the nikkei trading at 8,651. that's down half a percent. the topix is down 1/3 of a prt. many are holding back from trading to keep an eye on the credit problems. they shrugged off the german and french leaders' pledge atz that would likely take awhile to accomplish. although sentiment on european bonds is up on the tokyo foreign exchange, the dollar is losing ground againsthe yen this tuesday as investors remained worried about the eurozone. the green is 77.74-77 yen. market analysts say that investors are buying the yen. it's considered a safe asset. this followed the announcement the s&p may downgrade more bonds. here's a look at the long-term interest rates. ten year japanese government bond is down just about half a base point. let's also look at some other market figures. >> that is the latest in business for this hour. back to catherine. >> thanks very much, ai. >>> the country will need international support after 2014. hamid cakarsai outlined his nee. >> to make our success certain, and our progress irreversible, we will need your steadfast support for at least a

. >>> and although tokyo stock market trading is thin this tuesday morning, the nikkei is trading at 8,444 p. that is down 4/10 percent. sources say investors are on the sidelinees a as they way to see the mood on the overseas markets. exchange in u.s. and europe were closed on monday for holidays. let's turn to the currency market now. trading volumes are also light here on the tokyo foreign exchange because of the holidays. the dollar yen currently at 77.94298. the euro yen at 101.76-282. investment sentiment is expected to remain subdued until the market opens later in the day. let's take a look at longest long-term interest rates. there is the ten-year japanese government bond. >>> japan's leading mobile carrier is getting into the hardware business. they want to design its own semi conductors for smart phones and has started talks with some major electronics makers. demand continues to grow for smart phones. domoco wants it lure customers by having higher performance models. the carrier reached with sam sung and is ne negotiating with few jit sue and dec. the mobile chip mark se

you can see there the nikkei and topix trading higher. the nikkei has been down around 270 points in the last three trading sessions. a big part due to jitters in europe. having a look there, you can see on the screen, 77.82-83 dollar yen. euro yen, 101.36-41. euro is weaker against the yen. we saw that playing into some of the business sentiment survey reports that came out yesterday, and a lot of large manufacturers pegging down the rates. that compares to 81 in september. we are trading upper 77 yen level. that plays into what large manufacturers and exporters have to deal with in japan. ai? >> a strong yen, certainly a big issue for us in japan. also not a day goes by without some reports about olympus. what's the latest on that? >> we have been keeping track of that all week. december 14th was that deadline for it to supply its july to september earnings, and the stock was down around 20% yesterday. again, a lot of volatile trading for olympus up monday and tuesday, then down 20% thursday, and we did have former ceo michael woodford a

the nikkei is trading at 8,650, down 8/10 of 1%. the topics is at 746, down .5%. they are watching what measures will be worked out to ease the debt worries. the meeting is due to open later in the day. on the tokyo foreign exchange, the dollar is little changed against the yen ahead of the eu summit. the greenback at 77.65-70 yen. the european central bank is also scheduled to hold a meeting on thursday to decide on monetary policy. many market players are waiting to see if the bank will cut the key interest rate. let's look at the long-term interest rates. this is the yield on the benchmark 10-year bond. in other news, the european union fined four companies including japan's panasonic a total of over $200 million. the firm his formed a cartel to solve refrigeration compressors. the other three firms are denmark, italy, and another italian components company. regulators say they exchanged market information and rigged prices of the compressors from 2004 to 2007. panasonic was fined about $10 million. the firm said in a statement that it takes the decision seriou

. >>> the nikkei is trading at a gain of 1.45% currently. a gain of more than 300 point on wall street eased concerns about the u.s. economic outlook. this prompted investors to buy back recent decliner in tokyo. japan did post a trade deficit in november for second straight month. negative balance was worse than market expectations. but participants largely shrugged off the news. now to currencies. on the tokyo foreign exchange the euro is gaining ground against the dollar and yen after debt-strapped spain add relatively successful auction of its government bonds. the euro dollar currently at 1.31113113, and against the yen at 102.08-13. sn an upper hand on the european currency for the moment, observers say many market players remain cautious about buying the euro due to persistent concerns over europe's debt problems. >>> here is a look at latest long-term interest rates. yooel on the ten year japanese government bond is up half a basis point. >>> the tokyo stock exchange says it'll relax its listing criteria to encourage smaller firms to

