New Zealand/Australia Morning Call-Global markets

-----------------------(06:06 / 1805
GMT)-----------------------
Stock Markets
S&P/ASX 200 5,087.00 -119.90 NZSX 50 3,429.43
-71.48
DJIA 11,933.34 -17.75 Nikkei 11,787.51
-454.09
NASDAQ 2,172.19 -40.30 FTSE 5,414.40
-217.30
S&P 500 1,270.97 -17.17 Hang Seng
22,237.11-1152.50
SPI 200 Fut 5,096.00 -19.00 CRB Index 396.86
-19.54
Bonds
AU 10 YR Bond 94.220 +0.085 US 10 YR Bond 3.306
-0.166
NZ 10 YR Bond 6.640 +0.000 US 30 YR Bond 4.274
-0.103
Currencies (Prev at 7pm NZST)
AUD US$ 0.9152 0.9268 NZD US$ 0.7960
0.8090
EUR US$ 1.5716 1.5801 Yen US$ 97.24
97.13
Commodities
Gold (Lon) 1011.25 Silver (Lon) 20.920

Gold (NY) 992.80 Light Crude 105.33

___________________________(March
18)___________________________
Overnight market action. An updated report will be sent after
the close of New York markets.

EQUITIES

NEW YORK - U.S. stocks fell on Monday after JPMorgan Chase
(JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) bought Bear Stearns BSC.N at a fire sale price and
the Federal Reserve provided emergency cash to Wall Street as
the global credit crisis worsened.

But stocks trimmed losses as shares of JPMorgan led
advancers, while the Fed's move to cut its discount rate to
3.25 percent and expand lending to a wider range of big
financial firms -- the first such move since the Great
Depression -- helped Wall Street ease a bit off early lows.

JPMorgan is buying Bear Stearns for $236 million, or $2 per
share -- one-fifteenth of the price at Friday's close. Shares
of Bear, which until recently had ranked as the fifth-largest
U.S. investment bank, reached a high of $172.61 last year.
Bear's stock plummeted 87.3 percent to $3.91 at midday on
Monday.

The financial sector tumbled, as Lehman Brothers LEH.N
sank 23.9 to $29.86 and Citigroup dropped 7.3 percent to
$18.35. The Standard & Poor's financial index was down
3.6 percent.

JPMorgan, the top gainer in both the blue-chip Dow average
and the S&P 500, climbed 8.3 percent to $39.58, preventing an
uglier morning on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dropped 114.39
points, or 0.96 percent, to 11,836.70. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index .SPX shed 23.44 points, or 1.82 percent, to
1,264.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC tumbled 44.78
points, or 2.02 percent, to 2,167.71.

- - - -

LONDON - Britain's leading share index sank 3.9 percent on
Monday to hit its lowest closing level since late 2005 after
the fire sale of U.S. bank Bear Stearns BSC.N sparked fears
of more casualties from a global credit crisis.

The FTSE 100 .FTSE fell for the third straight session to
close down 217.3 points at 5,414.4. The UK benchmark index has
lost 16 percent so far this year on fears of a looming U.S.
recession.

Banks were the worst hit after JPMorgan (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) announced a
takeover of Bear Stearns at a rock-bottom price, and ahead of a
set of key U.S. investment bank results due this week.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) fell 8.7 percent, Barclays
(BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research) dropped 9.4 percent, while HBOS (HBOS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) slid nearly
13 percent and Alliance & Leicester (ALLL.L: Quote, Profile, Research) lost 7.2 percent.

- - - -

TOKYO - Japanese stocks fell nearly 4 percent to about a
2-½ year closing low on Monday, dragged down by exporters
such as Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) as the dollar hit a 13-year
low against the yen, casting a cloud over their earnings
outlooks.

Financial shares took a beating as the acquisition of Bear
Stearns BSC.N by JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) exacerbated fears
that more financial institutions could become casualties in a
widening U.S. financial crisis. [ID:nN16640873]

The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 fell 3.7 percent or
454.09 points to end at 11,787.51, its lowest finish since Aug.
8, 2005. The broader TOPIX index shed 3.7 percent or
43.58 points to 1,149.65, the lowest close since June 2005.

