Crude oil gained $0.21 to close at $91.85 per barrel for a front month contract, natural gas increased 11.00 cents to $8.05 per mBtu, and gasoline futures increased 0.45 cents to close at 232.50 cents per gallon.

Gold increased $4.20 in New York trading to close at $935.00 per ounce, silver closed up 9 cents to $16.89 per ounce, and copper for front month delivery decreased 6.50 cents to 323.40 per pound and in London copper futures increased $240.50 to $7,304.00.

Dollar edged lower against euro to $1.4863 and edged higher against yen to 106.15.


[R]1:00PM New York, 6:00PM London- UK Mortgage approvals in December slumps the most since January 1999. Mervyn King reappointed as the Bank of England Governor.[/R]

London Stock indexes traded in negative territory after the Bank of England said today that loans for home purchase in December fell the most since records began in January 1999.

In London trading FTSE 100 declined 0.81% or 47.9 to 5,837.30.

Of the 102 FTSE 100 stocks 21 rose, 79 dropped, and 2 were unchanged. Experian Group led advancers with a rise of 5.75%.

Bank of England released in its Lending to Individuals Report today that loans granted for purchase to individuals plunged from 81,000 in November to 73,000 in December. Economists expected the figure to slow to 79,000.

The increase in total net lending to individuals in December (£9.1 billion) was below the increase in November and the previous six-month average. The twelve-month growth rate fell to 9.3% and the three-month annualized growth rate fell by 0.6% points to 8.3%.

Also the Bank said lending on personal loans and overdrafts tumbled to a 15-year low at £265 million, while net consumer credit plunged to £557 million.

The U.K. Treasury said in a statement listed on its website today that it is currently consulting on proposals for strengthening the framework for financial stability and protecting depositors.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown spokesman Michael Ellam announced today that Mervyn King has been reappointed as the Governor of the Bank of England effective June when the current term expires.
The Home Office announced today in a press statement on its website new fees for companies willing to get employees outside the EU, adding that the new system will help ensure “workers with the skills to benefit Britain economy to come to the U.K.”.
Under the new system companies will pay a fee of 1,000 pounds to secure licenses that will allow them to hire workers outside the EU.

Experian Group led advancers in FTSE 100 stocks with a rise of 5.75% followed by gains in Enterprise Inns of 4.35%, in TUI Travel Plc of 3.37%, in Rio Tinto Plc of 3.19%, and in Smith & Nephew of 2.75%.

TUI extended yesterday’s rally after raising its prediction of cost savings to £150 million from £100 million pounds and added that it will merge its airline unit with Deutsche Lufthansa and Albrecht Knauf subsidiary Hapag-Llyod Express, Germanwings, and Eurowings.

SABMiller led decliners in FTSE 100 stocks with a fall of 4.65% followed by losses in Home Retail Group of 4.55%, in Friends Provident Plc of 4.37%, in Alliance & Leicester of 4%, and in Shire Plc of 3.85%.

Shire fell after being downgraded by Goldman Sachs and removed from the “conviction buy” list.

Thomas Cook Group Plc reported today that revenue fell 1.3% to 11.7 billion euros in the year ended in December 2007. However profit from operations climbed 26.1% to 375.3 million euros. The stock closed up 1.15%.


[R]11:00AM New York – U.S. stocks opened weak ahead of rate decision, weak earnings from Yahoo and UPS, and larger than expected sub-prime loss at UBS and BNP.[/R]