10:00PM Frankfurt, 4:00PM New York, 8:00AM Sydney –U.S. stocks edged higher after the release of better than expected April same store retail sales. Mining and metals stocks led the rise.

Global Markets Update

U.S. stocks opened higher after the release of jobless data and same store retail sales. Discount retailers led gains in sales in April as families look for ways to save money. Costco, for the twelve months in a row reported same store sales rise above 5%. In April sales rose 6%, excluding gasoline sales. Wal-Mart sales rose 3.2%. The ECB and the Bank of England left rates unchanged at 4% and 5% respectively.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in Canada was 213,900 units in April, down from 243,000 units in March, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Watson Wyatt surged after it reported revenue rise of 16% to $457.5 million and earnings gain of 26% to $42.5 million. OM Group fell after earnings plunged 93% to $55.2 million. Hedge fund and alternative asset manager Fortress Group fell after it reported a quarterly loss of $69 million. Copa Holdings, operator of Panama based airline fell after earnings fell 18.7%.

Mining stocks in Europe and New York rebounded. BHP Billiton, Vale, Cleveland Cliff, ArcelorMittal and Freeport McMoran led the gainers. Gold resurged after the ECB and the Bank of England left rates unchanged. The ECB left key rates at 4% and the Bank of England left its rate at 5%. German March export fell 0.5%.

Stocks in Japan tracked weakness in the U.S. and closed lower. Financial stocks fell the most on the worries that more losses may have to be taken on the new disclosure requirements from the U.S. regulatory agency SEC. Nikkei 225 index fell 1.3% to 13,943. Toyota Motor reported 9.8% rise in sales and 4.5% in earnings but offered lower sales and earnings outlook for the current year.

Toyota Motor fell in New York trading after it lowered its estimate of sales and earnings for the current fiscal year. For the fiscal year 2008 revenue rose 9.8% and earnings gained 4.5%. Toyota estimates unit sales in the current fiscal year of 8.87 million units compared to 8.69 million units in the year completed in March 2008.

Hong Kong reported 0.9% decline in foreign reserves in April to $160 billion and China will issue Rmb 28 billion or $4 billion of government bonds with 30 year maturity that will trade next week. Hang Seng fell 0.6% to 25,449 and CSI 300 in Shanghai trading lost 2.7% to 3,921. Refiners and airlines continue to decline as crude oil trades at a record high in the international markets.

European Markets indexes

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 9.80 or 0.16% to 6,270.80, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 19.73 or 0.39% to close at 5,055.58 and in Frankfurt DAX index lower 4.35 or 0.06% to close at 7,071.90. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 53.01 or 0.69% to close at 7,586.15.

North American Markets indexes

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 52.43 or 0.41% to a close of 12,866.78, S&P 500 closed up 5.11 or 0.37% to 1,397.68, and Nasdaq Composite Index increased 12.75 or 0.52% to close at 2,451.24. In Toronto TSX Composite closed up 236.46 or 1.65% to 14,607.99.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average, 20 closed higher, 10 closed lower, and none was unchanged.

Alcoa led gainers in the Dow Jones index with a rise of 4.1% followed by rises in Chevron of 2.2%, in DuPont of 1.6%, in United Technologies of 1.4% and in Exxon Mobil of 1.2%. Home Depot led decliners in the Dow Jones with a loss of 2.2% followed by losses in AIG of 2%, in Bank of America of 1.7%, in Coca-Cola of 1.3% and in General Motors of 1.1%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 292 stocks increased, 204 declined, and 4 were unchanged. Of the stocks in the index, 18 stocks fell more than 3% and 23 gained more than 3%.

Barr Pharmaceuticals led decliners in the S&P 500 index with a loss of 23% followed by losses in Tesoro of 1.5%, in Dillard’s of 5.6%, in First Horizon of 4.95%, in Fannie Mae of 4.9% and in Fifth Third Bancorp of 4.35%. National Oilwell Varco led gainers in the S&P 500 index with a rise of 9% followed by rises in Rowan Companies of 6.9%, in Peabody Energy of 6%, in Cameron International of 5.5%, in Manitowoc of 4.9% and in El Paso Corp of 4.65%.

South American Markets Indexes

Brazil led gainers in the Latin American markets with a rise of 1.02% followed by increases in Argentina of 0.38% and in Venezuela of 0.25%, and in Peru of 0.07%. Colombia fell 1.02%, Chile declined 0.09% and Mexico lost 0.03%.

Asian Markets

In Tokyo Nikkei 225 Index closed lower 159.22 or 1.13% to 13,943.26, in Hong Kong Hang Seng index decreased 160.42 or 0.63% closed to 25,449.79. In Australia ASX 200 index higher 54.80 or 0.97% to close 5,723.20. In Malaysia KL Composite index decreased 6.80 or 0.53% closed to 1,280.35.

In South Korea Kospi Index decreased 6.01 or 0.32% to close at 1,848.00, in Thailand SET index closed higher 1.46 or 0.17% to 850.17 and Indonesia JSE Index edged decreased 5.77 or 0.24% to 2,376.93. Sensex index in India decreased 258.66 or 1.49% to 17,080.65.