the nikkei is trading at 8,542. that is down 1.3%, a loss of 111 points. the topix also down 1.1% on the day. and to currencies. investors are selling the euro against the dollar this morning. this also weakened the yen against the dollars. let's see where they're trading right now. the green back is against the yen at 77.92-95. the euro against the dollar currently at 1.3182-3184. sources say investors' concerns over the european debt crisis rose after major credit rating firms negative review of the two-day summit. now, the nikkei is following a trend we saw on wall street overnight. stock prices plunged in new york as investors placed orders on a wide range of shares. the dow jones fell more than 200 points at one stage. in addition to european credit jitters, another factor contributing was leading chip maker intel cutting its revenue forecast. the dow ended the day's session at 12,021. that's down 162 points. shares also slid on europe's major markets. they fell 1.8% in britain. and 2.2% in paris. concerns are mounting that britain may end up isolated

trading as they want to see how the situation unfolds in north korea. now, as for equities, tokyo stock prices are showing a modest rebound this tuesday morning. the nikkei is currently trading at 8,349. that's up a little over 50 points. a gain of .6 of a percent. we are seeing gains of a half percent on the broader topix as well. taking cue from relative statement in overseas market as the death of the leader had a limited impact on sentiment. the upside is capped as many participants are holding back from active trading to see how the power succession will take place in the reclusive state. now to currencies. on the tokyo foreign exchange, the dollar is moving in the lower 78 yen level this morning as they watch developments following kim jong-il's death. the u.s. currency against the yen is at 78.02-07 while the euro against the yen is at 101. the yield on the benchmark ten year japanese government bond is up just a touch this tuesday morning. >>> the 17 eurozone nations will provide 150 billion euros or $200 billion in loans to the international monetary fund. the move is seen as a call for non-european countries to follow suit and offer their help

the nikkei has just commenced trading. >> we saw a 4% gain wednesday. overnight thursday, the dow-jones industrial average dipped as investors took a step back ahead of the release of key jobs data later today. let's go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, good morning to you. some key data out of the u.s. today. looks like markets are taking it easy after all that buying yesterday. >> definitely taking a bit of a breather there. very good morning to you. after the gains we saw nearly 500 points on the dow-jones industrial average, and that followed the central bank moves to help alert a global credit crisis a couple of days ago. but we saw a little pull back just on thursday. not a major move, just the dow down 26 points and the s&p 500 down 2 points and the nasdaq ending slightly higher. a bit of a mixed pitcher. see how we're kicking off this friday morning in japan. nikkei up 6 points. topix up. it has been around 5.5% for the last four trading sessions. volume yesterday was the highest yesterday. some mow mep tum may be held in ch

the nikkei is currently trading at 8423, down 36 points, a loss of 0.4%. the broader topix is also down by 0.5%. market sources say that the european central bank's new three-year loans to the banks across the euro zone has eased investor worries for now. but they're still cautious. participants think it will take more time for those nations to reduce budget deficits. the dollar is higher against the yen in tokyo trading. the greenback -- the u.s. dollar is at 78.08 to 09 yen. the euro against the yen at 101.81 to 86. news of massive lending by the ecb has refueled concerns over the liquidity situation for european banks. this caused the u.s. currency to gain ground against the euro and the dollar also rose against the yen. here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates. the yield on the benchmark ten-year japanese bond is up just slightly. >>> let's look at other asia markets that have opened. >>> that's all for now in business. back to catherine. >> thank very much, ai. people of different nationalities and faiths are celebrating a number of holida

trading houses such as marubeni and itochu. a lot of investors shifting assets away from commodities, also into short-term money markets such as u.s. treasury bills. but for now, ai, the nikkei and the topix trading lower. back to you. >> all right, ramin, thanks a lot for that. the nikkei at 8,450. our very own ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. >>> now, opec has agreed to raise crude oil output to 30 million barrels a day. the 12 member countries of the organization reached the agreement on wednesday during a meeting at its headquarters in vienna. oil prices have remained high since the political turmoil in libya. benchmark london brent oil prices continue to top $100 a barrel. opec's daily production target was set at 24.85 million barrels a day. but saudi arabia and other countries have increased production since june to prevent prices from rising. the agreement endorsed the saudi move. after the meeting opec's secretary-general abdullah al-badri said the current price level is good for both producing and consuming countries and that it does not hinder world economic growth. >>> meanwhile, the head of japan's petroleum association, akihiko tembo, said oil pri

