[R]6:00PM NY – 12:00PM Germany[/R]

Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.431% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.540%.

Gold declined 20 cents to close at $650.70 a troy ounce, silver advanced 3 cents to end at $14.275 a troy ounce and copper increased 0.40 cents to close at 318 cents a lb.

Oil lost $1.03 to close at $62.40 a barrel and heating oil declined 3.79 cents to finish at 180.98 cents a gallon. Gasoline was down 2.05 cents to end at 166.50 cents a gallon. Natural gas decreased 64.4 cents to close at $7.778 per mBtu.

Asian markets closed mostly higher led by Singapore with a gain of 0.52%, Taiwan with an increase of 0.44% and Philippines with an advance of 0.25%. The decliners were South Korea with a decrease of 0.55%, Malaysia with a loss of 0.25% and Indonesia with a decline of 0.20%. Hong Kong finished higher on gains by Chinese banks, while Japan''s market ended lower as a strong yen hurt shares of exporters.

European markets closed higher led by Spain with a gain of 1.36%, Germany with an increase of 0.87% and France with an advance of 0.80%. European closed higher for some late-session buying connected by Pfizer didn’t drag other U.S. stocks down and on deal-making news.

Latin America markets closed higher despite a decline in oil prices. The leader was Brazil with a gain of 3.21%, Argentina with an increase of 1.47% and Mexico with an advance of 0.65%. There were no decliners.

[R]1:00PM European markets finished higher on deal-making news.[/R]
European stocks recovered on Monday to close in the positive. The regional markets advanced on deal-making news, takeover speculation, gains on Wall Street, and late-session buying on relief that Pfizer didn’t drag other U.S. stocks down. The German DAX 30 climbed 0.9%, boosted by strength in utilities stocks RWE and E.On, as well as gains for Deutsche Lufthansa. Shares in RWE rose 2.7% on a report that it''s preparing a defense strategy against a possible takeover from Gazprom or Enel. The French CAC 40 closed higher by 0.7%, supported by EADS as it rose 1.2% after it decided to proceed with the development of its A350 XWB planes. London FTSE 100 added 0.5%. A leading gainer in London was foods group RHM which surged 31.5% after rival Premier Foods said it agreed to buy RHM for 1.23 billion pounds in a deal that will create the U.K.''s biggest food producer. Elsewhere, EMI shares rose 1.5% on bid speculation of 310 pence a share from private-equity firm Permira. Despite a steep drop in Pfizer shares, most of its rival drug companies advanced, with AstraZeneca, moving higher 0.5%.

Crude oil prices dropped over $1, despite concerns over oil production cuts. Crude oil January contract fell $1.10 to $62.33 a barrel. Heating oil lost 3 cents to $18152 a gallon, while gasoline fell 2 cents $1.6685. Natural gas gained 43 cents to $7.99 per 1,000 cubic feet. London Brent dropped 62 cents to $64. The U.S. dollar gained some ground against its major currency rivals. The euro was quoted at $1.3320, down from $1.3335. The dollar bought 115.42 yen, up from 115.35. The British pound was quoted at $1.9787, down from $1.9805. European gold prices retreated, as the dollar moved up. In London, gold traded at $644.39 per troy ounce, down from $646.79. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $642.95 per ounce, down from $645.85. Silver closed at $14.04, up from $13.95.


[R]11:30AM Lower oil and takeover news boosted market averages.[/R]
The three major market averages posted a significant strength on Monday morning, boosted by well-received merger-and-acquisition news and lower crude oil prices. The Nasdaq showed a particularly strong upward move, with the tech-heavy index rising 1% on solid gains in the semiconductor sector. Oil prices retreated from last-week highs, with a barrel of light, sweet crude falling $1.05 to $62.38 on the Nymex.

Financial stocks were among the most notable gainers in early trading, with Bank of New York (BK: chart) and Mellon Financial (MEL: chart) posting solid gains on news that Bank of New York agreed to acquire Mellon for $16.5 billion in stock. Significant strength also emerged in the airline sector, with the oil-sensitive sector benefiting from the oil price decline. Outside the sector, Station Casinos Inc. (STN: chart) soared 18% after an investor group led by the company''s chairman offered to take the company private in a deal worth $4.65 B.

At the same time, the decrease by the price of oil contributed to some weakness among energy stocks. Dow component Pfizer (PFE: chart) weighed on the blue-chip index, continuing to buck the upward trend by the broader market. The drugmaker dropped 11% on news that it halted the development of a key new cholesterol treatment. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 36.05, or 0.30%, to 12,230.18. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was up 5.64, or 0.40%, to 1,402.35, and the Nasdaq composite index added 24.10, or 1.00%, to 2,437.31. Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.44% from 4.43% late Friday.


[R]10:30AM The Sensex closed with a slight gain Monday on auto and metal stocks.[/R]
The Sensex on BSE finished 29.55 points, or 0.21% higher, at 13874.33, an all-time closing high. The market breadth was strong as 1,462 shares advanced on BSE, compared to 1,090 that declined and 81 shares remaining unchanged. From the Sensex stocks, 16 advanced while the rest declined. The turnover on BSE was Rs 4,808 crore lifted by two block deals of 20.09 lakh shares each made in ICICI Bank stock in the institutional segment at an average rate of Rs 884 per share. The turnover on BSE on Friday was Rs 4,451 crore. The turnover on NSE was Rs 8,855 crore, higher than Rs 8,200.29 crore on Friday.

Economic news

India is hoping to resolve through dialogue a trade dispute with the European Union over high import tariffs, its commerce minister said on Monday after a meeting with his visiting French counterpart.

Most active

Parsvnath was the most-active stock with a turnover of Rs 302 crore followed by Era Constructions, Unitech, Action Construction and Bajaj Hindustan.

Advancers

Tata Motors led the gainers, up 3.64% to Rs 873.55 on 7.02 lakh shares. It had surged to an intra-day high of Rs 887.20. Tata Motors vehicle sales advanced 43% in November compared with the same month a year ago. Sales of commercial vehicles rose 46% while sales of cars rose 48%.