the nikkei average yesterday actually did outperform most other asian indexes. as i said there, closing above 10,000 for the first time in two months. and actually the highest level since the march 11th earthquake. analysts say expectations of a faster pace of recovery in a lot of key market sectors in japan may bode well for earnings and production numbers for the second half of the fiscal year, meaning from september to march 2012. and that looks to have given a little bit of optimism for the nikkei for now, trading above that 10,000 level. still, concerns about eurozone sovereign debt problems does seem to be overhanging global market sentiments. and we just saw -- also heard about portugal's credit rating being lowered to below investment grade. and that has weighed a little bit on the euro. having a look at the currency levels right now, the euro-yen dropping back a little bit. currently around the 116, upper 115-yen levels. but compare that to when it was trading upper 117 earlier this week. so you can see there the yen has strengthened against the euro. a

the nikkei in the positive. >> see you again on tuesday. thanks a lot that was the tokyo stock exchange. we are one step away from seeing the world's largest alliance for trading stocks and other financial products. paradors of the new york stock exchange announced they obtained shareholder approval for a merger. they need clearance from the antitrust authorities in the u.s. and europe. they announced on thursday it gained backing of over 80% of the shareholders. that exceeds the 75% threshold needed for approval. nyse, the owner of the new york stock exchange obtained the go ahead at a meeting last week. the german side will hold the stake and the rest will be held by the new york side. the two will be in merger talks that become more competitive and to handle a wider change of products. a lower house session on thursday began deliberating a bill compelling power companies to purchase solar, wind, and other forms of renewable engineer from the next fiscal year. the japanese government is considering prices and time frames for utilities to

for now, the nikkei trading lower. back to you in the studio. >> thanks a lot. that's the market reporter from tokyo stock exchange. >>> moving on, china says it will take measures to curb growing prices of rare earth metals. they account for over 90% of the world's output. chinese commerce minister made the pledge to japanese industry minister in beijing on monday. he said prices of rare earth metals keep on rising and the price difference between chinese and overseas markets is a problem. these metals are a vital raw material for high-tech products. he asked china to ensure the same level of exrts to japan as before. chen said that china needs to maintain the control on exports but he said inflated pritss could lead to higher prices for parts made with such metals and that would not be desirable for china. >> translator: china has made a step. >> and now let's take a quick look at what's happening on japan's biz front this week. department store sales for june will be released on tuesday. and another indicator of consuming spending, convenience store sales com

but again you can see there the nikkei still holding on to that key 10,000 level. we'll see how it develops throughout the day. in its defense, the nikkei has closed above that key 10,000 level for five trading sessions in a row. so proving a little resilient despite the concerns over the u.s. debt issues ongoing right now and the stronger yen. in fact, talking about the yen, let's have a look at currency markets right now. and as you mentioned, the yen actually strengthened against the dollar, dipping below that 78 yen level. barrier into the 77 yen region. just hovering around the upper levels there right now. and that's over the possible uncertainty over possible credit downgrade in the u.s. debt where the stalemate continuing in washington between the obama administration and opposing republicans. now in japan, let's not forget, we're right smack in the middle of earnings season here. and nissan, one of the global auto giants is due to announce results today. we're going to keep track of that. and many japanese blue chip companies already analysts saying have t

the nikkei and hang seng closed down. let's go to kristie lu stout. what's the big headline this morning, kristie it's all a ar w rows down. the yen soon as a safe haven continues to rise. meanwhile stocks in europe are also dae cleaning. europe is battling its own debt crisis. moody's has placed spain's government bonds on a downgrachltd government pressures and weak growth were behind that decision. ali, back to you in new york. >> kristie, we always worry when we get into a weekend and we have a deadline and we don't have a deal here that that's going to start touching asian markets more quickly than it's going to touch u.s. markets on monday. what's the reaction to the u.s. not having a deal so far?

it was a similar picture to that on the nikkei. the financials fell, led by hsbc, as well as industrial and commercial bank of chin fla, losing between one-third and 1.25%. on the mainland, financials dragged things down there, too. beijing has ordered new restrictions on loans, particularly in the real estate sector and, of course, that didn't brighten the future over there. in the meantime, i want to bring you over to south korea and the seoul kospi. insurance companies are falling between 2% and 2.5% because of the torrential rains slamming the country today. and down under, the asx 200 fell about 1.5%, financials as well as retailers led the slide there. west farmers, the country's second biggest retailer fell about 2.5%. retailers are of course worried about a possible interest rate hike that could happen as soon as next month. that comes on the back of yesterday's higher than expected cpi. >> you talked about the slump on the nikkei. we saw that happening a day ago. a lot of that is partly to do, of course, with the currency.

