Morning Market Overview Nov 26

The Standard & Poor's 500 climbed 4.98, or 0.45%, to 1110.63. The measure's materials and consumer-discretionary sectors led its gainers. The materials sector was lifted by a rise in metals futures, as gold reached another record closing high while copper and silver both closed at highs for the year. Tiffany rose 2.06, or 4.9%, to 43.89. The upscale jeweler's fiscal third-quarter earnings fell just 1%, handily topping analysts' expectations. J. Crew climbed 3.20, or 7.8%, to 44.05. Its fiscal third-quarter profit more than doubled as the retailer posted higher margins and same-store sales. J. Crew's earnings topped the company's forecast, while its revenue came in above analysts' estimates. American depositary shares of Bank of Ireland rose 34 cents, or 3.4%, to 10.34. American depositary shares of Nissan Motor (Nasdaq) rose 80 cents, or 5.8%, to 14.56 as Macquarie boosted its investment rating on the stock to neutral.

European shares posted mild gains Wednesday, as miners advanced and broker moves boosted some media firms, offsetting losses in the auto and banking sectors. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index added 0.5% to 248.09, closing higher for the second session in three. The Federal Reserve released minutes from its latest meeting on U.S. interest rates Tuesday. Metal futures were strong and miners advanced, with shares of Lonmin gaining 3.2% and Xstrata adding 1.4%. At the regional level, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index closed up 0.8% to 5,364.81, the French CAC-40 index tacked on 0.7% to 3,809.16 while the German DAX index gained up 0.6% to 5,803.02. On the upside, shares of France Telecom gained 2.1%. TDC's shares jumped 8% in Copenhagen. Meanwhile, shares of media conglomerate Vivendi jumped 4.3% after an upgrade to outperform from underperform at Exane BNP Paribas.

Asian shares ended mostly higher Wednesday after a volatile session that saw many markets change direction at least once, with Japanese stocks climbing on exporters after a strong set of trade data for October. Chinese stocks in Shanghai and Hong Kong overcame choppiness in early trade to finish higher as investors snapped up shares that were beaten-down in Tuesday's sell-off, but banks underperformed on concerns about capital-raising. Japan's Nikkei 225 Average rose 0.4% to 9,441.64 for its first higher finish in six sessions, South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.3% and Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.5%. China's Shanghai Composite rebounded 2.1% and the Hang Seng Index rose 0.8% in Hong Kong, recouping some of their losses Tuesday following a call by China's main banking regulator for China's lenders to strictly comply with capital requirements or face sanctions.

Base metals ended higher Wednesday as gold rallied to another record and the euro rose to a 13-month high against the dollar. The metals extended their overnight recovery and closed near the day's highs, a positive technical sign that could lead to gains in coming days. Better-than-expected U.S. consumer spending, U.S. weekly jobless claims and U.S. new home sales data strengthened risk appetite in broader financial markets and weakened demand for the dollar. The reaction from base metals was to push higher, underlining the inverse link between the dollar and metals as investors seek commodities as a hedge against a weaker dollar and inflation, as well as a bet on a global economic recovery. Copper closed 1.6% higher and at its highest close this year. Zinc and lead were the day's strongest performers, closing 3.2% and 2.5% higher respectively despite the absence of any fresh fundamental news.

Crude futures settled 2.6% higher in a delayed reaction to better-than-expected inventory data Wednesday morning, and as traders moved to cover short positions ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Light, sweet crude for January delivery settled at $77.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude oil stocks rose by 1.019 million barrels last week, less than the 1.5 million build that analysts expected and than the 3.3 million build reported by the American Petroleum Institute a day earlier. Gold futures rocketed to another record high in response to renewed weakness in the U.S. dollar and inflation concerns. February gold, which has replaced December as the month with the most open positions, rose $21.20 to $1,188.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. March silver followed, adding 30.6 cents to $18.80.