[R]12:30PM European markets closed near the flat line.[/R]
European markets finished near the flat line, despite merger-and-acquisition related gains for Bayer, Vinci, and Credit Suisse Group. A rebound on Wall Street also failed to lift sentiment as markets were in the grip of inflation worries, which further increased after the release of U.S. inflation data. Declines in the aerospace sector also weighed. EADS shares tumbled 26% after it warned that operating profit would be cut by about 500 million euros ($625 million) each year between 2007 and 2010. The German DAX 30 added 0.3%, while the French CAC 40 lost 0.1%, and London FTSE 100 declined 0.2%.

Oil prices rebounded from recent decline, following a petroleum report, which showed a decrease in crude oil inventories. Light crude July delivery rose 14 cents to $68.70 a barrel. London Brent crude declined 2 cents to $66.90. Gasoline fell 3 cents to $2.250 a gallon, while heating oil traded down at $1.9270. Natural gas climbed 35 cents to $6.510 per 1,000 cubic feet. The dollar declined versus major currencies. The euro traded at $1.2617, up from $1.2541. The dollar bought 114.77 yen, down from 115.27. The British pound stood at $1.8470, up from $1.8335. European gold prices were mixed. In London the precious metal traded at $576.60, up from $676.30 per ounce. In Zurich gold traded at $566.55, down from $606.95. Silver closed at $11.15, down from $11.30.


[R]11:30AM Stocks traded in the positive.[/R]
Stocks have been trading higher since opening on bargain hunting and rebound by commodity stocks, which moved back to the upside after seeing recent weakness. Gold stocks showed considerable strength, benefiting from a notable increase by the price of the precious metal, up $4.70 at $571.50 an ounce. The Amex Gold Bugs Index climbed 2.5%. Energy stocks turned to the upside alongside with the price of oil. The increase by the price of oil followed a government report that showed that crude oil inventories fell by 900,000 barrels in the week ended June 9. At the same time, gasoline inventories increased by 2.8 million barrels, marking the seventh consecutive increase. The semiconductor sector stood out as one of the market''s best performances, as upgrades by Goldman Sachs (GS: chart) contributed to the strength, sending the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up 1.3%. Airline stocks also moved higher, contributing to a 1.4% gain by the Amex Airline Index. Alaska Air (ALK: chart) helped to lead the sector higher, currently up 3.3%. At the same time, banking stocks came under pressure in morning trading, followed by the utilities. The losses by interest rate-sensitive banking and utilities stocks came after data showed a bigger-than-expected increase in May core consumer prices.

[R]Crude oil inventories declined, while gasoline stockpiles increased.[/R]
Crude oil inventories dipped during the most recent week, according to government statistics released Wednesday. This reversed part of a recent advance. However, gasoline and distillate fuel oil experienced further inventory builds in the latest week. The Department of Energy''s Energy Information Administration said that crude oil inventories fell by 900,000 barrels for the week ended June 9. Specifically, the measure slipped to 345.7 million barrels from the previous week''s level of 346.6 million barrels. This followed an advance of 1.1 million barrels in the previous week and a gain of 1.6 million barrels in the week before that. Oil inventories for the week were 4.2% higher than last year. Meanwhile, gasoline inventories showed a week-over-week increase of 2.8 million barrels. This built on an advance of 1 million barrels in the previous week. The level of gasoline inventories was 1.2% below last year. Distillate fuel oil had an inventory build of 2.1 million barrels during the week. This followed an advance of 1.8 million barrels posted in each of the previous 2 periods.


[R]10:30AM Sensex plunges below 9,000 in high volatile trading.[/R]
Sensex in India ended 133 points down, on 8,929.44, and traded in the range of 790 points. The turnover on BSE was $681 million or Rs 3,000 crore, up from Tuesday’s $ 611 or Rs 2,692 crore. The market breadth was negative as 1,900 stocks declined, 480 stocks advanced and 49 stocks were unchanged. Refinery shares soared today as crude oil price fell to a 2-week low of below $70 a barrel. HPCL surged 10% to Rs 235, BPCL advanced 7% to Rs 321 and Indian Oil Corporation gained 1.5% to Rs 319. Oil giant ONGC advanced 1.5% to Rs 999. Tata Power also surged 7% to Rs 425 and power utility Reliance Energy added up 4.4% to Rs 435. Mobile services firm Bharti Airtel climbed 3% to Rs 332, following reports that it had made a deal with Ericsson to enhance its capacity by 60 million mobile lines over the next three years. ICICI Bank edged up 1% to Rs 465 in volatile trade. The stock recouped from the lower level after shedding 4% to Rs 441.55 in the late afternoon trading. Previously in the trading, the stock had gained 4.2% to a high of Rs 479.80.

Hindustan Lever gained 1.1% to Rs 190.25 and ITC gained 2.3% to Rs 149. Hindustan Zinc advanced 4.6% to Rs 486 even as the company reduced zinc prices by Rs 13,400 a tonne. Large-cap Reliance Industries advanced 0.2% to Rs 861.15, after the stock recovered from the lower level, having dropped first 2.7% to Rs 842.65 at about 14:00 IST. In early trade, the stock had advanced 3.9% to a high of Rs 893. Auto shares declined led by 3% fall in Tata Motors to Rs 672, Maruti Udyog declined 2.3% to Rs 685 and Hero Honda shed 1.7% to Rs 646. Bajaj Auto soared 4% to Rs 2,320 in volatile trade. Infosys declined 5% to Rs 2,502 and TCS declined 4.8% to Rs 1,495. Power-equipment providers fell sharply. ABB declined 6.6% to Rs 2,000, Thermax was off 5.5% to Rs 207, Bharat Bijlee lost 5% to Rs 789.30 and Crompton Greaves was down 4.7% to Rs 780.