. >> having a look at opening levels for the nikkei and topics wks both opened in the negative. we did see for a couple of seconds there the nikkei going into the positive but now into the negative. a mixed reaction. we did see the dow falling on the market's perception that u.s. may default if an agreement cannot be wrapped up before this weekend. so that caused any early gains on the dow to be pretty much wiped out. as you said, they are ending lower for a fifth day in a session -- fifth session in a row. also the euro zone markets with also dipping on renewed concerns about sovereign debt issues. so those playing into the markets as well. and having a look at hu that pressure of the euro, looking at the currency markets right now. the dollar remaining relatively weak against the yen at upper 77 levels p but did gain a touch against the euros. you can see the euro weaker against the yen around the mid 111 levels. that seems to be at the forefront of market sentiment there. now in japan we add slew of results come out after the bell yesterday with sony, sharp, panasonic and nin

that was the rally we've seen on the nikkei for two years. in australia, a strong jobs report did little to boost the asx, though. it fell flat, despite the job numbers. >>> to remind you what happened in the united states on wednesday. investors got into the buying mood. allison has a wrap of the action on wall street. >> reporter: stocks on wall street managed to enter the upside on wednesday. investors were on-edge. worries are that pulling it down too much could have a crash-landing and have a ripple effect for the recovery. that didn't keep wall street from getting in a buying mood by the end of the day. the dow ended at 12,626. the nasdaq and the s&p 500 gained ground. financial shares bucked the trend and ended lower across the board, after moody's expressed concern about european banks. a rating on the service sector showed a slowdown of expansion in june. wall street watches the report more closely than it once did, since the service sector accounts for 80% of all jobs in the u.s. >>> more data due out thursday. investors will get th

but the nikkei down over 100 points. back to you. >> thanks for that update, ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. as mentioned with the possibility of u.s. default looming large, president barack obama says he will keep calling for as much reduction in the budget deficit as possible. that's in a bid to win concession from the opposition republicans ahead of the august 2nd deadline for for raising the federal debt ceiling. in a news conference at the white house on monday, obama indicated his intention to keep tax cuts for oil firms and the wealthy in place at least through the year, through the next year. >> now's the time to do it. if not now, when? i continue to push congressional leaders for the largest possible deal. >> obama's conciliatory stance comes as the republicans are demanding huge cuts in deficit in exchange for agreeing to raising the federal borrowing limit. house speaker john ehner told reporters that comprehensive spending cults are needed before removing tax reductions. obama said he would cont

tokyo's nikkei. we saw banking stocks weighing on the market. also on the shanghai composite as well. this came after an investment company sold $3.6 million worth of holdings in two chinese banks. that after moody's warned of a downgrade for the sector. we did have elsewhere a bit further south the s&p asx 200 inching up one-sixth of a percent. the other two were down on the day. there wasn't much to write home about on wall street for tuesday either. u.s. stocks ended the session with little change. investors have one eye on friday's u.s. monthly jobs report and the other fixed on the debt crisis unfolding in europe. despite the low key session, though, still one company on the move, we're talking about shares of netflix. that jumped by 8%. all this came after the company unveiled plans to take the online video streaming service beyond the north america space to a global audience. as you can probably see from the chart we are showing you before, we did have the nasdaq up. the other two down. now from mail service to dvd rental to web based vid

but for now, the nikkei ever so slightly in the negative. back to you. >> thanks a lot for that. that was our market reporter at the tokyo stock exkmang. nec will launch rechargeable batteries for home use in july. a demand for growing emergency power supply is growing after the march disaster temporarily forced tepco to ration electricity across the tokyo area. nec says its batteries will provide six kilowatt of power per charge. for a typical household, that's half a day. it says it aims to boost its production capacity by early next year. power shortages are prompting other electronic firms to make similar moves. panasonic is set to unveil a new product on tuesday while toshiba may launch its batteries before early next year, which was the plan under a previous announcement. and now let's get at recap of the latest market figures. >> that's all for now in business news. >>> and welcome back to your weather update. we're looking at the weather in east asia. we're talk act the seasonal front that produces moisture right below it. heavy rain to japan yesterday, and it's still con

the nikkei and the topix trading in the negative in the first few minutes of trading and that follows on from the losses we saw on the dow and markets continue to be dominated by news surrounding eurozone debt concerns after moody's downgrade of ireland's credit rating which yet again highlights global concerns over the eurozone economy as a whole. we did see the dow getting pushed lower after it was boosted somewhat earlier by a little bit of optimism following the minutes of the federal reserve meeting from june which showed some of the members of the fomc or actually optimistic about taking further measures to stimulate the u.s. economy and that follows from the ending of the quantitative easing period that ended in june, so that gave a little bit of optimism, but then the eurozone debt concerns pushed markets lower. we did see the nikkei trading below 10,000 yesterday for the first time in five trading sessions, and that was weighed down by exporters which again took a turn lower because of the strengthening yen and if you look at the currency markets right now you can see the eur