- - - -

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

NEW YORK - The dollar tumbled to a 12-½ year low against
the Japanese yen on Monday and record levels against the euro
and the Swiss franc as emergency liquidity-boosting measures by
the Federal Reserve over the weekend failed to ease worries
about the U.S. financial sector.

The greenback sold off in reaction to the Fed cutting its
discount rate by 25 basis points to 3.25 percent on Sunday and
opening up discount window lending to major investment banks, a
tool not used since the Great Depression.

The latest developments in the U.S. financial system
stemming from losses in the subprime mortgage market triggered
a global market rout on Monday. The dollar slid as much as 3
percent to below 96 yen, its lowest since 1995 and bringing
year-to-date losses to more than 13 percent.

The euro rose as high as $1.5904, having already added
around 4 percent in the first two weeks of March, roughly
doubling its year-to-date gains <EUR=>. It last traded at
$1.5751.

- - - -

TREASURIES

NEW YORK - U.S. Treasury debt prices surged on Monday in a
scramble for safety stoked by investors' fears about the
financial system following a fire sale deal for Bear Stearns
and a cut in the Federal Reserve's discount rate.

Short term inter-bank lending rates in Europe and the
United States jumped, while the cost of insuring the debt of
U.S. banks against default rose, signaling market participants'
growing fears of counterparty risk. U.S. federal funds traded
at 3.50 percent, an unusually wide 50 basis points above the
target rate the Federal Reserve sets.

Two-year Treasury note yields, which move inversely to
their prices, dropped earlier to about 1.25 percent, near
five-year lows, as investors plowed into short-dated U.S.
government paper.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note's price, which moves
inversely to its yield, was up 1-2/32 for a yield of 3.34
percent <US10YT=RR>, versus 3.47 percent late Friday.

The 2-year Treasury note's price was up 8/32 for a yield of
1.36 percent <US2YT=RR>, versus 1.49 percent late Friday.

- - - -

COMMODITIES

- - - -

GOLD

NEW YORK - Gold futures held initial gains after rising to
a record high in overnight sessions on the back of
flight-to-quality buying, in spite of a broad-based commodities
sell-off amid a deepening U.S. credit crisis. COMEX gold
futures for April delivery GCJ8 jumps $16.90 or 1.7 percent
to $1,016.40 an ounce by 11:54 a.m. EDT (1554 GMT), dealing
between $999.50 and $1,033.90 -- an all-time high. COMEX
estimated gold volume at a heavy 177,939 lots by 11:00 a.m.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,014.80/1,015.00, up from New York's
Friday late quote of $996.90/997.70. The London afternoon gold
fix was set at $1,011.25 an ounce.

- - - -

BASE METALS

LONDON - Industrial metals fell sharply on Monday as
investors worried about a slowdown in demand as the economic
outlook worsened on fears the credit crisis will further harm
financial markets.

Three-months zinc MZN3 on the London Metal Exchange
slipped 6.0 percent at one point, nickel MNI3 9.7 percent,
lead MPB3 5.9 percent and aluminium MAL3 and copper MCU3
more than 4 percent as equity markets tumbled.

Copper, a key gauge of real economic activity, ended at
$8,051 a tonne from Friday's $8,375. It earlier fell to $8,010,
its lowest since February 19.

Lead hit an intraday low of $2,880 -- the lowest since
February 8 -- before ending at $2,900 a tonne, down from $3,060
on Friday, while zinc MZN3 was at $2,479 from $2,600.

Aluminium MAL3 closed at $2,945 from $3,085. Earlier it
touched a three-week low of $2,950 and nickel MNI3 at
$29,400, the lowest once late February, compared with $32,550
on Friday. Tin MSN3 ended at $20,200 from $20,600.

- - - -

OIL

NEW YORK - U.S. crude oil futures fell on Monday as
profit-taking hit commodities markets amid concerns about a
slowing economy and continued banking and credit uncertainty.

Crude futures bounced off lows, then retreated after
reaching a record high near $112 early, lifted by the weak
dollar.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 11:34 a.m. EDT (1534
GMT), April crude CLJ8 was down $2.37, or 2.15 percent, at
$107.84 a barrel, trading as low as $105.11 after reaching a
record high $111.80 in early trading.

In London, May Brent crude LCOK8 was in the front-month
spot, down $2.66, or 2.5 percent, at $103.54 a barrel, trading
from $101.18 to $107.97.

- - - -