4:30PM New York, 10:30PM Frankfurt, 2:00AM Mumbai – Retail stocks led the decline in stocks in S&P 500 index. India and Australia closed at record level. Oil and gold declined but copper rose. Dollar fell for the fourth day in a row.

Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 19.59 or 0.14% to 13,778.65, Nasdaq gained 15.50 or 0.58% to 2,683.45, and S&P 500 declined 0.52 or 0.03% to 1,517.21. In Toronto TSX Composite gained 0.28% or 39.34 to close at 13,997.62.

In Brazil, iBovespa Index closed 0.24% higher or 138.41 to 58,857.78 and in Mexico Bolsa index fell 0.81% or 248.68 to close at 30,294.77.

In London FTSE 100 Index in London gained 9.20 or 0.14% to 6,465.90, in Paris CAC 40 index fell 0.89% or 50.90 to close at 5,641.59, and in Frankfurt DAX index fell 0.24% or 18.48 to close at 7,769.44. In Zurich trading SMI fell 0.86% or 77 to close at 8,829.15.

In Tokyo stock market Nikkei 225 index jumped 0.55% or 89.12 to close at 16,401.73, in Hong Kong Hang Seng closed down 0.46% or 121.65 to 26,430.29, in Australia ASX 200 closed up 0.49% or 31.50 at record level to 6,483.00, and in India Sensex closed up 39.70 or 0.2% to a record close of 16,885.55.

Bond Yields rose on 10-year U.S. bonds to 4.63% and 30-year bond to close at 4.90%.

Crude oil fell $1.42 to close at $79.53 per barrel for a front month contract but still up 31% for the year so far, natural gas fell 2 cents to $6.36 per mBtu, and gasoline futures declined 4.5 cents to close at 218.13 cents per gallon.

Gold declined $0.50 in New York trading to close at $738.80 per ounce, silver closed down 2 cents to $13.62 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery in London gained $161.00 to $8,006.00 per pound.

Dollar fell 0.4% to record low $1.41439 to a euro and 0.1% to 114.709 yen. For the year the dollar is down 7.1% against euro and 3.9% against yen.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average, 15 closed lower, 15 closed higher, and none was unchanged. Honeywell international led the decliners with a rise of 1.9% followed by a rise in Boeing of 1.8%, and 1.65% in Microsoft. Home Depot fell 2.36% to $33.08 and led the decliners followed by 1.9% loss in Wal-Mart.

Of the stocks in S&P 500, 229 stocks closed higher, 263 fell, and 7 closed unchanged. Twenty stocks in the index fell more than 3%. Lowe’s led the decliners with a decline of 6.7% followed by losses in E*Trade of 5.2%, in Supervalu of 5%, and Whirlpool of 4.9%. Target fell 4.6% after it warned that same store sales will be lower than previously estimated. Cummins led the gainers with a rise of 4% followed by gains in IMS Health and MEMC Electronics of 3.4%, 3.3% in Precision Castparts, and Apple and Cognizant added 3%.

In New York market traded in a lackluster fashion after a week of steady advances. Before the market opening Lennar reported sharply higher than anticipated loss and consumer confidence report showed a decline dragging the index in the first hour of trading. After the release of existing home sales, even though home sales declined but lower than anticipated, market made a mild advance. At the mid-day after the speech from the President Bush at the United Nations and steady decline in oil price Dow and S&P 500 fell. Nasdaq rose with a strength in Cisco, Apple, Microsoft, and other large tech companies, lifting the averages in the last hour of trading.

Retail stocks traded lower on profit warning from Lowe’s and lowered same store sales forecast from Target. Lowe’s fell nearly 7% and Target lost 4.5%. Other retailers fell as well. Nordstrom declined 4.5%, Macy’s fell 3%, Wal-Mart edged lower 2%, and J C Penney lost 3.5%.

Vonage Holdings (VG), Internet based telephony provider, fell 33% to $1.30 after the Federal jury found the company guilty of violating patents of Sprint Nextel and ordered the company to pay 5% of revenue during the period in question totaling to $70 million.

Tech stock rally was led by record high in Apple and Research in Motion. Apple (AAPL) surged 3.5% to close at $153.18 and Research in Motion added 3% to $96.88.

European markets declined with weakness in mining stocks and fall in energy prices. Rise in copper and other metals failed to lift sentiment in European markets.

In the overnight trading Asian markets closed mixed but India and Australia closed at a record high. Hong Kong sold off from the record level but still traded at elevated levels. Airlines and energy companies fell. Reliance Industries closed up 1.8% to a record high followed by strength in HDFC Bank. Software exporters declined in Mumbai trading. BHP Billiton jumped to a record high after the news that the discovery of gold in South Australia may be bigger than anticipated. The company claims the discovery to be the largest ever.

In Latin Markets trading Brazil led the gainers with a rise of 0.24% followed by increase of 0.03% in Argentina and a loss of 0.81% in Mexico. Chile declined 0.5%. Of the 63 stocks in iBovespa index 36 gained, 26 lost, and 1 closed unchanged. Tele Norte Leste led the decliners with a loss of 3.4% followed by losses of 2.3% in Cosan, and 2% in Ambev. Gol (GOL)) led the gainers with a rise of 6.45% and Tam (TAM) jumped 4.5%.

2:00PM New York, 7:00PM London - London index tumbled as mining and oil stocks retreated. Pound fell against dollar and euro. BP share decline amid speculation that it might announce poor financial results.

UK stocks fell as mining and oil stocks retreated to close lower. Mining stocks dominated the gainers on Monday but today they led the decliners. Vedanta was the biggest loser followed by Antofagasta. BP declined after its chief executive said that the earnings will be ‘dreadful.’

In London trading FTSE 100 index lost 1.1% or 69 to close weaker at 6,396.90. Vedanta led the decliners, shedding 6.5% by the close of the trading. The mining company had gained 4.6% a day before.