let's take a look at how tokyo stocks are tradinging in response to that the nikkei average, as you see on your screen there, in the positive, posting some pretty healthy gains. the topix also trading in positive territory. >>> now today is the first dive for the second half of this year. now, if you look at u.s. market, the second quarter wasn't so bad as the dow added about 100 points during those three months. overnight, the index extended its gains on positive economic data and a temporary resolution of greece's debt problems. finishing at 12,414 points, up about 1.25%. and nasdaq closed at the 2,773 points that's up 33 points or about 1.2%. >>> now, analysts are saying that july could be a pretty good month for stocks and the nikkei average could hit the key 10,000 mark, but that depends on whether the gold economy shows more signs of a pickup and that greece will be able to get the necessary financial aid to avoid a default of its debt. >>> now, taking a quick look at currencies, the yen was stronger against the dollar at end of fiscal quarter. yen buying by companies is now tradi

both the nikkei and the topix just in the positive. not a major move, but in the positive nevertheless. now if the u.s. debt issue was not enough, we'd also heard from moody's investor services that it has downgraded greek debt by three notches. so that again puts eurozone debt back into the focus. and that's just after the bailout and the plans to help greece which came through just last week. so that's coming back into focus again on top of the u.s. debt ceiling issues. so how is all of this playing into the currency markets we ask ourselves? well, again, the yen seems to be on a stronger footing against both the dollar and the euro. currently still around the 78 yen levels. and that's not really helping key exporters, most of which have assumed a dollar/yen rate of about 80 or above. not at the current levels of 78. and this also comes in the week when a lot of japanese blue chip companies are announcing their earnings. and analysts suggesting that many of them may have to slash their yen forecasts for this fiscal year if issues in

>> reporter: very good morning to you, ai and we're seeing the nikkei here surge higher over 100 pointsctually in the first few minutes of trading and the topix trading higher as well. you mentioned private jobs data coming out in the u.s. yesterday, a little bit better than many analysts had expected, and that's ahead of the key jobs data which is due out later today. that gave a bit of a boost to markets, helped the dow ending higher, also the text-heavy nasdaq notched up an eighth straight day of gains. the european central bank as you also mentioned there, helped to lead markets higher, raising rates, that took a little bit of a negative sentiment away from the markets, which had been weighed down by those eurozone debt problems and actually looking at the euro currently, it took some pressure off that as well, currently trading around the mid 116 yen levels, and that's, compares to the mid 115 yen levels just a couple of days ago when portugal's credit rating was lowered to below investment grade so the euro gaining there a touch. we're also going to keep track of utility sector st

the nikkei trading in the positive and the topix in the negative. and a choppy trading session in the u.s. as well. after a long weekend, u.s. investors keen to get back up to speed with global markets. but also, many of them aware of what is still to come this week, what with the european central bank meeting and also the jobs data on friday. so a bit of hesitancy playing into the u.s. indexes there. we saw the dow and the s&p 500 trading lower, snapping five days of gains. now as you mentioned, news of portugal's credit rating being cut by moody's investors services. also adding another note of caution in the markets, especially as eurozone's sovereign debt problems are still in the global markets sentiment. but the effect on stocks may be a little bitumin mall. but we did see the effect on currency markets, and having a look at the euro against the yen. we did see it actually trading in the 116 levels. now it's touching 117 again. but compared to mid 117 levels this time yesterday, you can see there the yen has gained somewhat against the euro. w

right now, the nikkei is up, but all others, the hang seng, the dax, the ftse 100 all lower at this hour. let's go to hong kong, asian and european stocks seem to be reacting to a combination of economic news, including what's happening here in the united states. >> let's fine out why. as you said, european markets are slitding. investors are worried about debt. they are worried about how the u.s. debt talks are in dead lock and stan doord and poo's threatening to cut bond rates. and banks finding out if they're tough enough to take another shock. the stress test results are due out mid-day in new york, as many as one bank in nine is expected to fail this test. so there is a lot to unnerve global investors on this date. >> let's talk about google. i joined google plus the other day. i didn't have an invitation, i said it on this show. one of our viewers sent me an invitation and i joined. you know how many google plus friends i have? >> you have one, because i just added you into my circle. >> oh, mied gy god, i had nobod my circle. thank you. i'm one of the 10 million-plus people on goo

