World Daily Markets and Forex Bulletin

US Market
After seeing some volatility early in the session, stocks are seeing considerable strength in late morning trading on Thursday. The major averages have all moved firmly into positive territory after ending the previous session sharply lower.

The rebound may be partly due to bargain hunting, with traders picking up stocks at reduced levels following the selling seen in the past few sessions. Semiconductor stocks are turning in some of the best performances after some recent weakness.

Significant strength has also emerged among housing, banking, and transportation stocks, which are regaining some ground after trending lower earlier this week. Within the transportation sector, airline stocks are posting particularly strong gains.

On the other hand, utilities stocks are bucking the uptrend by the broader markets, with the Dow Jones Utilities Average currently down 1 percent. FirstEnergy, American Electric Power, and PSEG are posting notable losses.

The major averages have seen some further upside in recent trading, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 rising to new highs for the session. The Dow is currently up 53.04 at 8,337.93, the Nasdaq is up 22.29 at 1,686.48 and the S&P 500 is up 8.60 at 892.52.

Asian Market
The Nikkei traded over 2% lower Thursday, hitting a two-week low, as the stronger yen hurt interest in exporters and fresh jitters about US growth dulled buyer appetite.

Toyota was down 3.8% to 3,520 yen while Canon fell 3.9% to 3,180 yen.

Sony injected some cheer into the market after it issued a mostly upbeat outlook for this year. The electronics giant said, “we expect operating losses to contract significantly”.

Sony's statement today echoes similar predictions from electronic companies such as Olympus, Casio and Hitachi earlier this week that sales are expected to make a recovery in the second half.

In earnings news Nippon Telegraph and Telephone posted an annual operating profit of 1.1trn yen. Its shares gained 3.6% to 4,030 yen.

Nikon fell over 8% after it predicted a smaller than expected annual operating loss as demand from chipmakers continues to fall.

Panasonic fell 4.5% after a local newspaper reported that it will forecast losses this financial year.

Meanwhile shares in Inpex fell over 6% after it said a drop in oil prices means it expects to forecast a 61% drop in net earnings this year.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 246 points to 9,093 in Tokyo, its lowest settlement since 1 May.

The Hang Seng dropped over 3% on Thursday after grim US retail sales prompted a broad sell-off.

Shares in HSBC fell nearly 5% while China Mobile fell 4.5%. Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing declined 5.7% after it posted a 49% fall in first-quarter earnings yesterday.

The Hang Seng index fell 517 points to 16,541 in Hong Kong.

European Markets
European shares are still largely lower in midday trade as banking shares continue to weigh following disappointing results from France’s biggest retail bank.

Credit Agricole reported a worse-than-expected 77% slump in quarterly earnings.

The bank saw first-quarter net profits drop to €202m in the three month ended March compared with €892m last time after more losses at its international retail and investment bank businesses. Revenue fell to €4.06bn from €4.11bn last time.

Chief executive Georges Pauget told reporters that Credit Agricole is not seeking additional state aid but added that he expects the effects of the financial and economic crisis to last until the end of 2010.

Elsewhere in the sector, Commerzbank, UniCredit and Societe Generale are also lower.

Energy stocks are stuck in the red after US crude oil retreated on a gloomy retail sales report. Royal Dutch Shell, Eni and Total are down.

Across the markets, the German DAX is down 29 points to 4,697 with the French CAC falling 16 points to 3,136. The Swiss market has gained 23 points to 5,300.

In other company news, German utility giant RWE saw first-quarter net profit almost double.


CAC 40 - Risers

Lafarge (LG) € 43.60 +2.78%
Dexia (DEXB) € 4.41 +2.68%
Peugeot (UG) € 16.28 +2.13%
Essilor International (EI) € 34.06 +2.01%
Veolia Environnement (VIE) € 20.47 +1.92%
EADS (EAD) € 10.90 +1.87%
Air France-KLM (AF) € 9.49 +1.75%
EDF (EDF) € 35.58 +1.69%
Saint Gobain (SGO) € 24.59 +1.67%
Renault (RNO) € 23.13 +1.67%

CAC 40 - Fallers

Bouygues (EN) € 29.42 -4.08%
AXA (CS) € 11.66 -2.30%
Total (FP) € 40.20 -2.07%
Credit Agricole (ACA) € 10.06 -1.42%
L'Oreal (OR) € 55.08 -1.40%
Vivendi (VIV) € 19.16 -1.26%
Sanofi-Aventis (SAN) € 44.80 -1.21%
Societe Generale (GLE) € 34.69 -0.87%
LVMH (MC) € 56.83 -0.79%
Accor (AC) € 31.78 -0.52%

Commodities Market
Gold Prices Slip Away From Six-Week High

Gold prices edged into negative territory on Wednesday, moving off of a six-week high. The metal fell as the dollar bounced back versus the euro and sterling.

June-stamped gold dipped to $921.30, down $2.60 on the session. Prices had hit as high as $929.50 earlier in the session.

The dollar rebounded against the other major currencies, limiting gold's hedge appeal. The greenback edged higher against the euro, moving off of a seven-week low and also climbed away from a four-month low against the British pound.

On the economic front, a Commerce Department report showed that retail sales fell 0.4 percent in April following a revised 1.3 percent decrease in March. Economists had expected sales to come in unchanged compared to the 1.2 percent decrease originally reported for the previous month.

Business inventories data is scheduled for release at 10 a.m. ET. Experts are calling for a drop of 1.1% in March, compared to a drop of 1.3% in February.

Gold settled at $923.90, up $10.40 for the session, at its best close since April 1. The metal had rallied more than $25 last week.