[R]4:00PM New York, 10:00PM Frankfurt, Mumbai 2:30AM – Global Markets[/R]

Crude oil fell $2.05 or 3.2% to $63.15 per barrel, gasoline fell 9.37 cents to close at 231 cents per gallon and natural gas price fell 5 cent to close at $7.59 per mBtu.

Gold rose $2 to $663.40 per ounce, silver gained 22 cents to close at $13.223 per ounce and copper advanced $221 to $7,255 per metric ton.

Asian Markets advanced led by 1.2% gain in Shanghai, 1% rise in Australia, and India 0.8%. Indonesia led the region with a loss of 0.9% and Malaysia and Hong Kong fell 0.3%. Japan gained 0.5% on the report that unemployment in the country fell to 3.8% from 4% lifting Mizuho Financial by 2%. Widespread hopes of lower interest rate and rising expectation of rising consumer spending supported a broad advance in Tokyo. Larsen & Toubro in India reported earnings growth of more than 50%. Reliance industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani suggested that intrinsic value of the company may double in the next three to five years.

European Markets closed mostly higher led by 0.6% rise in Germany and UK, 0.4% gain in Spain, and 0.2% increase in Switzerland. Belgium dropped 0.6% leading the decliners in the region and Norway lost 0.4%. Vodafone rose on reporting wider than expected loss and predicted better outlook for 2008. The stock rose 5.5% on the news that it has increased its dividend 11% to 6.76 pence, one of the highest yielding stock in FTSE 100 Index. Other telecom stocks in the region advanced. RBS and its consortium partners declined on the higher bid for ABN Amro. British Air rose 4.5% on the back of Goldman Sachs reporting stake worth 5.1%.

Latin American Markets closed lower led by near 1% decline in Mexico, 0.9% loss in Brazil but Argentina gained 0.33% and Chile advanced 0.14%. Energy and mining stocks traded lower across the region. Venezuelan bonds in New York trading fell on the government decision to close local TV station. Contract workers at largest Chilean copper mine, Codelco, stopped work demanding higher wages.


[R]1:00PM NY, 5:00 PM Frankfurt European stocks closed mixed. Banking and telecom stocks advanced.[/R]

European stock markets finished Tuesday trading session mixed. Positive market sentiment was generated by deal moves in the banking sector, gains in the shares of telecom stocks and higher U.S. market opening.

Banks were in the spotlight after Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium offered to buy Dutch bank ABN Amro for $95.5 billion, topping Barclay’s takeover bid. Shares in ABN Amro slipped 0.8%, Royal Bank of Scotland declined 0.8%, while Barclays'' shares added 1.9%.
Telecom stocks were leading gainers, led by 5.5% rise in shares of Vodafone Group. The mobile-phone company made strong gains after it narrowed its net loss for the fiscal year and gave an upbeat outlook for 2008. Again in the sector, France Telecom added 0.4%, while Deutsche Telekom shares rose 1.8%.

Among other notable movers, British Airways jumped 4.7%. Shares of car maker BMW rose 1.7% on reports it is interested in buying Volvo from Ford Motor Co. The U.K. FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to 6,606.40, the German DAX 30 added 0.5% to 7,771.16, while the French CAC-40 index slipped 0.3% to 6,056.19.

[R]11:30AM Strong consumer confidence and deal news supported averages.[/R]

U.S. stock averages traded higher, as merger activity boosted corporate optimism and consumer confidence index in May improved more than expected. The largest deal was offered by a consortium of banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland. The consortium said it will bid $95.5 billion for the Dutch bank ABN Amro (ABN: chart), topping an offer from Barclays (BCS: chart). Archstone-Smith (ASN: chart) surged 10% amid reports that the company is close to a $20 billion acquisition deal by Tishman Speyer and Lehman Brothers. In completed deals, URS Corp. (URS: chart) added 3.6% after it agreed to buy engineering and design company Washington Group (WNG: chart) in a deal worth $2.6 billion. Washington Group stock climbed 17%.

Networking, airline, and utility sectors moved notably higher. Tech shares posted gains, with Google Inc. (GOOG: chart) rising 1%, despite news of a preliminary antitrust probe into its planned $3 billion deal to buy online advertiser DoubleClick. Avaya (AV: chart) rose 13%, leading the networking sector higher and CDW 8.6% after the companies were cited as private equity buyout targets.
In late morning trading, the Dow rose 33.16, or 0.25%, to 13,540.44. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index advanced 3.10, or 0.20%, to 1,518.83, and the Nasdaq composite index added 11.53, or 0.45%, to 2,568.72. Bonds fell after the consumer confidence data, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.88% from 4.86% late Friday.
[R]Consumer confidence improved in May.[/R]
Tuesday morning, the Conference Board released its report on consumer confidence in the month of May, showing that consumer attitudes improved more than expected compared to an upwardly revised reading for the previous month. The Conference Board said that its consumer confidence index rose to 108.0 in May from an upwardly revised 106.3 in April. Economists had expected the index to increase to 105.0 compared to the 104.0 originally reported for the previous month.

The report showed that the present situation index rose to 136.1 in May from 133.5 in April, while the expectations index edged up to 89.2 from 88.2. The Conference Board said that claiming conditions are “good” rose to 29.4 percent from 27.5 percent. At the same time, those saying conditions are “bad” was almost unchanged at 14.5 percent. The outlook for the next six months remains cautious, according to the Conference Board, as those anticipating business conditions to improve increased to 15.1 percent from 13.8 percent, while those expecting business conditions to worsen edged up to 10.1 percent from 9.7 percent.

[R]9:45AM U.S. stocks opened modestly higher amid merger deals.[/R]

Wall Street opened slightly higher Tuesday, helped by multibillion-dollar acquisition deals. Better-than-expected economic data also generated positive sentiment. The Conference Board said that its consumer confidence bounced back in May to 108.0 from 106.3 in April. Economists had expected the index to rise to 105.8.

A consortium of banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland said it will bid $95.5 billion for ABN Amro (ABN: chart), topping an offer from Barclays. Tishman Speyer Properties and Lehman Brothers Holdings (LEH: chart) are reportedly interested in buying Archstone-Smith Trust (ASN: chart) for more than $12 billion, including $6 billion in debt.

Washington Group (WNG: chart) surged 16% after the engineering and construction company agreed to be acquired by URS Corp. (URS: chart) for $2.6 billion in cash and stock. Shares of Avaya (AV: chart) climbed 13% amid reports that the communications equipment maker is in talks regarding a sale of part or all of the company.

Airline stocks moved notably higher in morning trading, with AirTran (AAI: chart) rising 3.4% and Continental (CAL: chart) adding 3.8%. The wireless sector also posted gains, helped by 4% rise in the shares of Vodafone (VOD: chart) on narrower full-year loss.