the nikkei closed down about 1.4%, mitsubishi and mizuho fell between 1.5 and 2%. bank of japan, 0.2% to 0.4%, from the quake in tsunami that devastated the country in march. hang seng more than 3%. monday moody's raised red flags on the accounting practices of maineland companies practices. the shanghai composite fell 1.7% and rounding out the losses, australia the asx down about 1.9% but one piece of positive news, macarthur coal soared nearly 40% after attracting a billion-dollar takeover bid. i'll have more on that later in the show. >> we'll talk to you in a little bit about that particular topic. charles, as you can see a pretty broad sell-off here in asia and also the same thing in europe. >> absolutely. the third session and those three-month lows for the euro so pretty bleak picture. >>> at the united states a big sell-off on wall street. major averages tumbled, major worries. financial and technology shares were among the biggest losers on monday, bank of america, citigroup, jpmorgan chase and wells fargo all closed roughly 3.5 to 5.5% lower, so really th

the nikkei moving up more than 1%, the hang sang ending up almost half a percent, just a fraction downr shanghai and a strong move to the upside in sydney. what people here in asia have been doing is looking at what's been going on in the u.s., particularly with the debt situation. there might be a solution on the table and there might be some way to get through this impasse. more so overnight with the better-than-expected tech earnings, really apple blowing people away. it doesn't matter they had the weak spot with the ipod, a drop in sales there. definitely the increases in the sales of ipads and also the iphone, enough to really pep things up. no wonder the technology shares in asia here were doing a whole lot better. let's hope it keeps on moving up as the week goes on. that is about it for this edition of "world business today." it's great to have you with us. i'm manisha tank in hong dong. >> i'm nina dos santos in london. good-bye for now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

. >>> the nikkei and hang seng closing up. kristie lu stout standing by. markets rallying on the heels of this debt bailout plan for greece. >> that's right. european leaders meeting in brussels have finally reached a deal to give greece a second bailout. that has been well received on the global stock markets, uk, french and german markets all on the rise. the nikkei in japan closed higher. the euro continued to rise further against the u.s. dollar. european policymakers believed this deal, which is worth almost a quarter of a trillion dollars will contain europe's debt crisis and give greece more breathing room. >> some say this rescue plan is not going to be enough to solve long-term problems in greece or the eurozone. >> that's right. the markets are rallying right now. there is fear among european leaders, fears that imposing losses on greece's lenders could cause the debt crisis to spread to italy and spain, and that's because of a sharp increase in the rate at any markets would be willing to lend. despite the fear, as which just reported, the market

the nikkei down by 0.25%, exporters struggling with the strong yen. the hang seng and the shanghai composite ended up, the hang seng flat but the composite up by more than 0.5% and the main share market in sydney down by more than 0.5%. a lot of this over concern about a possible downgrade of u.s. debt. that came out from moody's yesterday. so there was concern about that weighing on the markets today. now, the new zealand dollar is in record territory meanwhile. it jumped above the 85 u.s. cent mark on thursday, its highest level since the currency was floated in 1985. the reason? a much better than expected first quarter result. the gdp rose 0. 8%, much better than the 0.3% that was predicted. you remember the earthquake in christchurch. that growth number signals that new zealand's central bank could soon raise interest rates. nina? >> let's have a look at how the u.s. stock markets are poised to open. despite all of this debacle and ongoing political fighting over whether or not they will manage to raise the u.s. debt ceiling, the u.s. markets clo

there once much movement for hong kong's hang seng and the nikkei slid .5%. hovering just above the 10,000 mark. tokyo electric power, mean mile, or tepco which runs that damaged fukushima dich chi power plant rose almost 616. that came amid reports it's considering selling almost 3 billion in shares. about half an hour ago, after the bell went, i suppose, in japan, japan's second largest carmaker nissan reported earnings, net earning for the quarter came in at $1.1 billion, ahead of expectations. >>> uncertainty continues to exist over the u.s. debt seal, investors are once again turning their attention towards the ultimate and traditional safe haven which is, of course, gold. that, in turn, is sending the price steeply north, hovering above about $1,623.63 an ounce. it's currently up about $4.38 at the moment. it is covering just a couple dollars below its all-time high that was just above $1,624 just the other day. gold very much the beneficiary here as everybody seeks a safe haven, manisha. >> very much so. piling into the precious medal. struggling throu

first off to the nikkei, that closed down about 0.80%. that's important because investors bought into the japanese yen. it is a safe haven currency as we know. investors are afraid fallout from the stalled u.s. debt talks is going to impact their boctto line. the strength here erodes the earnings of japanese exporters like automakers and electronics. toyota was down, for example, one and a third percent. the hang seng fell two-thirds of a percent. the big mover, rail in terms of china, south locomotive and rolling stock fell 14%. that's after a bullet train collision on the mainland killed at least 35 people. that company is also known as csr. it was one of the joint manufacturers of one of the both trans involved. at the same time airline stocks saw gains. air china rallied to 4%. over in hong kong the shanghai rose. it was the biggest loser on it. closing down about 3%. and finally down to australia, the asx fell about 1.5%. australia's big four banks including axz and commonwealth lead the way to around 1%. gold miner new quest closed.