taking a look at overseas trading, the nikkei up 64 points. wall street rallied on weekly jobless claims dropping to a three and a half week low. applications for benefits dropped. with just over a week of trade left in the year, thursday's gains left the s&p 500 less than a percent below where it started in 2011. the dow is up over 5% for the year and the nasdaq is down 2%. confident investors brushed off a downward revision. oh my goodness. unmistakable sides of improvement this quarter. it's early, sorry about that. >>> banks, energy and tech were the biggest gainers. morgan stanley, akamai zooming on purchasing a competitor. tibco. american greetings doven. bed bath & beyond slid after warning its earnings might miss. made johnson fell. no proof of the link between the formula and the death of a newborn missouri boy. >>> days before christmas, best buy is playing the grinch, alerting some customers they won't fill their online orders. they won't specify how many orders or which are out of stock. >>> bad news for christmas kissers out there.

for more how stocks are trading this morning, ramin mellegard is at the tokyo stock exchange. we saw the effect on the nikkei and asian stocks yesterday following news of the death of kim john-il, but how is the follow through this morning? >> good morning, ai. it is looking a little positive. yesterday, we saw shipping and trading companies trading lower, pushing the nikkei lower, that was due to drop in the price of oil, and jitters about transfer of power in north korea with the u.s., japan, south korea looking on closely indeed. let's look at the opening levels this tuesday morning. we can see the reaction is relatively positively. nikkei up 34 points, topix up two points. focus and concentration this morning will be on companies in the shipping sector which was down 5% yesterday. oil related stocks like oil and gas field developer impex and trading houses like mitsubishi who were lower yesterday. we saw also some key asian forces trading lower. let's keep an eye on banking stocks and there's continued concern about credit rating down grades for eurozone economies which pulled the financial stocks lower,

trade. we have the nikkei and kospi anti wanna all open at this hour. they are trading a tad lower. of course they are looking ahead to u.s. markets reopening after a long weekend as well. monday had been expected to be the third busiest shopping day of the u.s. it had been dubbed mega monday. that is the post christmas holiday where people go to shop to take advantage of sales. they're hoping to boost the economy and in turn of their economies as well. we will keep up with japan and south korea that exports many products consumers by like the electronic gadgets and cars. we had the international retail federation predicting season sales would rise to a record four hundred $69 billion. that is higher than they had forecast. they continue to be concerned about the eurozone and the debt crisis. that is why a lot of investors are cautious until investors are back in the new year. >> thank you. isen elizabeth's husband spending a fourth night in hospital where he has had a treatment for a blocked artery. he is said to be eager to leave but is not expected to attend church services. >> t

the nikkei and topics are trading a touch lower this wednesday morning. back to you. >> ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. >>> south korea started trading this wednesday.' started trading this wednesda started trading this wednesda started trading this wednesdak started trading this wednesdao started trading this wednesda started trading this wednesdap started trading this wednesdai started trading this wednesday. >>> that's all for this hour in business. it is back to katherine. >> thanks very much, ai >>> a man armed with a rifle and grenade attacked shoppers in the belgium city of liage. four people died including the suspect and 120 were wounded. eyewitnesses say the suspect opened fire and threw grenades in a busy central square near a courthouse. the attack occurred tuesday around 1:00 p.m. district prosecutors say a 65-year-old woman, two teenagers and the suspect were killed. the 33-year-old man acted alone. he was convicted three years ago of possessing weapons and growing marijuana and was supposed to turn himself in on tuesday. >> t

for more how stocks are trading this morning, ramin mellegard is at the tokyo stock exchange. we saw the effect on the nikkei and asian stocks yesterday following news of the death of kim john-il, but how is the follow through this morning? >> good morning, ai. it is looking a little positive. yesterday, we saw shipping and trading companies trading lower, pushing the nikkei lower, that was due to drop in the price of oil, and jitters about transfer of power in north korea with the u.s., japan, south korea looking on closely indeed. let's look at the opening levels this tuesday morning. we can see the reaction is relatively positively. nikkei up 34 points, topix up two points. focus and concentration this morning will be on companies in the shipping sector, which was down 5% yesterday. oil related stocks like oil and gas field developer impex and trading houses like mitsubishi who were lower yesterday. we saw also some key asian forces trading lower. let's keep an eye on banking stocks and there's continued concern about credit rating down grades for eurozone economies which pulled the financial stocks lower

