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

Yields on 10-year U.S. bond rose to 4.835% and 30-year U.S. bond closed at 4.985%.

Crude oil futures in New York trading closed $1.42 or 2.12% lower to $64.85 per barrel, natural gas price 11 cents to close at $7.801 per mmBtu, and gasoline price fell 9 cents to close at 231.12 cents per gallon.

Gold futures price fell $5.10 per troy ounce to $658.7, silver price dropped 14 cents to close at $12.99 per once and copper price declined 9.8 cents to close at 330.25 per ounce.

Asian Markets closed higher led by 1.4% rise in Malaysia, 1.2% gain in Philippines and 1.1% advance in Shanghai. Rising Yuan and disposable income fueled the speculation that property prices will keep advancing. South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan rose nearly 1%. Hong Kong with a loss of 0.4% led the decliners in the region followed by 0.35% loss in Australia.

European Markets closed mixed with a negative bias. Switzerland and the U.K. markets led the decliners in the region with a loss of 0.47% decline followed by 0.4% loss in Italy and France closed unchanged. Germany led the region with a gain of 0.5% followed by 0.4% rise in the Netherlands and Norway.

Latin America Markets fell across the region led by 4.1% sharp drop in Chile. Chilean President said that pension funds limit for international investment will be raised to 45% from 30% in July. Chilean stocks fell on the concern that pension funds will move the money out of Chile and into international markets sooner than expected depressing the valuations in the domestic market. Largest local retailer CencoSud fell nearly 5%. Market in Brazil fell 0.5% after rising sharply in the last five sessions. Steel and banking stocks led the decline. Markets in Mexico closed lower on economic growth worries and rising inflation. American Movil fell nearly 1% after gaining 6.2% in the previous week and ahead of analyst meeting in Mexico City.

1:00PM NY, 5:00 PM Frankfurt European stocks closed down, dragged by pharmaceutical companies.

European stock markets closed mixed on Tuesday, reflecting gains from telecom and chemical companies and weakness in the pharmaceutical sector. In the telecom sector, Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom both added 1.5%. Among chemical firms DSM advanced 4.2% and Alzo Nobel was up 1.4%. In the drug sector, GlaxoSmithKline shares fell for a second day amid safety concerns on the company's Avandia treatment. The stock declined 1.4% after several broker downgrades.

Again in London, shares in Marks & Spencer fell 4.7% after it said that it expects the retail environment to become more challenging as interest-rate rises are expected to hurt consumer spending. IT services group LogicaCMG dropped 9%. In earnings-related news, stock exchange operator NYSE Euronext rose 2.6% after it said that Q1 operating profit at its Euronext arm rose 31.7%. The German DAX Xetra 30 rose 0.5% at 7,659.39. The French CAC-40 finished virtually unchanged at 6,089.72 while the U.K. FTSE 100 lost 0.5% to 6,606.60.


11:30AM Market averages traded in a tight range. Resource stocks declined.

U.S. stocks traded in a lackluster fashion as there was no major catalyst to give the market a direction. Deal new failed to generate broad market sentiment and the three major averages hovered near the flat line. Individual stocks such as MGM Mirage (MGM: chart) and Fremont General (FMT: chart) saw their shares steeply up, 28% and 38%, respectively. At the same time, the housing sector advanced ahead of the release of key housing data later this week. Stocks of mortgage lenders like Accredited Home Lenders (LEND: chart) gained on news that iStar Financial Inc. (SFI: chart) agreed to buy Fremont General's (FMT: chart) unit for about $1.9 billion. Accredited Home Lenders stock rose 4.6%, while Fremont General surged 40%.

On the opposite side, resource stocks posted weakness amid decreasing commodity prices. Oil service stocks showed considerable weakness. Retailers also declined. Office supplies store Staples (SPLS: chart) weighed down the Nasdaq with a decline of 3% after posting weak furniture and business machines sales. Zale Corp. (ZLC: chart) lost 0.4%, while teen retailer American Eagle Outfitters (AEO: chart) slipped 3.4% on lower-than-expected outlook. The Dow Jones was up 9.42 points, or 0.07%, at 13,552.30. The Standard & Poor's 500 was down just 0.40 of a point, or 0.03%, at 1,524.70. The Nasdaq was up 2.06 points, or 0.08%, at 2,580.85.


9:45AM U.S market averages opened up, helped by casino stocks.

U.S. stock market opened in the positive Tuesday, supported by merger activity in the casino industry and talks aimed at easing economic tensions between the U.S. and China. MGM Mirage (MGM: chart) climbed 26.5% after billionaire Kirk Kerkorian offered to buy two Las Vegas properties owned by MGM Mirage-the Bellagio and CityCenter. In other deal news, subprime mortgage lender Fremont General (FMT: chart) agreed to sell its commercial real estate lending business and outstanding loan portfolio to iStar Financial (SFI: chart) for $1.9 billion. iStar Financial gained 4.5%. Dynegy (DYN: chart) lost 4.7% after Chevron said it would sell 96.9 million Class A shares in an underwritten offering.

Among earnings-related movers, Staples (SPLS: chart) slipped 5% after it reported a 12% profit rise on 8% sales growth in Q1, helped by sales of laptop computers. Tech Data (TECD: chart) slipped 6% after posting a 23% drop in profit, despite a 9% sales growth. Autozone (AZO: chart) fell 2% despite reporting 5% profit increase and 4% sales growth. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrials rose 8.12, or 0.06%, to 13,551.00. The blue-chip average was supported by gains in the shares of Alcoa (AA: chart), up 1.4%, Merck (MRK: chart), up 1% and Intel Corp. (INTC: chart), higher by 0.5%. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 0.03, or less than 0.01%, to 1,525.07. The Nasdaq composite index, rose 1.41, or 0.05%, to 2,580.20. Bonds were flat, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note at 4.79%.


9:30AM The FTSE 100 is lower in mid-day trading Tuesday on GlaxoSmithKline and Marks & Spencer.

The FTSE 100 gave up 11 points, or 0.2%, to 6,625.7.