the nikkei closes up, hang seng and ftse are down. let's go to kristie lu stout live from hong kong. how are investors reacting to markets this morning? >> hey, there. let's start down under. australia's main index is flat. shares of news corp fell nearly 4%, a two-year low. the reason we all know why, the phone-hacking scandal. in hong kong the market closed down .03%. the 8% slide in chipmaker smic. tokyo was closed for public holiday. in europe stock marketed all in the red given those ongoing debt fears in u.s. and europe. one bright spot, gold is going the other way, hitting a record high. >> continued concerns about debt in europe and u.s. having this effect on gold. this is another big week for wall street, independent of these debt ceiling concerns. >> that's right. america ace biggest, most influential companies are handing in their report cards this week. investors expect this will be a crucial moment for the market given the concerns about the u.s. economy. but we should keep in mind historically speaking, second quarter ea

we've seen moderate gains in the asia pacific region, but the nikkei ended a seven day rally.your side of the world, the dow, naz dick and s&p are higher in pre-market trade right now. >> the controversy, the scandal that is surrounding one of rupert murdock's newspapers is starting to affect the business there. tell us what this is about. >> that's right, a phone hiking scandal is punishing news corp. the company's shares dropped 3.6 wednesday. it's been investigated for allegingly hacking in to the phones of celebrities and politicians, a missing teenaged girl who was found dead. so the scandal is hitting its bottom line. ford won't be advertising on the tabloid. murdock has condemned the alleged phone hacking and he's vowed to cooperate with the investigation. >> it's a strange situation. they were allegedly were check

the nikkei closed down 1.4%. we see the big financials, mitsubishi, mizuho, 1.4, 1.5%, the bank of japan lowered fiscal year forecast from 0.6% to 0.4%. that is due to the earthquake and tsunami, that devastated the country back in march. here in hong kong the hang seng led regional losses with a foul of more than 0.3%. monday moody's raised red flags on the accounting practices of dozens of mainland chinese companies. many investors dumped their holds. the shanghai composite fell 1.7%, losses in the banking and property sectors. back to you. >> kristi we're in the second quarter earnings season. always a good gauge of how companies are doing. good news from alcoa and really bad news from cisco. >> alcoa is considered a bellwether. alcoa earned $364 million or 32 cents per year and the ceo said "although the economic recovery is uneven the overall outlook for alcoa and aluminum remains positive. what is next for dunkin' donuts? dun kin brands plans to raise as much as $461 million in the upcoming ipo. dun kin bra

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei added 38 points. but in hong kong, the hang seng dropped 70. >>> this week, along with the future of america's economy, traders on wall street will largely depend on what gets accomplished at the negotiating table in washington. with the debt deadline fast approaching and ratings agencies already threatening to downgrade america's aaa rating, the jitters will intensify as long as time ticks by without an agreement. in fact, worries about those stalled negotiations, along with europe's debt problems, have already sent gold and the swiss franc to record highs today in asian trade, with nervous investors seeking safe havens. also in focus this week, earnings season resumes after last week's solid beginning. major financials goldman sachs, morgan stanley, bank of america and american express will report. also weighing in, tech heavies >>> this week, the united auto workers begin contract negotiations with detroit's big three automakers. chrysler, ford, and general motors. the first contract talks in four

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei rose 121 points, while in hong kong the hang seng spiked 457. >>> hope that some long-standing issues will finally be addressed sent stocks surging thursday. the street ran wild with optimistic rumors that a deficit deal in washington was imminent. euro zone leaders hashed out a massive new bailout for greece with banks and other private contributors. they also radically reformed the euro rescue fund to help countries before a crisis happens. all that brought out confidence. oil surged above $100 a barrel. the euro rose against the dollar, and u.s. government bonds fell. also, overnight asian markets were higher on news of the euro deal. unexpected bang-up earnings from morgan stanley sent shares spiking 11%. union pacific jumped almost 5% on higher profits. alexion pharmaceuticals had better than expected numbers, but intel dropped after trimming its sales forecast for personal computers. the bell, microsoft fell on disappointment over weak windows profits. in deal news, compress scripts is buying medco health for just

