New Zealand/Australia Morning Call-Global markets

-----------------------(07:15 / 1815
GMT)-----------------------
Stock Markets
S&P/ASX 200 5,127.50 -161.60 NZSX 50 3,425.71
-41.55
DJIA 12,576.89 +215.57 Nikkei 12,480.09
-2.48
NASDAQ 2,329.87 +71.76 FTSE 5,495.20
-50.40
S&P 500 1,354.36 +24.85 Hang Seng 21,866.94
-758.72
SPI 200 Fut 5,190.00 +11.00 CRB Index 384.92
+3.18
Bonds
AU 10 YR Bond 94.030 +0.010 US 10 YR Bond 3.507
+0.166
NZ 10 YR Bond 6.580 +0.000 US 30 YR Bond 4.296
+0.128
Currencies (Prev at 7pm NZST)
AUD US$ 0.9070 0.9010 NZD US$ 0.7979
0.7902
EUR US$ 1.5413 1.5377 Yen US$ 100.71
99.94
Commodities
Gold (Lon) 925.75 Silver (Lon) 17.530

Gold (NY) 919.10 Light Crude 101.59
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Overnight market action. An updated report will be sent after
the close of New York markets.

EQUITIES

NEW YORK - U.S. stocks rallied on Monday as JPMorgan Chase
& Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) increased its offer to buy Bear Stearns Cos
BSC.N five-fold and data showed signs of a possible bottoming
in the troubled housing sector.

The Nasdaq was up 3 percent, while the Dow and S&P 500 each
climbed almost 2 percent.

Investors warmed to the higher offer for Bear Stearns, to
about $10 a share, as it may avert a long shareholder battle
and let JPMorgan close the deal sooner.

Following strong gains last week, the Dow Jones industrial
average .DJI rose 234.70 points, or 1.90 percent, to
12,596.02. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX gained 26.49
points, or 1.99 percent, to 1,356.00 and the Nasdaq Composite
Index .IXIC rose 70.83 points, or 3.13 percent to 2,328.94.

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LONDON - Britain's leading share index ended down almost 1
percent on Friday, dragged lower by oil and metal stocks as
commodity prices plunged while services group Rentokil soared
after a management revamp.

The FTSE 100 .FTSE was 50.4 points or 0.9 percent down at
5,495.2 in a lacklustre trading session ahead of the four-day
Easter break.

The UK benchmark index has lost nearly 15 percent this year
and is on course for its worst three-monthly loss since the
third quarter of 2002.

On the economic front, data showed that consumers bought
more than expected at British stores in February, boosting
chances the central bank will leave interest rates unchanged in
April. [ID:nL20801169]

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TOKYO - Japan's Nikkei share average ended almost flat on
Monday after a three-day winning streak, with gains by
exporters like Honda Motor Co Ltd (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research) offseting declines
in insurers such as Millea Holdings Inc (8766.T: Quote, Profile, Research).

In thin trade Japan's three largest banks, including
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T: Quote, Profile, Research), extended gains, all
rising more than 2 percent.

The market spent most of the session in positive territory
as investors saw some shares as bargains following the recent
sell-off.

The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 ended down 2.48 points
at 12,480.09. The broader TOPIX index rose 0.3 percent
to 1,224.15.

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FOREIGN EXCHANGE

NEW YORK - The dollar rallied across the board on Monday on
better-than-expected U.S. existing home sales data and J.P.
Morgan's higher offer for Bear Stearns shares, which boosted
Wall Street stocks.

The U.S. currency rose for a fourth consecutive session in
holiday-thinned trading and followed a series of aggressive
measures undertaken by the Federal Reserve last week aimed at
relieving the market's liquidity pressure.

In midday New York trading, the dollar rose to a session
peak at 100.74 yen <JPY=>, the highest since March 14, and well
off a nearly 13-year low of 95.77 yen posted last week. The
pair last traded at 100.57, up 1.00 percent from late on
Friday.

The dollar index, a measure of the greenback's value
against six major currencies, was up 0.4 percent at
73.039.DXY. It earlier rose 73.194, the highest since March
12.

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TREASURIES

NEW YORK - U.S. Treasury debt prices fell on Monday as a
stock market rally and signs of recovery in the housing and
credit markets weakened the bid for safe-haven U.S. government
debt.

Investors shifted funds into stocks and away from bonds as
JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) moved closer to completing a
sharply raised all-stock offer for Bear Stearns Cos BSC.N at
$10 a share, roughly five times its original bid.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note's price, which moves
inversely to its yield, was down 1-12/32, its yield <US10YT=RR>
rising to 3.51 percent from 3.34 percent on Thursday.

As demand for safe-haven securities eased, short-term U.S.
Treasury bills saw their yields -- which move inversely to
prices -- rise from lows not seen since the 1950s.

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COMMODITIES

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GOLD

NEW YORK - U.S. gold futures rose in light trade on Monday
as the market bounced back slightly from last week's heavy
losses, with investors and physical buyers hunting bargains
with prices more than $100 below the record highs.

However, dealers also said the 13 percent decline of gold
contracts last week amid a full-scale retreat of other
commodities has taken a toll on market sentiment.

At 10:59 a.m. EDT (1434 GMT), the active U.S. gold contract
GCJ8 for April delivery on the COMEX division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange was up $3.20 to $923.20 an ounce.

Spot gold <XAU=> traded at $922.50/923.30, down sharply
from $920.30/921.10 at the close Thursday. U.S. markets were
shut on Friday due to the Good Friday holiday.

COMEX May silver SIK8 gained 29 cents, or 1.6 percent,
to $17.140 an ounce. It traded between a six-week bottom of
$16.815 and a high of $17.275.

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BASE METALS

LONDON - Worries about demand and global economic growth
knocked industrial metals along with most other commodities on
Thursday, with copper falling to a six-week low and lead
tumbling more than 6 percent.

Traders and analysts said the dollar's rise prompted
investors to cash in their profits from a recent breathless
rally in commodities, which had sent copper to a record high.

Copper for three-months delivery MCU3 on the London Metal
Exchange ended at $7,840 per tonne, down $135, and paring
losses after falling to an intraday low of $7,611, the lowest
since Feb. 8 and down 4.6 percent.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division,
copper for May delivery HGK8 settled down 6.00 cents at
$3.5735 a lb, after dealing between $3.62 and $3.4610, its
lowest level since Feb. 8.

Lead MPB3 fell 6.3 percent to a seven-weeks low of $2,655
per tonne, before closing at $2,714 from Wednesday's $2,835.

Zinc MZN3 shed 5.4 percent to touch a seven-weeks low of
$2,252 before ending at $2,270 versus Wednesday's $2,410.

Tin MSN3 closed at $19,875 versus $20,575, nickel MNI3
was at $28,500 from $29,350 and aluminium MAL3 fell $77 to
$2,843 against Wednesday's close.

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OIL

NEW YORK - U.S. crude oil futures edged up in seesaw
trading on Monday, as better-than-expected home sales data
helped crude oil bounce off an early low while a firmer dollar
pressured values.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 1:08 p.m. EDT (1708
GMT), May crude CLK8 was up 21 cents, or 0.21 percent, at
$102.05 per barrel, trading from $100.02 to $102.30.

Crude futures hit a record $111.80 on March 17.

In London, May Brent crude LCOK8 was up 55 cents, or 0.55
percent, at $100.93 a barrel, trading $98.92 92 $101.14.

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