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, nikkei lost 38 points but in hong kong the hang seng jumped 250. >>> this week should be relatively quiet for investors with one hurdle before year's end. wall street enters the last few days facing light volume and one real question, can the nasdaq join the dow and s&p 500 to end 2011 in positive territory? the nasdaq is down 1.3% for the year. elsewhere there is optimism that yesterday dubbed mega monday by retailers with high hopes that americans off work would head to the stores will prove to be the third biggest shopping day of the holiday season. spurred on by bargain hunters and gift card redeemers, some even predicted yesterday retailers would outsell black friday, date after thanksgiving, when americans spent over $27 billion. >>> watch for fallout from a justice department opinion made clear friday that clears the way for states to legalize internet poker and all other forms of gambling except those on sporting contests. the move will reap billions in tax revenue. >>> berkshire hathaway completed buying warren buffett's home p

looking at overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei lost 16 points while in hong kong the hang seng fell. >>> stocks ended flat on light volume tuesday, a typical trading day between christmas and new year's. one big mover was sears after planning to close 100 to 120 sears and kmart stores and dire fourth quarter earnings warnings. they plunged to a new 52-week low. whirlpool which depended on sears tumbled almost 9%. bad housing news. bad housing news. october single family home prices fell more than expected with atlanta and las vegas prices falling to their lowest since the housing crisis began. that helped take the shine off a jump in consumer confidence to the highest level since april. growing consumer confidence combined with tensions with iran sent the price of oil above $101 a barrel. endeavor international rose 24% on a deal to buy conoco phillips on three international sea oil fields. international gained 5% on the government opening the door to online gambling. elsewhere, italy's ten-year bond yield hit the crisis 7% level tuesday. after the chinese yuan hit an all-time high

the nikkei average recorded its lowest year-end closing since 1982. analysts attribute the sluggish trading to japan's march 11th earthquake and tsunami, as well as european credit woes. traders at the tse expressed their desire for the markets to bounce back in 2012. two representatives from japan's world cup-winning women's soccer team joined in a traditional hand-clapping ritual to usher in a prosperous year. >> translator: we hope to win gold at the 2012 london games and look forward to raising the stock market in japan. [ applause ] >> translator: as a business person, this year has been my worst, ever. >> translator: this year was bad for european government bonds. they all fell. >> our ramin mellegard tracks the ups and downs on the tse for us and here is a look back on the last trading day of 2011 and the year that was. >> japanese stocks closed a final trading session, modestly higher. the nikkei rose 56 points to end at 8,455 with the topix up 6 points. on the year, the nikkei was down nearly 17%. and for a more detailed analysis i spoke earlier to the general manager at daiwa sec

opening levels for nikkei and topix, you can see the immediate impact. both indexes trading lower. 146 points down for the nikkei. we are definitely seeing follow through selling in japan after the dow closed below that key 12,000, down almost 200 points. and the negative sentiment from stocks also showing through on developments from the european debt situation in commodities. we did see gold down 1.8%, and the price of wti benchmark crude oil also down more than 2%. the interesting point here, ai, is that with all the focus on europe and selloffs in the stock markets, it is just coming actually when data in the u.s. is showing small improvements in the jobs data. we had weekly claims numbers just out thursday, which showed an improvement and showing its lowest level since february, and just last week, the unemployment rate in the u.s. fell below 9%. so a lot of focus here on developments in the eu and summit meeting, and also following on for the european central bank cutting its rate, seems like the markets are just ignoring some positive bits of news. ai? >> ramin, also

taking a look at overseas trading in tokyo, the nikkei lost 38 points but in hong kong the hang seng mped 250. >>> investors enter this last week of trade with one hurdle left. wall street enters it facing light volume and only one question, can the nasdaq join the dow and s&p 500 to end 2011 in positive territory? the nasdaq is down 1.3% for the year. elsewhere there is optimism that yesterday dubbed mega monday by retailers with high hopes that americans off work would head to the stores will prove to be the third biggest shopping day of the holiday season. spurred on by bargain hunters and gift card redeemers, some even predicted that yesterday retailers would outsell black friday, the day after thanksgiving, when americans spent over $27 billion. >>> watch for fallout from a justice department opinion made friday that clears the way for states to legalize internet poker and all other forms of gambling except those on sporting contests. the move will eventually reap billions in tax revenue. >>> berkshire hathaway completed buying warren buffett's home town paper "the omaha world-he