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei lost 82 points while in hong kong, the hang seng dipped 151. >>> sign posts in the week ahead will point to where the economy may be headed for the foreseeable future. number one will be the debt ceiling deal or the lack of one. look for volatility on wall street to pick up the longer the stalemate lasts. in fact, already in overnight asian trade without a weekend deal, the euro gained against the dollar. the dollar fell to a four-month low against the yen. wall street futures fell, and gold hit a new all-time high. >>> the most important data this week will be a first reading of u.s. growth for the second quarter expected to show the economy grew at the same meager rate as it did in the first quarter at 1.9%. sunday, treasury secretary timothy geithner was lowering expectations while stressing optimism things will pick up. still, one fund manager pointed out the ominous fact that since 1960, every time year on year growth has fallen under 2%, where we are so far for 2011, the economy has gone into recession. >>> earn

in tokyo the nikkei climbed 116 points, while in hong kong the hang seng added 101. >>> tuesday strong earnings and hope for a deficit deal in washington boosted stocks to their best day since march. the dow had its biggest one-day jump this year. tuesday's gains turned all three majors positive for the month. >>> the nasdaq gained more than 2% led by apple hitting a 52-week high. after closing apple posted stunning sales vaulting past nokia and samsung to become the world's biggest smartphone maker, and way above analysts' estimates sending shares even higher after hours. >>> results from tech bellweather ibm sent big blue zooming up almost 6%. >>> coca-cola's sweet results sent coke up over 3%. >>> harley davidson was the s&p's top performer after reporting its first sales increase since 2006. among financials, wells fargo shares jumped almost 6% after a profit hike. key corps rose more than 4% on a boost in earnings. on the flip side bank of america and goldman sachs fell on disappointing results. >>> in data june's new home and apartment construction jumped to a six-month high. sin

in tokyo, the nikkei rose 38 points but in hong kong the hang seng lost 64. >>> stocks fell thursday as fed chief ben bernanke backed off hints more fed stimulus could be on the way. clarifying statements that drove markets higher wednesday, bern nangy stressed the central bank would inject more money into the economy only if things got much worse and now is not the time. that immediately sent stocks falling led by techs and financials. wall street so-called fear index rose, also thanks to no progress in stalled debt ceiling negotiations. >>> after the bell, standard & poor's warned that even if lawmakers do reach the deal the u.s. will lose its aaa credit rating in the next three months has risen considerably. >>> news corp fell 3% after the fbi said it would investigate the phone hacking of 9/11 victims. >>> jpmorgan chase rose reporting higher than expected profit. the only s&p financial to close higher. after hours google shot up 12% on earnings that blew past expectations. conoco phillips rose after the country's third largest oil company said it would split in two. one the oil

the nikkei closed down abo about .8%. partly because investors are buying into the japanese yen, considered a safehaven. as we know a strong yen means weaker earnings for japanese exporters. toyota and sony saw losses today. the biggest loser in asia was the shanghai composite slid 3%. in hong kong the hang seng fell two-thirds of a percent, shares of china south locomotive and rolling stock fell nearly 13% after a bullet collision in mainland china killed dozens of people and something that has shuttered markets throughout china, shanghai and hong kong. back to you in new york. >> thank you for that. we're getting word that moody's is downgrading greece's credit rating again. nina, you're following this and based on how you've seen european bond buyers react to this ongoing euro zone debt problem, what's the reaction likely to be when buyers of u.s. bonds begin to think that there's a likelihood these talks in the u.s. will fail to increase the debt ceiling and that there might be a default on at least some of the u.s.'s

in tokyo the nikkei added 66 points. the hang seng grew 196. >>> well, the rally returned thursday as a big rebound in retail sales and strong jobs. the nasdaq notched an eighth day of gains and was at its high for the year. >>> retailers had their best june in 12 years as warm weather and deep discounts lured shoppers. kohl's, target, and urban outfitters each gained more than 6%. first time unemployment claims dropped. a sign of fewer layoffs. companies added more than double the number of jobs economist had forecast for june and a huge jump from the previous month. all that boosted up for today's all important government report at unemployment for june. yesterday deutsche bank raised their forecast for the month's job creation by a whopping 75,000. >>> there was some bad news. oil rose over $2 a barrel as speculators gambled global demand will rise, and gas prices, which had dropped since may, are up about a nickel since just the end of last week. >>> rupert murdock put 200 out of work abruptly shutting down "news of

