New Zealand/Australia Morning Call-Global markets

-----------------------(07:15 / 1815
GMT)-----------------------
Stock Markets
S&P/ASX 200 5,619.10 +60.70 NZSX 50 3,609.41
+7.63
DJIA 12,443.13 +94.92 Nikkei 13,757.91
+122.51
NASDAQ #N/A DRP+#N/A DR FTSE 5,966.90
+20.30
S&P 500 #N/A DRP+#N/A DR Hang Seng 23,759.25
+363.92
SPI 200 Fut 5,660.00 +61.00 CRB Index 394.12
+9.89
Bonds
AU 10 YR Bond 93.495 -0.005 US 10 YR Bond 3.873
+0.108
NZ 10 YR Bond 7.020 +0.000 US 30 YR Bond 4.645
+0.062
Currencies (Prev at 7pm NZST)
AUD US$ 0.9211 0.9191 NZD US$ 0.7996
0.7975
EUR US$ 1.4731 1.4708 Yen US$ 107.64
107.88
Commodities
Gold (Lon) 924.00 Silver (Lon) 17.250

Gold (NY) 905.30 Light Crude 98.89
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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 rose on Tuesday as crude oil prices
lifted shares of energy companies including Exxon Mobil Corp
(XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), while Wal-Mart Stores Inc's (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
stronger-than-expected profit buoyed hopes about consumer
spending.

Exxon shares rose more than 2 percent on the New York Stock
Exchange while those of Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) climbed almost 2
percent after the oil company debuted on the Dow Jones
industrial average. Wal-Mart shares inched up 1.5 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 76.44
points, or 0.62 percent, at 12,424.65. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index .SPX was up 7.72 points, or 0.57 percent, at
1,357.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 10.24
points, or 0.44 percent, at 2,332.04.

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LONDON - Britain's leading FTSE 100 .FTSE share index
edged up on Tuesday, with banks forging higher after Barclays'
(BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research) results and dividend signalled the worst may be over
for the stricken UK financial sector.

The FTSE 100 ended up 0.3 percent, or 20.3 points at
5,966.9. Shares across Europe ended little changed as investors
balanced the Barclays update with a shock writedown at Swiss
bank Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research).

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TOKYO - Japanese stocks climbed to a two-week high on
Tuesday as trading houses such as Itochu Corp (8001.T: Quote, Profile, Research) rose on
strong metals prices and big-name exporters were snapped up by
individual investors.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and other banks
also gained, boosting the overall market, after their European
peers rose on a report that Qatar has bought shares in Credit
Suisse (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) and plans to spend as much as $15 billion on
European and U.S. bank stocks over the next year.

The benchmark Nikkei .N225 hit a high of 13,853, its
highest since Feb. 5, before paring gains to close at
13,757.91, a rise of 0.9 percent. The broader TOPIX
closed up 0.9 percent at 1,345.29.

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FOREIGN EXCHANGE

NEW YORK - The high-yielding Australian and New Zealand
dollars climbed on Tuesday, as gains in global equities and
commodities bolstered investor appetite for risky trades,
outweighing worries about the health of the financial sector.

The Aussie rose to three-month highs versus the greenback,
after minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia's February
policy meeting cemented expectations for more interest rate
hikes, boosting the currency's appeal to global investors.

The yen, meanwhile, had gained overnight on a brief bout of
risk aversion following news about write-downs on risky assets
from Barclays Plc and Credit Suisse. But a rally in U.S.
stocks, led by energy shares, took the steam out of the
Japanese currency's rally.

Further bolstering the latest increase in risk appetite was
the surge in commodity prices, analysts said. Platinum hit a
record high, while gold climbed, and oil gained nearly $3 on
the day.

The Aussie dollar rose as high as US$0.9237a<AUD=>, a level
last seen in early November. It last traded at US$0.9198, up
0.7 percent from late on Monday.

The New Zealand dollar rode on the coattails of the
Aussie's rally, climbing to US$0.8022 <NZD=>, its highest level
since July.

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TREASURIES

NEW YORK - U.S. government bond prices fell on Tuesday as
stock market gains indicated an increased tolerance for risk
among investors, to the detriment of safe-haven Treasuries.

Longer-dated maturities were hardest hit as the market
returned from Monday's holiday, and analysts said traders
subsequently took profits on the curve-steepening trade.

Traders cited worry that the Federal Reserve's aggressive
interest rate cuts to combat possible recession might stoke
inflation pressures as a reason for the initial pressure on
long-dated Treasuries.

However, Treasuries across the curve shaved their losses in
conjunction with stocks trimming some of their early gains.

The two-year note yield <US2YT=RR>, which briefly dipped
to around 1.83 percent on Friday, the lowest since May 2004,
rose to 1.96 percent on Tuesday. U.S. financial markets were
closed on Monday for Presidents Day.

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COMMODITIES

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GOLD

NEW YORK - Gold futures jump 3 percent to a two-week high,
boosted by a host of bullish factors including inflation fears,
a lower dollar and a rally in platinum group metals prices.
COMEX gold futures for April delivery GCJ8 rise $26.00 or
2.9 percent t $932.10 an ounce by 12:11 p.m. EST (1711 GMT),
trading between $903.20 and $934.40. COMEX estimated 11:00 a.m.
volume at 115,244 lots. Spot gold <XAU=> trades at
$928.70/929.40, against the $903.00/903.80 in New York late on
Friday. London bullion dealers fixed the afternoon spot
reference price at $924.00.

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BASE METALS

LONDON - Copper rallied to its highest level in four months
on Tuesday, driven by supply fears as inventories fell and
investment money poured into commodities.

Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal
Exchange rose to $8,225 per tonne, its highest level since Oct.
15, and ended at $8,195, up 2.8 percent from Monday's $7,970.

Lead MPB3 jumped 4.1 percent to close at a three-month
high of $3,150, against $3,025/3,030, fuelled by copper's rise.

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OIL

NEW YORK - U.S. crude oil futures jumped sharply above $98
a barrel on Tuesday, lifted by Monday's Texas refinery fire, a
weak dollar, concerns about supply from Venezuela, Nigeria and
Russia and expectations that OPEC will not increase production
at its March meeting.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:53 a.m. EST (1453
GMT), March crude CLH8 was up $3.11, or 3.26 percent, at
$98.61 a barrel, trading from $95.23 to $98.78, highest since
prices reached $99.41 on Jan. 4.

Futures hit a record $100.09 on Jan. 3. The March contract
expires on Wednesday.

In London, April Brent crude LCOJ8 was up $2.54, or 2.68
percent, at $97.45 a barrel, trading from $94.81 to $97.50.

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