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei dipped 64 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng lost 38. on an otherwise flat wall street trading day, one stock dragged down techs and then techs dragged down the nasdaq. after the bell tuesday, oracle missed expectations for the first time in a decade. joining a growing list of big techs whose results and outlook have raised alarm bells. the stock plunged 12% and was the nasdaq's biggest loser. ibm down 3% was the biggest drag on the dow. cisco fell over 2%. jabil circuit, which also posted disappointing numbers, fell almost 3%. one tech exception, research in motion. it jumped 10%. leading the nasdaq on a report amazon and other potential bidders are sizing up the blackberry maker. elsewhere, fitch ratings warned again the united states' rising debt burden was inconsistent with maintaining the country's aaa credit rating. bank of america agreed to pay $335 million to resolve allegations its countrywide unit engaged in widespread discrimination against qualified african-american and hispanic homeo

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei dipped 64 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng lost 38. on an otherwise flat wall street trading day, one stock dragged down techs and then techs dragged down the nasdaq. after the bell tuesday, oracle missed expectations for the first time in a decade. joining a growing list of big techs whose results and outlook have raised alarm bells. the stock plunged 12% and was the nasdaq's biggest loser. ibm down 3% was the biggest drag on the dow. cisco fell over 2%. jabil circuit, which also posted disappointing numbers, fell almost 3%. one tech exception, research in motion. it jumped 10%. leading the nasdaq on a report amazon and other potential bidders are sizing up the blackberry maker. elsewhere, fitch ratings warned again the united states' rising debt burden was inconsistent with maintaining the country's aaa credit rating. bank of america agreed to pay $335 million to resolve allegations its countrywide unit engaged in widespread discrimination against qualified african-american and hispanic homeo

taking a look at overseas trading in tokyo the nikkei fell 101 points. while in hong kong the hang seng was down 128. >>> from ratings agencies to small investors reviews for europe's debt agreements were luke warm at best sending stocks tumbling. moody's and fitch warned markets the deal didn't go far enough and debt ratings may still be downgraded. spanish and italian debt soared italy's ten-year note yield approached the danger zone of 7%. gold prices fell to their lowest in almost seven weeks. u.s. bond yields fell as investors looked for safety. wall street's losses were wide. most s&p 500 industry groups fell more than 1%. all ten closed negative. banks were among the worst off. morgan stanley, citigroup, bank of america and jpmorgan chase all fell. techs dropped after intel lowered revenue expect takings following a similar move last week by texas instruments. resource stocks tumbled. oil fell and copper prices plummeted to a near two-week low. alocoa and exxonmobil were hit hard. elsewhere, diamond foods plunged on an investigation into its payme

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei was up 56 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng added 36. >>> on more positive signs for the economy, stocks rallied thursday ahead of today's last trading day of the year. the only remaining suspense is whether the s&p 500 will end positive for the year. thursday's rally left it up 0.4%, the closest it's been to unchanged for a year since 1970. traditionally the last trading day the year is a down day. november home sales surged to a 1 1/2 year high. home building paulty, lenar all gained. midwest factory activity grew. prices and employment rose but production eased slightly. on the downside, last week's unemployment claims rose more than expected, but the four-week average fell to a 3 1/2 year low. also aiding stocks, italy's bond yields, which spooked investors wednesday, eased thursday. still the yield on italy's ten-year bond hovers near the 7% danger level. banks were the day's biggest gainer led by jpmorgan case. alocoa and caterpillar, two b h bellwethers, led the do you. sears fell further