in tokyo the nikkei was up seven points, but in hong kong the hang seng lost 22. >>> expect light to mid summer volume this week on wall street where the markets will resume business on five-day winning streak. many traders will be vacationing, but working investors seeking incentive need look no further than monday's market results around the rest of the world. on the strength of last week's big wall street rally, world markets hit a four and a half week high on monday led by shanghai. the dollar was broadly steady against most major currencies. the price of crude remains steady at around $95 a barrel, and improved appetite for risk in stocks and the end of the fed's bond buying program has reduced demand for bonds with yields on ten-year notes settling near their highest point in almost two months. >>> after climbing to its highest point nearly a month the euro tumbled monday after a warning monday from standard & poor's that greece would likely be in default if it follows a rollover plan by french banks. many on wall street are starting to focus on debt ceiling negotiations in was

the nikkei rose to a four-month high in tokyo. over in your part of the world, ali.e optimistic. futures are to a lower open on wall street this wednesday. >> kristie, we know dominique strauss-kahn is out of the imf. how much is his replacement christine lagarde making in her new job as the head of the imf? >> we know the numbers, terms and conditions. as the new managing director she'll receive over $550,000 a year in total compensation. she's beend

taking a look at overseas trading now, in tokyo, the nikkei added 66 points while in hong kong, the hang seng grew 196. >>> the rally returned thursday as a big rebound in retail sales and jobs reports pushed stocks near annual highs. the nasdaq notched eight days of gains and briefly traded at its high for the year. the dow and the s&p 500 both stand close to their highs for 2011. retailers had their best june in years as deep discounts lured shoppers. kohl's, target and urban outfitters gained 6%. jobless claims dropped to a low. a new report showed fewer companies a huge jump from the previous month. all that boosted optimism for today's all-important government reports on unemployment for june. yesterday deutsche bank raised their forecast for the month's job creation by a whopping 75,000. >>> there was some bad news. oil rose over $2 a barrel, as speculators gambled global demand will rise. and gas prices are up about a nickel since just the end of last week. >>> in a stunning response to the scandal involving his media empire rupert murdoch shut down "news of the world" for good. t

in tokyo, the nikkei dipped 50 points while in hong kong, the hang seng fell 30. >>> once again, stocks fell victim to debt deal pressure tuesday and it's only going to get worse until the issue is finally resolved. it was a dow's third straight down day, eight of ten s&p 500 company groups fell within only teches and telecoms rising. nasdaq stayed close to even thanks to tech suck us is. broadcom led the way jumping 10%. chinese search engine baidu rose 5%, a day after forecasting higher than expected revenue. 3m dragged down the dow posting results that met general estimates but softness in some divisions brought shares down. ford also beat expectations but was down due to its caution about future demand. netflix slid again after warning red hot subscriber growth would cool this quarter. ups fell after warning the uneven economy could affect its results. us steel fell 8% after warning earnings could fall this quarter. ak steel tumbled most on the s & p over concern of higher raw material costs. after hours amazon zoomed higher on a better than expected revenue jump of 51%. in data, ju

in tokyo the nikkei dropped 143 points, while in hong kong the hang seng lost a whopping 684. >>> panic is spreading through europe's financial markets this morning, as investors worry italy and spain, nations seen as too big to be bailed out, are sliding into the region's debt crisis. stocks, the euro, and government bonds are all tumbling. with the yield on ten-year italian bonds now over 6%. more than a percentage point higher than just two weeks ago. since italy worries drove stocks to their worst day in nearly a month monday, that doesn't bode well for today's trade. yesterday, the nasdaq tumbled 2%, the s&p 500 wiped out its gains for the entire month. wall street's so-called fear index spiked more than 15%. >>> financials were hardest hit. citigroup dropped over 5%. bank of america lost more than 3%. jittery investors flocked to bonds, the ten-year treasury yield fell below 3%. plagued by a phone-hacking scandal news corp. dropped more than 7.5%. the most on the s&p. arch chemicals being bought by swiss drug maker, lonza, shooting up 12%. international paper has bid $3.3 billion

