[R]4:00PM NY – 10:00PM Frankfurt – 3:30Am Mumbai[/R]
[R]Tech and financial stocks led mild rally in New York trading. Markets in Asia closed lower. Markets in Europe closed mixed but that in Latin America closed higher on a rebound in metals and oil prices.[/R]

Yield on 10-year U.S. bond closed at 4.650% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.745%.

Gold advanced $3.20 to close at $610.10 a troy ounce, silver gained 16.5 cents to end at $12.395 a troy ounce and copper lost 45 cents to close at 253.45 cents per pound.

Oil lost 24 cents to close at $56.070 a barrel and heating oil declined 0.66 cents to finish at 155.92 cents a gallon. Natural gas increased 23.8 cents to close at $6.422 per MMBtu.

Asian markets closed lower led by Japan with a decline of 1.51%, India with a loss of 1.50% and Philippines with a decrease of 1.47%. The only advancer was Thailand with a gain of 0.90%. Asian markets plunged due to strong U.S. jobs report last week which checked expectations that the Federal Reserve will reduce interest rates.

European markets finished mixed as the shares of oil giants and weakness for drug companies offset strength generated by resource stocks, technology and telecommunications companies. The advancers were Belgium with a gain of 0.57%, Germany with an increase of 0.22% and Spain with an advance of 0.12%. The decliners were Switzerland with a decrease of 0.56%, U.K. with a loss of 0.42% and Netherlands with a decline of 0.25%.

Latin America markets ended higher led by Brazil with a gain 1.38%, Canada with an increase of 0.73% and Mexico with an advance of 0.44%. The Latin America markets started to rebound as international oil and commodity prices recovered.


[R]1:00PM European markets closed mixed on volatile oil and weak drug companies.[/R]
European stocks closed mixed on Monday as a reversal in the shares of oil giants and weakness for drug companies offset strength, contributed by resource stocks, technology and telecommunications companies. London FTSE 100 slipped 0.4%, with BP falling 0.8% as volatile oil prices dropped back to $55.10 after reaching as high as $56.36. British Airways shares also retreated from earlier highs to trade down 0.8%. Ireland drugmaker Elan dropped 7% and GlaxoSmithKline fell 2.2%, offsetting gains for metals producers including Lonmin. The German DAX 30 ended up 0.2%, supported by the technology sector, with shares in software provider SAP rising 3.4%. Telecom stocks such as Deutsche Telekom also provided help. The stock rose 1.2%. An auto gainer was luxury-car maker Porsche, climbing 3.2% after it was upgraded to buy at Goldman Sachs. The French CAC 40 ended flat at 5,519.59, helped by PSA Peugeot Citroen, up 1.4%.

Crude oil prices slipped back toward $55 a barrel on mild winter weather and ample supplies. Crude oil February contract fell $1.03 to $55.28 a barrel. Heating oil fell to $1.5515 a gallon, while gasoline fell 4 cents to $1.4570. Natural gas rose 21 cents to $6.392 per 1,000 cubic feet. London Brent slipped $1.01 to $54.63. The U.S. dollar was mixed against its major currency rivals. The euro was quoted at $1.3021, down from $1.3027. The dollar bought 118.49 yen, down from 118.60. The British pound was quoted at $1.9375, up from $1.9301. European gold prices turned mixed. In London, gold traded at $607.10 per troy ounce, down from $609.50. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $607.50 per ounce, up from $601.95. Silver closed at $12.18, up from $12.17.


[R]11:30AM Market traded lower ahead of Q4 earnings reports.[/R]
Stock averages traded down in late morning trading on cautiousness ahead of Q4 earnings and volatile crude oil prices. Initially, oil rebounded with a surge of more than $1 a barrel, but later dropped back down below the $56. A brokerage downgrade of Wal-Mart Stores and profit warnings also pressured stocks, offsetting the positive influence of merger-and-acquisition activity. Wal-Mart (WMT: chart) was downgraded by Goldman Sachs, with the broker cutting its price target to $51 from $53. Shares of the retailer lost 0.6%. Molex (MOLX: chart) fell 3.9%, while Schnitzer (SCHN: chart) dropped 6.4% as the manufacturers warned quarterly profits might be disappointing. At the same time, RadioShack Corp. (RSH: chart) rose 11% after saying its Q4 profit will beat year-earlier levels.

In corporate deals in the energy sector, Forest Oil Corp. (FST: chart) rose 3.2% after it said it will buy Houston Exploration Co. (THX: chart) for about $1.5 billion in stock and cash. Houston Exploration jumped 4.5%. Elsewhwere, Apple Computer (AAPL: chart) rose 1.1% after JPMorgan reiterated an overweight rating on the iPod maker, and boosted its Q1 profit projections. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 45.18, or 0.36% to 12,352.83. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was down 3.82, or 0.27%, at 1,405.89, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 3.53, or 0.15%, to 2,430.72. Bond prices dipped in the absence of any market-moving news, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.66% from 4.65% late Friday.


[R]10:30 AM NY – 9:30 PM Mumbai The Sensex sheds 208 points on large-cap sell-off.[/R]
The Sensex on BSE finished 208 points, or 1.5% lower at 13,652.15. Despite sharp fall in indexes, market-breadth was strong with 1,731 shares advancing on BSE, 929 declining and 45 shares remaining unchanged. For every three advancers there were two decliners. The turnover on BSE was 3,716 crore, compared to Rs 4,545 crore on Friday. The turnover on NSE was Rs 7,619.67 crore, lower than Rs 8,771.98 crore.

Economic news

Arun Sarin, CEO of Vodafone may visit India on January 10. Vodafone is beginning the study of the books of its acquisition target Hutch Essar. India organized retail sector is undergoing a rapid change. The county’s industry based association now projects the retail sales in the organized sector to rise from $7 billion or Rs 35,000 crores in 2005 to $21 billion or Rs 100,000 in 2010. Several regional chains have been recently acquired by larger conglomerates to build a national presence.

In trade today

Infosys led stocks active in trading volume based on market cap with a turnover of Rs 148 crore followed by Pyramid Saimira and Tech Mahindra.

Advancers