this morning, asian markets are mixed in a holiday trading session. the nikkei is up just over 1%. markets are also closed in europe and in hong kong as they own the christmas holiday as well. >>> well, when it comes to worrying, most people have the economy at the top of their list. 57% of those polled say the economy is most important issue the country is facing right now. 51% say unemployment is the country's biggest problem. >> little bit of good news. there are some signs the job market is slowly but steadily improving. the number of americans applying for unemployment benefits is at a 3.5 year low now. the jobless rate fell in three states last month. many economists say the unemployment rate will hover around 8.5% at least through the next year. christmas was a day of mourning for several families across the country from deadly shootings to fires but there is one story of goodwill that helped a couple get home from the holidays and it all started on facebook. more on that next. >>> howard bernstein has the morning off. olga breese is kind enough to come in instead. a lot of

the nikkei fell by 17.3% of the course of the year. the celebration at the end of the trading year lacked its usual enthusiasm. the nikkei is at its lowest point in almost 30 years. hopes for 2012 came in the shape of a world champion from japan's national women's soccer squad. ringing the final closing bell of the year. [applause] >> is terrible that 2011 did not bring the rise in stock prices that we expected from the year of the rabbit. and the european debt crisis will continue to be a problem in the future. >> there is one bright spot in the international markets. wall street and new york. trading for the year is not yet over, but the dow jones is currently up around 5% on the year. >> earlier, we spoke to our correspondent at the frankfurt stock exchange and asked if next year could be as dramatic as 2011 was. >> could be. be? a lost 15% -- the dax lost 15% this year. some investors are quite comfortable. only two of 21 institutions polled see the? lower -- see the dax lower. there's also the fact that the banks and the states will be asking for billions and billions of

taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei added 24 points. in hong kong the hang seng climbed 258. >>> stocks rose thursday for one day traders decided they were not going to worry about europe. but there was still plenty to worry about. christine lagarde, head of the imf called the world's economic outlook, quote, quite gloomy and called for action from all countries to head off global depression. the good news here is too good to ignore. unemployment applications fell to a 3 1/2 year low. new york state manufacturing rose to its highest level since may. new factory orders in the mid-atlantic region surged. bellwether fedex shot up. on strong every than expected profits. novelis jumped. michael kors soared 21% in its debut. yet another big company, honeywell, backed off its forecast. morgan stanley will fire 1,600 to cut costs. fitch cut long-term ratings on barclay's and credit suisse by two notches, and bank of america, bnp paribas, goldman sacs and citigroup. a surprise resignation by cablevision top executive sparked speculation it may b

taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei dipped 114 points while in hong kong the hang seng tumbled 237. >>> stocks rode a roller coaster of european developments monday. investors bought early on news of an agreement between germany and france for new treaty proposals on tighter fiscal proposaling to be presented. those danes were wiped out later on report of possible downgrades for eurozone nations. oil fell about $2 a barrel on that news. >>> after the bell, standard & poor's did place germany, france and others on credit watch negative. the step before a downgrade. that sent stocks lower after hours. still there was progress italy's main stock index jumped after the yield on italy's ten year bond jumped to the lowest level in a month. european steps reduced demand for gold. here financials led the way as all ten industry groups on the s&p 500 rose. among other gainers success factor sujed 51% on sale to germany's sap. met life rose after forecasting 2012 earning forecast. gannett rose. netflix rose. incyte dropped. former hewlett-packard chairmanwoman dunn lost her

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei gained 117 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng was down 10. >>> wall street rallied friday. but europe has a big hole to dig out of. all 17 countries agreed to automatic penalties if they overspend. as for countries currently struggling, the european central bank has taken some steps and may take more to ease their burden. even france sits precariously. friday, moody's investors service downgraded france's three largest banks. england was seen as the biggest summit user. england used its veto party to prevent an agreement, so the english were circumvented. even with a deal, most analysts feel europe is heading into recession, which has u.s. companies worried. on friday, dupont cut their outlook for the quarter. reuters reports negative quarters are outpacing positive ones by the biggest ratio in ten years. here, spending is up 15% compared to last year. the fed meets this week, but is expected to stand pat playing wait and see on europe and big developments here. this week's big po will be zinga pre

overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei was up 56 points, the hang seng added 36. >>> wellositive signs for the economy, stocks rallied thursday ahead of today's last day of trading for the year. the only remaining suspense is whether the s&p 500 will end positive for the year. thursday's rally left it up .4%, it is the closest it's been to unchanged for a year since 1970. traditionally, the last day of trading of the year is a down day. >>> november's existing home sales surged to a 1 1/2 year high. home builders all gained. december's midwest factory activity grew. prices and employment rose, but production eased slightly. on the downside, last week's unemployment claims rose more than expected but the four-week average fell to a 3 1/2 year low. >>> also aiding stocks, italy's bond yields, which spooked investors wednesday, but eased thursday after a debt auction. still the yield on the ten-year bond hovers near the 7% danger level. >>> banks were the day's biggest gainers led by jpmorgan chase, alcoa, and caterpillar, two bell weathers that sunk wednesday led the dow. am