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei dropped 145 points. but in hong kong the hang seng added 29. >>> down data, weak earnings, and no movement in washington sent wall street reeling to its worst day in eight weeks. more than ten stocks fell for every one that rose. the major indexes all gave up their gains for the month. the 2,000 index said small companies lost under 3% in one day. wall street's fear index rose over 13%. >>> techs had been the market mainstay, but a profit warning from juniper sent its shares tumbling and jolted the sector. stagnating orders at emerson electric sent its shares down almost 7%. in data new orders for durable goods fell unexpectedly in june. >>> the release of a fed survey showing slower growth around most of the nation led to nearly half the dow's losses in the last two hours of trade. pessimistic speculators sent oil futures plunging $2.19 a barrel. investors did gobble up shares of the dunkin brands ipo. the stock soared over 46%. amazon was up after tuesday's posting of higher than expected earnings and

taking a look at overseas trading this morning in tokyo the nikkei added 97 points, while in hong kong, the hang seng climbed 372. >>> this coming week, with much of wall street on summer vacation, no earnings news and issue of greek debt at least temporarily resolved, economic data will be the driving force. friday markets kicked off the third quarter with a fifth straight day of gains, marking their biggest weekly percentage gain since 2009. the dow rose more than 5%. the s&p gained over 5%. and the nasdaq climbed more than 6%. friday, an index of national factory activity showed the pace of growth and manufacturing picked up for the first time in four months. on the heels of thursday's report showing surprisingly strong regional business, traders hoped the recent trend of weak data may be over. >>> june auto sales also drove friday's trade. ford rose after reporting june sales shot up 14%. truck maker oshkosh served 14% after shareholder carl icahn said he wanted to meet with management to discuss shareholder value. important data tomorrow, with the congress department factory order

the nikkei fell 68 while in hong kong the hang seng dropped 379. after friday's stunning and disappointing jobs numbers, this week wall street will nervously focus on second quarter earnings. aluminum company alcoa starts off the earnings season after the bell today. analysts have steadily been lowers estimates and traders, already jittery about the economy, are even more so after friday's awful june jobs report. earnings by s&p 500 companies are expected to have increased on average, just over 7% in the second quarter from a year ago. jpmorgan chase will be the first of the big banks to report on thursday. results from top tech player google are also expected thursday. also this week, investors will eye fresh economic data, starting with may's trade deficit on tuesday. also tuesday, minutes from the federal reserve's june meeting. wednesday, fed chairman ben bernanke delivers his biannual testimony to congress. retail sales and june's producer price index comes out thursday. and june's consumer price index is released friday. >>> elsewhere, precis

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei gained 110 points, but in hong kong the hang seng fell 230. >>> light, mostly flat trading on the nasdaq bareland eeked out a sixth day of straight gains. netflix hit a new high after it was expanding its on-line video service to 43 countries in latin america and the caribbean. over the last year netflix shares have tripled in value. >>> moody investors service slashed portugal's credit rating into junk territory on risks the country will need another bailout. >>> on the data front new factory orders bounced back in may, boosted by demand for transportation equipment. >>> oil futures surged 2% to settle at just under $97 a barrel after barclay's capital raised its forecast with the commodity in 2012. chevron rose 1%, the most of any stock on the dow, and marathon oil jumped more than 3% on the news. >>> in deal news blood transfusion instrument company immucor rose 30% after agreeing to be taken private by tpg capital for nearly $2 billion. energy transfer increased its bid to buy pipeline company, southern union, agree

taking a look at overseas trading, in tokyo the nikkei fell 27 points, but in hong kong the hang sengadded 13. >>> a hint of another boost from the fed helped stocks to halt a three-day slide wednesday but those gapes were challenged after the bell by a threat to the u.s. credit rating. moody's investors service announced it might cut america's aaa rating due to rising chances the debt ceiling may not be raised in time to avoid default. that sent stocks diving in late trade. earlier in the day stocks flew after congressional testimony from fed chief ben bernanke suggesting the fed would consider additional stimulus measures. two previous stints of the fed buying hundreds of billions in bonds, which finished in june, was supposed to lead to expansion and jobs. about the only clear thing it led to was a sustained rally in stocks. so, the mere suggestion the fed was considering another round led the three majors higher. >>> energy and material shares were the top gainers. copper and gold jumped 2%. oil was up, settling once again over $98 a barrel. >>> scandal battered news corp. was mos

in tokyo the nikkei added 51 points, while the hang seng climbed 336. >>> well, stocks close after a rough month and quarter thursday with their biggest four-day rally since fall last year. this week's rally lifted the dow slilts into the black for the second quarter and left the s&p 500 and the nasdaq with only fractional losses. end of quarter buying by fund managers who typically sell losers and buy winners to sweeten up portfolios helped fuel the rally. >>> also helping midwest business activity showed surprising strength. investors shrugged off a slightly disappointing weekly employment report. greece's parliament approved budget cuts and asset sales, measures necessary for new bailouts. >> worthington jumped nearly 10% after raising its quarterly dividend and announcing a big stock buyback. ebay rose more than 4% on upgrades in the wake of a fed decision favorable to the pay pal service. this spring farmers planted the second largest corn crop in 70 years. good for consumers. it should bring down food prices, but bad for farmers who probably will lose income. as a result, ferti