7%, followed by France, up 0.5% and Germany, rising 0.4%.

In Frankfurt gainers were led by Infineon Technologies and Merck KGaA after analysts recommended buying the shares. Semiconductor Infineon climbed 5%, while drugmaker Merck KGaA added 1.6%. Shares of SAP, maker of business-management software, increased 2.5%.

In Paris stocks advanced, paced by oil company Total which gained 1.6% as crude oil prices extended recent highs on warnings of a terrorist threat in Nigeria. Safran also climbed. Europe's biggest maker of aircraft landing gear gained 2.2% on merger speculations.