4:00PM New York, 10:00PM Frankfurt, 8:00AM Sydney

Global Markets Indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average edged lower by 62.27 or 0.47% to a close of 13,252.30, S&P 500 decreased 9.63 or 0.65% to 1,462.79, and Nasdaq Composite Index declined 17.30 or 0.66% to a close of 2,619.83. In Toronto TSX Composite decreased 77.55 or 0.57% to close at 13,579.62.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average, 13 closed higher, 17 closed lower, and none was unchanged.

General Motors led the decliners with a fall of 3% followed by losses in American Express of 2.6%, in JP Morgan of 2.1%, and in AIG of 2.04%. Verizon Communication led the gainers with a rise of 2% followed by increases in Home Depot of 1.47%, and in Wal-Mart of 1.11%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500, 173 closed higher, 325 fell, and 2 were unchanged. Thirty five stocks fell more than 3% and eight increased 3% or more.

Autozone led the gainers in with a rise of 18% after it reported earnings followed by increases in Nordstrom of 7%, In Amazon.com of 3.8%, in Micron Technology of 3.6%, and in CH Robinson of 3.3%. Countrywide led the decliners in the index with a loss of 6.2% followed by losses in Washington Mutual of 6.1%, in CB Richard of 5.9%, and in CIT Group of 5.8%.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed down 71.40 or 1.13% to 6,315.20, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 82.25 or 1.46% to close at 5,547.21, and in Frankfurt DAX index decreased 28.32 or 0.36% to close at 7,808.94. In Zurich trading SMI lost 61.18 or 0.70% to close at 8,645.04.

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index lost 148.93 or 0.95% to close at 15,480.19, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index closed up 221.17 or 0.77% to 28,879.59, in Australia ASX 200 closed down 2.70 or 0.04% to close 6,530.80.

In South Korea Kospi Index decreased 15.40 or 0.81% to close at 1,917.83, Thailand closed up 2.22 or 0.27% to 833.34, and Indonesia edged higher 26.02 or 0.95% to 2,752.94. India declined 73.91 or 0.38% to 19,529.50.

In Latin Markets Venezuela led the gainers with a rise of 0.75% followed by increases in Brazil of 0.45%, in Mexico of 0.10%.Chile led the decliners in the region with a loss of 1.3% followed by losses in Colombia of 1.6%, and in Argentina of 0.23%.

Bond Yields edged higher on 10-year U.S. bonds to 3.86% and 30-year bonds increased to 4.33%.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil declined $2.30 to close at $88.71 per barrel for a front month contract, up 39.00% for the year, natural gas decreased 6 cents to $7.16 per mBtu, and gasoline futures decreased 0.16 cents to close at 225.17 cents per gallon.

Gold edged higher $12.90 in New York trading to close at $807.60 per ounce, silver closed up 25 cents to $14.465 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery decreased 5.85 cents to 302.00 cents per pound and in London trading closed down $206.00 to $6,7647.00.

Dollar edged lower against euro to $1.4762 and higher to 109.7810 yen.


9:00AM New York, 2:00PM London – European markets decline on weak banks and Asian markets retreat on weak closing in Japan.

European indexes trade lower ahead of the U.S. market opening. France leads the region with a loss of 1.5% followed losses in UK of 1.4%, in the Netherlands of 1.2%, in Norway and Switzerland of 1.1%, and in Italy of 1%.

Nokia dropped 4% after it reported that handset volume will rise 10% and average price of handset will decline next year.

Bank stocks in UK fell after a rating revision from Morgan Stanley. Royal Bank of Scotland fell 2%, Barclays declined 1.9%, HBOS dropped 2.5%, and Alliance Leicester edged 2.2% lower.