[R]4:00PM NY – 10:00PM Frankfurt – 2:30AM Mumbai[/R]
Crude oil surged to its biggest gain in 16 months, up 5% and natural gas rose 11% on the weather forecast of below normal temperature next week.

Yield on 10-year bond closed at 4.881% and the 30-year bond closed at 4.982%.

Gold gained $2.60 to close at $651.70 a troy ounce, silver advanced 15 cents to end at $13.400 a troy ounce and copper decreased $231.500 to close at $5559.500 per metric ton.

Oil gained $2.870 to close at $56.880 a barrel and heating oil advanced 8.91 cents to finish at 163.800 cents a gallon. Natural gas increased 76.7 cents to close at $7.704 per MMBtu. Gasoline went up 8 cents to end at 152.100 cents a gallon.

Asian markets closed higher led by Hong Kong with an increase of 1.11%, Philippines with a gain of 0.61% and South Korea with an advance of 0.56%. Japanese shares taking their cues from Honda Motor and Hong Kong stocks rising on futures-related trading, while property firms dragged China''s stock market lower. The decliners were led by India with a decrease of 0.50%, Taiwan with a decline of 0.15% and Thailand with a loss of 0.07%. Australia gained 0.83%.

European markets ended higher led by Germany with a gain of 0.93%, Netherlands with an increase of 0.50% and Belgium with an advance of 0.47%. There were no decliners. European stocks ended higher on gains in airline stocks for the second day in a row.

Latin America markets finished higher led by Argentina with a gain of 1.27%, Brazil with an advance of 1.08% and Mexico with an increase of 1.05%. There were no decliners. Americas markets rose in part on the back of rallying oil prices. Canada advanced 0.64%.

Market movers

U.S. stocks rose as a rebound in oil prices pushed up energy producers and Motorola Inc. (MOT: chart) led an advance in technology shares after disclosing billionaire investor Carl Icahn owns a stake. Zimmer Holdings (ZMH: chart), Nymex (NMX: chart) and Getty Images (GYI: chart) rose more than 4%. International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF: chart), E. W. Scripps (SPP: chart) and Thor Industries (THO: chart) fell more than 5% near the close in New York trading.

[R]1:00PM European markets closed higher, led by airlines[/R]
European stocks closed higher, led by airline stocks. Moves were limited as European investors awaited the interest-rate decision and commentary from the Federal Reserve. Airline companies attracted the most attention, with Alitalia rising 3.8% after the Italian government said it received 11 bid offers. Air France-KLM shares gained 6.7%, as the company didn’t launch a bid for Alitalia. British Airways shares added 2.4%, a day after the airline averted a strike by cabin crew. Siemens AG shares rose 4% after it was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merrill Lynch. On the side of the losers, Porsche lost 0.8% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the automaker to hold from buy. The German DAX 30 rose 0.93%, the French CAC 40 gained 0.46%, while the U.K. FTSE 100 added 0.03%.

Crude oil prices climbed $1, with traders focused on weather forecasts and OPEC production cuts. Light, sweet crude March delivery rose $1.16 to $55.17 a barrel. Heating oil added 3 cents to $1.5805 a gallon, while gasoline gained 4 cents to $1.4825. Natural gas added 41 cents to $7.346 per 1,000 cubic feet. London Brent climbed $1.15 to $54.83. The U.S. dollar traded mixed against its major currency rivals. The euro was quoted at $1.2954, down from $1.2956. The dollar bought 121.60 yen, down from 121.94. The British pound was quoted at $1.9615, up from $1.9595. European gold prices moved slightly higher. In London, gold traded at $645.75 per troy ounce, down from $646.93. In Zurich, the precious metal traded at $643.45 per ounce, down from $644.15. Silver closed at $13.33, up from $13.30.