[R]9:45AM Stocks opened in the positive, helped by semiconductors.[/R]
Stocks moved slightly higher at the start of trading on Wednesday, with the major averages climbing to the upside after ending the previous session at multi-month lows. The early strength followed a report from the Labor Department, which showed a bigger-than-expected increase in core consumer prices. Various sectors advanced in early trading as investors turned to bargain hunting. Commodities stocks posted strong gains, following a rebound by metals prices. The gold sector turned in one of the market''s best performances, recovering from significant weakness in the previous sessions. The Amex Gold Bugs Index rose 3.9% after ending Tuesday at its worst closing level of 2006. The energy sector also advanced along with the price of oil which moved back to the upside after closing sharply lower in the two previous sessions. The market got a lift from early gains by semiconductor stocks, with Intel (INTC: chart), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: chart), SanDisk (SNDK: chart), and Applied Materials (AMAT: chart) upgraded by Goldman Sachs. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbed 1.8%.


[R]Consumer price index rose 0.4%, in line with estimates.[/R]
The Department of Labor released its report on consumer prices in the month of May before the start of trading on Wednesday, showing that prices rose in line with economist estimates while core prices rose slightly more than expected. The Labor Department said that its consumer price index rose 0.4 percent in May following an unrevised increase of 0.6 percent in April. The increase in consumer prices came in line with what economists had been expecting. The price growth was partly due to a notable increase in energy prices, which rose 2.4 percent in May after a 3.9 percent increase in April. Higher energy prices also contributed to a 1.5 percent increase in transportation costs. The report also showed that the core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy prices, rose by 0.3 percent for the third consecutive month. Economists had been expecting a slightly more modest increase of about 0.2 percent. With the increase in May, the core prices rose at an annual rate of 2.4 percent, a slight acceleration compared to the 2.3 percent annual rate of growth seen in April. Overall prices rose 4.2 percent year-over-year.


[R]9:00AM Stock futures indicated a higher opening ahead of economic data.[/R] U.S. stock futures advanced in pre-market trading, recovering from the steep decline Tuesday when inflation concerns seriously hurt market sentiment. On Wednesday investors awaited government report on inflation in May, expected to give a clue about the extent of further interest rate increases. The Labor Department''''s Consumer Price Index is expected to show a 0.4% rise in May, compared with a 0.6% gain in April. Among industry sectors, semiconductors received a boost after Goldman Sachs (GS: chart) upgraded its rating on four companies. The investment bank raised Intel Corp. (INTC: chart). Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: chart), SanDisk Corp. (SNDK: chart) and Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT: chart). Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is also part of a consortium that agreed to buy Associated British Ports, Britain''s largest ports group, for $4.6 billion. In other company news, Boeing Co. (BA: chart) may rise on news that rival EADS was hit by delays in the delivery of the A380 superjumbo, prompting brokerage downgrades on the European aerospace group. Casey''s General Stores Inc. (CASY: chart) rose 4.4% after the closing bell on Tuesday after the convenience store operator reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings. Standard & Poor''''s 500 futures were up 6.10 points, above fair value. Dow Jones industrial average futures were up 43 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 7.75 points.

Teleflex Inc, (TFX: chart), manufacturer for automotive, medical, and other markets, cut down its estimate for the year''s earnings due to a slower-than-expected recovery in its Medical Segment performance and non-recurring charges. Teleflex now guides Q2 earnings from continuing operations to fall substantially from those of the year-agp period and to advance modestly from Q1. For the year, the company reduced its expected range for earnings from continuing operations to $3.65 to $3.80 from a previous estimate of $3.91 to $4.12. The company added it would consolidate more operations in several businesses and expects the restructuring to cost $12 million to $15 million in 2006. It will also take a charge of $3.8 million on the carrying value of a minority-held investment. Q2 will also reflect $2 million of legal and accounting costs tied to a proposed acquisition with which the company determined not to proceed.

National City Corp, (NCC: chart), banking and financial-services company, reported that based on April and May results, its Q2 net interest margin and net interest income will be slightly below those of Q1. In a Securities and Exchange Commission Form 8-K, NCC announced that commercial and commercial real estate loans have grown. The bank added that core deposits, excluding escrow balances, continue to show steady growth. The bank saw no unusual trends in fee income or non-interest expense in April and May. Commercial- and consumer-credit-quality trends were stable.

SkyWest Inc, (SKYW: chart), airline, announced that its May load factor was 76.9%, 6.2 points higher. The company reported a 117.6% rise in revenue passenger miles for May, when available seat miles more than doubled from the same period last year.


[R]8:00AM Goldman Sachs Group agreed to acquire AB Ports.[/R]
On Wednesday Goldman Sachs Group Inc. announced that its consortium had reached an agreement to acquire Associated British Ports Holdings PLC. The deal is valued at 2.5 billion pounds which equals euro3.7 billion, or US$4.6 billion. The announcement came after Goldman Sachs raised its bid to 810 pence (euro11.85 US$14.90) a share, following a bid rejection of 730 pence a share from AB Ports in March. Goldman Sachs'' consortium, Admiral Acquisitions UK Ltd., also includes Borealis Infrastructure Management Inc., a part of Canada''s Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System; and Singapore government fund GIC Special Investments Ptd. Ltd. AB Ports owns 21 ports across Britain, and holds a 49% stake in the Southampton container port. Shares in AB Ports were up 7.2% at 833 pence (euro2.19 US$15.33) in morning trading on the LSE.