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei dipped to 64 points while in hongg the hang seng lost 38. >>> on and other size flat wall street trading day, one stock dragged down techs and techs dragged down the nasdaq. after the bell on tuesday, oracle missed expectations for the first time in a decade joining a growing list of big techs who results an out looks have raised alarm bells. the stock plunged 12% and was the nasdaq's boog guest losers. other techs followed, ib mfrnlthsz down 3% was the biggest drag on the dow, sysco fell over 2%. jabil circuit fell almost 3%. one tech exception, research in motion. it jumped 10% leading the nasdaq on report amazon and other potential bidders were sizing up the blackberry maker. >>> fitch ratings warned again, the united states' rising debt burden was inconsistent with maintaining the country's aaa credit rating. bank of america agreed to pay $335 million to resolve allegations its country wide unit engaged in widespread discrimination against qualified african-american and hispanic borrowers on home loans. the larges

trading. in tokyo the nikkei dipped 114 points while in hong kong the hang seng tumbled 237.cks road a roller coaster of european developments yesterday. news of an agreement between germany and france for new treaty proposals on title fiscal controls. the gains were wiped out later on reports of possible down grades for eurozone nations. oil fell to about $2.00 a barrel on that news. after the bell, standard & poor's did place germany, france and others on credit watch negative, the step before a downgrade. that sent stocks lower after hours. still there was progress. italy's main stock index jumped after the yield on italy's ten-year bond plunged to the lowest level in a month. gold prices tumbled. back at home financials led the way as all ten industry groups on the s&p 500 rose. among other gainers, success factors surged 51% on its sail to germany's s&p. met life rose after announcing the 2012 earnings growth. netflix rose despite postal service cutbacks that could delay dvd deliveries. incyt fell. >>> patricia dunn, from typist to corporate leader lost her battle with c

taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo,ed nikkei gained 46 points, while in hong kong, the hangl street followed wednesday's lift-off with a day of caution thursday. ahead of today's november job numbers. expectations are that roughly 120,000 jobs were added. a number analysts think must be hit for a rally to continue. but caution set in thursday on last week's data showing new unemployment claims rose. other data fit the latest stronger-than-expected trend. manufacturing rose and new factory orders were up. in euro news, wednesday's move by the world's big banks had the desired effect on spanish and french bond auctions with yields falling. also addressing the debt crisis, french president, nicolas sarkozy, announced germany and france will push for broad new european treaty. on the street financials wednesday stars gave up some gains. costco, in orderstrom and other row tailors rose on strong november sales. barnes & noble plunged. >>> yahoo gained on news it may have bidders. u.s. airways jumped on an upgrade and merger speculation. >>> and sued bank of america, jp morgan cha

taking a look at overseas trading this morning n tokyo the nikkei was down 24 points, while in hong kong the hang seng lost 120. >>> signs of trouble in europe drove stocks lower here. the s&p 500 fell after five straight days of gains backing into negative territory for the year. the downward spike was accentuated by extremely low volume. alocoacaterpillar led them lower. >>> they were hoarding cash rather than lending it out as hoped, a sign those banks may be in worse shape than previously thought. >>> on that news the euro hit an 11-month low against the dollar and a 10-year low against japan's yen. >>> euro worries hit bank stocks hard here with bank of america and regions financial leading lower. investors drove bond prices higher. the ten-year treasury yield fell below 10%. oil fell under $100 a bare ol saudi promises to offset any losses from a threatened iranian blockade. >>> gold fell 2%, closing at the lowest level in five months. >>> lockheed martin was awarded a $2 billion contract to maintain support infrastructure for antarctic research. >>> yesterday "the new york times"