New Zealand/Australia Morning Call-Global markets

-----------------------(07:05 / 1805
GMT)-----------------------
Stock Markets
S&P/ASX 200 5,361.20 +5.50 NZSX 50 3,533.56
+63.13
DJIA 12,551.28 +288.39 Nikkei 12,656.42
+130.88
NASDAQ 2,341.09 +61.99 FTSE 5,852.60
+150.50
S&P 500 1,355.67 +32.97 Hang Seng 22,849.20
+288.26
SPI 200 Fut 5,570.00 +161.00 CRB Index 386.13
-0.76
Bonds
AU 10 YR Bond 93.895 -0.065 US 10 YR Bond 3.536
+0.115
NZ 10 YR Bond 6.455 +0.000 US 30 YR Bond 4.368
+0.068
Currencies (Prev at 7pm NZST)
AUD US$ 0.9042 0.9086 NZD US$ 0.7812
0.7823
EUR US$ 1.5600 1.5663 Yen US$ 101.77
99.90
Commodities
Gold (Lon) 887.75 Silver (Lon) 16.740

Gold (NY) 915.30 Light Crude 101.24

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

EQUITIES

NEW YORK - U.S. stocks rallied on Tuesday, buoyed by bank
stocks, which surged on strong demand for a Lehman Brothers
Holdings Inc (LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research) share offering and a huge UBS writedown
that signaled the worst was behind it.

Shares of Lehman jumped 11 percent on Tuesday after the
bank said it raised $4 billion of capital after an offering of
convertible preferred shares, bolstering its balance sheet and
erasing fears that it was facing the same predicament as Bear
Stearns BSC.N, which nearly collapsed two weeks ago.

The financial sector also benefited from news that Swiss
investment bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) wrote down an additional $19
billion on U.S. real estate and related assets, in addition to
unveiling a massive increase in capital. U.S.-listed shares of
UBS (UBS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) surged 12.5 percent to $32.42 on speculation that
the bank was wiping its slate clean.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI jumped 307.93
points, or 2.51 percent, to 12,570.82. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index .SPX gained 33.12 points, to 2.50 percent, at
1,355.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC advanced 59.87
points, or 2.63 percent, to 2,338.97.

- - - -

LONDON - Britain's top share index ended sharply higher on
Tuesday, entering the second quarter in buoyant mood as
financials jumped on hopes that European bank writedowns
signalled that the worst was over for the sector.

The FTSE 100 .FTSE ended up 2.6 percent, or 150.5 points,
at 5,852.6.

European heavyweight banks UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) and Deutsche Bank
(DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) both gained after taking big hits on their risky
assets -- $19 billion for UBS and $3.9 billion for Deutsche --
which gave their British counterparts a fillip.

Barclays (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research), HBOS (HBOS.L: Quote, Profile, Research), Royal Bank of Scotland
(RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Alliance & Leicester (ALLL.L: Quote, Profile, Research) all jumped between 6
and 8 percent.

- - - -

TOKYO - Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 1 percent on
Tuesday, though early gains were pared as investors grew
increasingly wary ahead of key economic data later this week as
well as lingering worries about global credit.

Blue-chip exporters such as Canon Inc (7751.T: Quote, Profile, Research) rose, with
some financial shares -- battered by heavy selling on Monday,
the final day of the previous fiscal year -- gaining as well.

The Nikkei .N225 ended trade up 1 percent at 12,656.42,
rising some 130 points. On Monday it closed down 2.7 percent,
resulting in its worst quarterly performance since 2001. The
broader TOPIX was up 1.5 percent at 1,230.49, a gain of
17.5 points.

- - - -

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

NEW YORK - The dollar gained broadly on Tuesday after a
write-down at a Swiss bank highlighted that credit market
problems are global, and a better-than-expected report on U.S.
manufacturing activity for March.

The U.S. Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing
report was the latest piece of relatively positive news for the
dollar, even as it indicated factory activity contracted for a
second month.