[R]11:30AM U.S. stock averages traded modestly higher ahead of Fed Reserve’s decision.[/R]
U.S. stocks turned modestly higher, with investors cautious before the Fed Reserve''s decision on interest rates. Positive news on the economic front generated some positive mood. The Conference Board said consumer confidence rose modestly in January as the job market remained strong. Consumer Confidence Index met analyst expectations, edging up to 110.3 in January from a revised 110.0 in December.

The Dow reversed from earlier weakness, although 3M (MMM: chart) dropped 4.4%, Procter & Gamble (PG: chart) fell 1.1%, and Merck (MRK: chart) lost 1% on quarterly results. Photography and imaging company Getty Images (GYI: chart) was a notable gainer, rising 8%, despite 29% profit drop in Q4 on restructuring and other costs. The company earned 50 cents per share, down from 64 cents last year. Excluding items, profit beat estimates.

In the technology sector, Motorola Inc. (MOT: chart) rallied 6.2% % after the company said that the wealthy investor Carl Icahn who owns a 1.4% stake in the company is seeking nomination to the mobile phone maker''s board of directors. At the same time, shares in Microsoft (MSFT: chart) fell 0.6%, even after the software giant launched its new operating system Vista in 70 countries. The launch is expected to give a lift to the technology sector.

The oil service sector advanced, as oil prices rebounded after a sharp drop Monday. A barrel of light sweet crude rose $1.10 to $55.11. Consequently, shares in airline companies moved to the downside. In late morning trading, the Dow rose 22.28, or 0.18%, to 12,513.06. The S&P 500 index was up 2.94, or 0.21%, at 1,423.56, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 2.82, or 0.12%, to 2,443.91. The bond market remained mostly unchanged. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was unchanged at 4.87% from late Monday.

[R]Consumer confidence index inched up in January.[/R]
The Conference Board released its report on consumer confidence in the month of January on Tuesday, showing that confidence improved slightly compared to the previous month. The consumer confidence index came in just above economist estimates. The report showed that the consumer confidence index edged up to 110.03 in January from an upwardly revised 110.0 in December. Economists had expected the index to come in at 110.0 compared to the 109.0 originally reported for the previous month. The Conference Board said that the present situation index increased to 133.9 in January from 130.5 in December, as those saying jobs are ‘hard to get’ fell to 19.7 percent while those saying jobs are ‘plentiful’ rose to 29.9 percent. At the same time, the report also showed that the expectations index fell to 94.5 in January from 96.3 in December. Those expecting business conditions to worsen edged up to 8.0 percent, while those expecting conditions to get better decreased to 16.2 percent.


[R]10:00AM NY-9:00PM Mumbai Tata Steel tops estimates, ONGS net up 20%.[/R]
Tata Steel, resource company, has reported a Q3 consolidated net profit increase of 27.3% to Rs 1,054.65 crore, or Rs 18.19 per share, higher than Rs 828.51 crore, or Rs14.93 per share for the same period the previous year. Net revenues advanced 18.86% to Rs 5,971.15 crore, up from Rs 5,023.69 crore for the same period the previous year. Revenues from the steel business rose 20.44% compared with same time a year ago and operating profits advanced 26.58%. Total income of the group advanced to Rs 6,072.28 crore for Q3, while it was Rs 5,082.38 crore in the same period a year ago.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd., oil company, announced its Q3 net profit rose 20%, topping forecasts of 6% rise in net profit. The oil and gas producer reported net profit rose to Rs 4,668.310 crore from 3,887.76 crore a year ago. ONGC produces 80% of the oil and gas in India. Total income rose to Rs 16,269.01 crore from Rs 13,038.01 crore for the same time the previous year. The governement demands that ONGC sell crude at discount to refiners to keep the cost of fuel down.

The Tata Power Company Limited, power company, reported that Q3 profit after tax as well as net profits after tax stood at Rs. 279.90 crores on revenues of Rs. 1200.51 crores, compared to Rs. 227.65 crores and Rs. 1224.77 crores for the same period the previous year respectively. Sales Volume during Q3 rose by 9.05% at 3655 MUs, while units sold in the Mumbai license area advanced by 5.44%.