New Zealand/Australia Morning Call-Global markets

-----------------------(07:19 / 01819
GMT)-----------------------
Stock Markets
S&P/ASX 200 5,650.30 +31.60 NZSX 50 3,670.60
-26.40
DJIA 12,510.87 +68.04 Nikkei 13,592.47
+247.44
NASDAQ 2,361.17 +12.17 FTSE 5,879.80
+42.50
S&P 500 1,362.45 +6.64 Hang Seng 23,653.69
-197.95
SPI 200 Fut 5,677.00 +52.00 CRB Index 367.88
-0.64
Bonds
AU 10 YR Bond 93.920 +0.000 US 10 YR Bond 3.626
-0.015
NZ 10 YR Bond 6.830 +0.000 US 30 YR Bond 4.343
-0.032
Currencies (Prev at 5pm AEST)
AUD US$ 0.8958 0.8910 NZD US$ 0.7876
+0.7829
EUR US$ 1.4846 1.4880 Yen US$ 106.38
+106.46
Commodities
Gold (Lon) 923.25 Silver (Lon) 16.740

Gold (NY) #N/A N/A Light Crude 90.69
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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 shot higher on Thursday, led by
financial shares after executives at a major bond insurer gave
reassuring comments on its outlook. The S&P 500 index briefly
rose 1 percent.

The positive comments offset data on jobless claims that
pointed to more trouble for the economy, which caused an early
sell-off in stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 92.59
points, or 0.74 percent, at 12,535.42. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index .SPX was up 11.67 points, or 0.86 percent, at
1,367.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 18.73
points, or 0.80 percent, at 2,367.73.

Bank stocks turned higher shortly after the opening after
falling on Wednesday. The S&P financial index was up
2.9 percent.

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LONDON - The FTSE 100 .FTSE of Britain's leading reversed
early losses to end higher on Thursday, supported by U.S.
markets, M&A activity and commodity stocks.

The blue-chip index ended up 42.5 points, or 0.7 percent at
5,879.8.

The FTSE 100 is down almost 9 percent for the month -- the
worst-performing January since 2003 -- as persistent recession
concerns triggered global stock market ructions.

On the economic diary, the Bank of England is expected to
cut interest rates next week to head off fears of slowing
growth and end the year with rates at 4.75 percent, a Reuters
poll showed last week.

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TOKYO - Japanese stocks rose almost 2 percent on Thursday,
buoyed by short-covering in Toyota Motor Co (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and other
blue-chip exporters, while banks erased nearly all their early
losses as subprime fears eased slightly.

Investors sought out companies posting good earnings
results regardless of sector, with Terumo Corp (4543.T: Quote, Profile, Research), Yahoo
Japan Corp (4689.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and systems integrator NTT Data Corp
(9613.T: Quote, Profile, Research) all surging on positive results and ratings upgrades.

Among a slew of earnings that came out after the close,
Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) posted a 6 percent rise in quarterly
operating profit thanks to strong digital camera sales, but it
cut its annual outlook.

The benchmark Nikkei .N225 was up 1.85 percent at
13,592.47, a gain of more than 200 points. The broader TOPIX
.TOPX was up 1.98 percent at 1,346.31.

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FOREIGN EXCHANGE

NEW YORK - The dollar rose on Thursday, with dealers
focused primarily on cutting back bets against the currency a
day ahead of the January U.S. employment report, which could
shed light on how close the economy is to a recession.

The dollar fell sharply on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal
Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a half-percentage
point, for a total reduction of 1.25 percentage points in a
little more than a week.

But dealers began taking profits on that move overnight,
especially with fears growing that the credit crisis that began
in the United States is now growing overseas, muddying the
near-term direction for the dollar.

The euro slipped 0.3 percent from late Wednesday to $1.4840
EUR=, but it touched an intraday high of $1.4914, according
to Reuters data. The all-time high is a little more than a cent
away at $1.4966.

The dollar edged up 0.2 percent to 106.65 yen JPY=,
moving in lock-step with U.S. stock indexes.

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TREASURIES

NEW YORK - U.S. Treasury debt prices were little changed on
Thursday, paring earlier gains as stocks climbed amid
assurances from a bond insurer that it has enough cash to cover
its near-term needs.

Stocks in bond insurers climbed after the chief financial
officer for MBIA Inc (MBI.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said the company has sufficient
cash on hand to cover its needs over a two-year period, and
that rumors it may be insolvent in the near term were without
merit.

Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR were trading unchanged
in price for a yield of 3.64 percent.

Earlier in the day, Treasury debt prices jumped after a
surge in weekly jobless claims added to worries about a slowing
economy.

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COMMODITIES

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GOLD

NEW YORK - U.S. platinum futures rose sharply to a record
high Thursday, boosted by supply worries due to production
halts in top producer South Africa and strong investment
demand, while the gold market took a breather after surging to
record levels on Wednesday.

The active NYMEX platinum for April delivery PLJ8 surged
to a record high of $1,742 an ounce in the early session.

By 11:01 a.m., the gold contract for April delivery at the
COMEX division of the NYMEX GCJ8 was up 60 cents at $926.90
an ounce trading between $923.00 and $934.00. It rose as high
as $942.20 Wednesday, an all-time peak for gold futures.

Spot gold XAU= was quoted at $921.70/922.60 versus
Wednesday's New York close of $921.10/921.80. London bullion
dealers fixed the afternoon spot price at $923.25.

COMEX March silver SIH8 gained 6.0 cents to $16.820 an
ounce, trading from $16.735 to $16.935 -- near its contract
high.

Spot silver XAG= was at $16.73/16.78, compared with its
last Wednesday quote of $16.82/16.87. London silver was fixed
at $16.74.

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LONDON - Copper prices firmed on Thursday, but analysts
said a large rise in inventories and fears of a looming
recession in the United States could drag industrial metals
prices lower.

Copper MCU3 for delivery in three months on the London
Metal Exchange ended up at $7,350 a tonne from $7,160 on
Wednesday. The metal is used extensively in the power and
construction industries.

Three-months aluminium MAL3 closed at $2,710 from $2,641
on Wednesday. Earlier on Thursday it rallied to a six-month
high of $2,717 .

Zinc MZN3 jumped 7 percent to $2,515, the highest since
January 10 on fund buying. It ended at $2,505 per tonne from
$2,350 on Wednesday.

Lead MPB3 hit $2,831 a tonne, the highest since early
December. It ended at $2,820 from $2,740, nickel MNI3 at
$27,400 from $27,200 and tin MSN3 at $16,975/17,025 from
$16,700/16,725.

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OIL

NEW YORK - U.S. crude oil futures pared losses to clamber
above $90 midday on Thursday, moving with Wall Street, but were
still under pressure on economic worries.

Traders are watching OPEC, which meets on Friday in Vienna.
OPEC insiders are signaling that the producers' group will not
tinker with oil output at the meeting.

Iran Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said on Thursday oil
markets were well supplied and he saw no need for the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to boost
production when it meets. [ID:nSP303102]

On the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12 p.m. EST (1700
GMT), March crude CLH8 was down $1.85 or 2 percent at $90.48
a barrel, trading from $89.58 to $91.79. It rose for the fifth
day on Wednesday, ending up 69 cents at $92.33.

In London, March Brent crude LCOH8 also pared losses,
trading at $91, down $1.53 or 1.65 percent, after moving from
from $90.16 to $91.92.

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