4:00PM Market Averages trade in a lackluster fashion.

-Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.89% and 30-year closed at 5.008%.
-Crude oil lost 70 cents to close at $74.76.
-Gold declined 90 cents to close at $649.60.

-Asian Markets were mixed, being led by S. Korea which closed ahead at 0.96%. Japan gained 0.19%. Hong Kong lost 0.94%.

-European Markets closed higher today, led by Germany which gained 1.47%, and S. Africa which closed ahead 1.44%.

-Latin American Markets were mixed, led by a 0.57% gain in Brazil. Mexico gained 0.24%. Argentina lost 2.11%.



12:30PM European markets closed sharply higher.
European markets recovered from yesterday’s decline to close notably higher on easing interest-rate concerns, following weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data and well received corporate news from Anglo-American and Philips. Anglo American climbed 4.8% after announcing it would return $5 billion to shareholders and a 52% rise in adjusted operating profit. Philips Electronics rose 1.7% after agreeing to sell 80% of its semiconductor unit to a consortium of private-equity investors led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. The British pound rallied 1% vs. the dollar. The German DAX 30 surged 1.5%, the French CAC 40 rose 1.2%, and London FTSE 100 gained 0.9%.

Oil prices retreated as fears that the tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico could damage facilities receded. Light crude September delivery fell 30 cents to $75.16 a barrel. London Brent gained 6 cents to $76.62. The dollar dropped versus major currencies. The euro traded at $1.2894, up from $1.2805. The dollar bought 114.20 yen, down from 114.91. The British pound stood at $1.9093, up from $1.8883. European gold prices advanced. In London the precious metal traded at $648.50, up from $642.25 per ounce. In Zurich gold traded at $651.25, up from $644.35. Silver closed at $12.36, up from $12.03.


11:30AM Financial and housing stocks led gainers.
The U.S. stock markets showed considerable strength in early trading on Friday, as weaker-than-expected employment data helped to ease concerns about higher interest rates. However, the three major averages retreated from their highs for the session on profit taking. Concerns about the strength of the economy and weakness in the oil sector helped to limit the upside move. Interest-rate sensitive financial and housing stocks supported market sentiment, posting significant gains. Shares American Express Co. (AXP: chart), the No. 4 U.S. credit card issuer, gained 1.1%. Bank of America Corp. (BAC: chart), the parent of the No. 2 U.S. bank, helped lead the S&P 500''s advance with a rise of 1.3%. Shares of American International Group Inc. (AIG: chart), the world''s largest insurer, gained nearly 1% lifting both the Dow and the S&P 500. Among homebuilders, KB Home (KBH: chart) gained 1%, helping the Dow Jones index of home builders'' shares jump 1.5%.


10:30AM The Indian Sensex falls in a volatile trade under heavy selling pressure.
The Sensex in India declined 56.65 points, or 0.52%, to 10,866.51. It traded in the range of 229 points during the day’s trading session, with a high degree of volatility. The market-breadth was weak as 1,354 shares fell, 1,068 advanced and 94 shares were unchanged. The turnover on BSE came to Rs 2,540 crore lower than Thursday’s Rs 2,938 crore.

Reliance Energy led the gainer, climbing 2.90% to Rs 467.75 on 1.66 lakh shares. Engineering large-cap, BHEL jumped 2.30% to Rs 2,167 on 1.67 lakh shares while housing finance company HDFC gained 1.61% to Rs 1,246. Cellular services large-cap, Bharti Airtel, advanced 0.16% to Rs 399.45 on 3.97 lakh shares after the firm on Thursday said that it had given a $107 million outsourcing contract to IBM spread over the next five years.

Pharma large-cap Ranbaxy gained 1.30%, to Rs 397.05 on 9.07 lakh shares. The company announced on Friday that it had received a tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for risperidone oral solution. Risperidone is used to treat schizophrenia. Software stocks hardened, following a steady trend in their ADRs. Infosys gained 0.59% to Rs 1,680 and TCS gained 0.51% to Rs 948.25. Bajaj Auto rose 1.46% to Rs 2,611.35 and Grasim rose 1.35% to Rs 2,145.00.

Reliance Industries shed 2.20%, to Rs 966.75 on 24.86 lakh shares. Private energy companies such as Reliance have higher operating costs than government controlled companies such as ONGC and Indian Oil. The Petroleum Minister Murali Deora commented that the government will not provide subsidy to private petrol retail companies. Reliance Industries, one of the largest private operators has suffered sales decline of 80% in less than a year on higher petrol price at retail pump stations. On another account, there are reports that the company will introduce three fibres in the next 15 months. Reliance Industries led the list of most active stocks on BSE with a total turnover of Rs 243.68 crore followed by Tata Steel with Rs 123.64 crore and SBI with Rs 102.37 crore.

Great Eastern Shipping was subject to volatile trading throughout the day. From its low of Rs 210.65, it soared to Rs 225.80 due to strong buying backed by rumours that the company, after calling off the proposed de-merger, may announce a share buy-back, or a bonus or a special dividend. The stock closed 2% higher to Rs 225 on high volume of 11.87 lakh shares.

SBI led the decliners, down 2.90% to Rs 806.25, Cipla fell 1.75% to Rs 228.85, ITC dipped 2.05% to Rs 168 and ICICI Bank lost 1.60% to Rs 547.05. The bank sector finished in the red. PNB declined 4.60% to Rs 367, Allahabad Bank was off 4.23% to Rs 64.45, IOB declined 3.37% to Rs 87.50, Bank of India lost 3.55% to Rs 115.40 and Union Bank of India sank 3.72% to Rs 101. Hindustan Lever also fell 2.02% to Rs 220.25.

Among companies not on the Sensex, AIA Engineering soared 9% to Rs 690 on registering 95% net profit for Q1 June 2006 to Rs 15.29 crore in Q1 June 2006 compared to Rs 7.82 crore in Q1 June 2005. Net sales during the period increased to Rs 92.04 from Rs 61.06 crore. Amara Raja Batteries jumped 9.69%, to Rs 343.45 on registering 193% growth in net profit and Amtek Auto jumped 3.50% to Rs 291.10 on reports that Warburg Pincus has taken over 9% stake in the company through the open market.