The euro was down 1 percent on the day at $1.5611 <EUR=>,
after rising as high as $1.5895 on Monday according to Reuters
data. The dollar was up 1.7 percent at 1.0133 Swiss francs
<CHF=> after earlier rising more than 2 percent, its best
one-day percentage gain in four years.

The dollar rose 1.9 percent against the yen, breaking
through the psychological 100 barrier <JPY=> to change hands at
101.70. The dollar also gained more than 2 percent against the
yen at one point during the New York morning.

The Australian dollar fell broadly after the country's
central bank kept interest rates at a 12-year high of 7.25
percent, as widely expected, but issued a statement that cut
expectations of a further rate rise. [ID:nSYD17079]

The Aussie was down 0.8 percent at US$0.9056 <AUD=>.

- - - -

TREASURIES

NEW YORK - U.S. Treasury debt prices plunged on Tuesday as
plans by financial companies to raise capital were taken as a
possible sign the worst of the credit crisis might be over,
sapping any safe-haven bid for bonds.

Bonds extended their losses after an index of national
factory activity for March turned out to be not as weak as
expected, which also bolstered some expectations on the current
state of the economy.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes <US10YT=RR> were trading
1-2/32 lower in price for a yield of 3.55 percent against 3.42
percent late on Monday, while 2-year notes <US2YT=RR> were
10/32 lower in price for a yield of 1.77 percent from 1.60
percent.

The ISM's index of national factory activity for March came
in at 48.6, above analysts' expectations for a reading of 47.5
and above February's 48.3, though still below 50 which
separates growth from contraction.

Five-year notes <US5YT=RR> were trading 28/32 lower in
price for a yield of 2.64 percent from 2.45 percent late on
Monday, while the 30-year bond <US30YT=RR> was 1-14/32 lower in
price for a yield of 4.39 percent from 4.30 percent.

- - - -

COMMODITIES

- - - -

GOLD

NEW YORK - * De-leveraging across all commodities, stock
market rally and sharp gains of the dollar cited.

* June gold GCM8 down $34.40, or 3.7 percent, to $887.10
an ounce at 12:09 p.m. EDT (1609 GMT). Range $925.70 - $876.30
-- a 10-week low.

* Estimated gold volume at 158,113 lots by 11:00 a.m.

* Spot gold <XAU=> drops to $880.70/881.50, from New York's
Monday late quote of $916.20/917.00.

* London afternoon gold fix at $887.75 an ounce

- - - -

BASE METALS

LONDON - Copper fell more than 2 percent on Tuesday as
investors took profits at the start of the new quarter and some
looked to other assets, analysts said.

The London Metal Exchange-traded metal, mainly used in the
power and construction sectors, rose by some 25 percent in the
first quarter, its second largest quarterly gain ever.

Copper for delivery in three months MCU3 fell to 8,160
per tonne before closing at $8,300, down $90 or 1 percent from
Monday's close.

Tin MSN3 was at $20,050 per tonne versus $20,525/20,550,
lead MPB3 fell $15 to $2,775/2,780 and nickel MNI3 dropped
to $29,300, down $600.

Three-months aluminium MAL3 fell $26 to $2,959 per tonne
and zinc MZN3 shed $10 to $2,310.

- - - -

OIL

NEW YORK - U.S. crude oil futures turned positive midday on
Tuesday, as support held, with buyers coming in after prices
fell below $100, traders said.

The dollar's strength pulled prices down sharply earlier as
traders sold oil and other commodities for better gains in the
currency market.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12 noon EDT (1600
GMT), crude for May delivery CLK8 was up 32 cents or 0.32
percent at $101.90 per barrel, after trading $99.55 to $102.10.
The day's low was the cheapest since March 25, when prices fell
to $99.13.

In London, May Brent crude LCOK8 also turned positive,
trading up 61 cents or 0.61 percent at $100.91 a barrel,
trading from $98.99 to $101.08.

- - - -