Morning Market Overview Dec 1

Still, some Black Friday jitters weighed on Macy's and other retailers, keeping the stock market gains muted.

For Monday, the Dow closed up 34.92 points, or 0.34%, at 10344.84. Within the index, gainers were led by J.P. Morgan, up 1.16, or 2.8%, to 42.49; Bank of America, up 38 cents, or 2.5%, at 15.85; and American Express, up 99 cents, or 2.4%, at 41.83.

Last week, markets around the world were shaken by news that Dubai World, the city-state's largest corporate entity, asked creditors for a six-month stay on repayment of $60 billion in debt.

The Dow lost more than 150 points Friday in the wake of the disclosure, with financials facing the brunt of the selling in the U.S.

Among other indexes, the Standard & Poor's 500 closed Monday up 4.14, or 0.38%, at 1095.63.

The index closed out the month up 59.44, or 5.74%, also marking its best November since 2001 and its eighth gain in nine months.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 6.16, or 0.29%, to 2144.60, on Monday, and ended November up 99.49, or 4.86%.

Despite the broad gains for the entire month, consumer discretionary stocks were a weight on all major indexes on Monday's session.

Hurting retailers, the highly-anticipated Black Friday weekend sales turned out weaker than expected with average spending falling from a year ago, signaling that retailers may have to do more to make the holiday shopping season a success.

Macy's closed down 66 cents, or 3.9%, at 16.31; J.C. Penney lost 83 cents, or 2.8%, to 28.74; and Target fell 1.14, or 2.4%, to 46.56.

European Market

European shares declined Monday, with every sector under pressure, as markets remained jittery over Dubai's debt woes.

The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index fell 1.2% to 239.58, marking the second day of losses in four sessions and paring monthly gains to 1.1%.

The index lost 0.4% overall last week although there were big daily moves over the period, with Dubai's debt troubles roiling markets towards the end of the week.

Energy issues were the biggest drag on the UK blue chip index with crude prices around $4 below the $80 a barrel level set earlier this month., BG Group, Royal Dutch Shell and Tullow lost 0.7 to 2.0 percent.

On a regional level, the German DAX index declined 1.1% to 5,625.95, the French CAC-40 index lost 1.1% to 3,680.15 and the U.K. FTSE 100 index closed down 0.9% to 5,197.10.

Energy firms lost ground Monday in Europe, with oil giant BP down 1.6%, Repsol shares down 0.6%, Total down 1.6%, and natural gas producer BG Group down 2%.

Asian Market

Financial stocks were among the biggest winners in a broad Asian stock market rally Monday following Friday's sharp selloff, as investors found refuge in reassurance by the United Arab Emirates' central bank that it would support local and international banks with exposure to Dubai debt. 

Japan's Nikkei 225 closed up 2.9% and South Korea's Kospi Composite climbed 2%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 3.3% and China's Shanghai Composite tacked on 3.2%. Bucking the trend, Singapore's Straits Times Index ended down 1.1%, playing some catch-up on the downside after being closed for a holiday Friday.

Most financial stocks in the region advanced, rebounding from Friday's selloff. In Hong Kong, HSBC rose 4.3% after ending Friday down 7.6%. In Japan, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rose 8.6%.

In South Korea, Woori Finance Holdings surged 9.4% after dropping nearly 16% over Thursday and Friday combined.

Commodities

Copper ended firm on Monday, with prices in both London and New York holding near 14-month highs, as investment funds continued to seek safety in tangible assets such as the industrial metals as a hedge against inflation.

Copper for March delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division rose 5.15 cents to settle at $3.1770 a lb, after dealing between $3.1060 and $3.1835.

At the London Metal Exchange (LME), three-month copper closed up $75 at $6,930 a tonne, well within last week's 14-month peak above $7,000.

Aluminum ended up $39 at $2,055 a tonne, tin closed up $305 at $15,200, and nickel closed at $16,400 from $16,085 a tonne on Friday, when it touched $15,751 -- its lowest since July 22.

Stocks of nickel at above 137,000 tonnes are the highest since February 1995 and are also undermining prices of the metal used to make stainless steel.

Battery material lead closed at $2,345 from Friday's last bid at $2,290 and zinc, used to galvanize steel at $2,322 from $2,230.

Crude futures jumped sharply Monday on concerns over tensions with Iran after reports that United Kingdom nationals were being held in Iran after their yacht was seized.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery settled $1.23 higher at $77.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil prices spiked after reports that five U.K. nationals were being held after the Iranian navy seized their yacht, which may have strayed into Iranian waters in the Gulf en route from Bahrain to Dubai.

The AFP reported the incident occurred Nov. 25. Tensions between Iran and western countries were already simmering after Iran pledged over the weekend to build 10 uranium-enrichment plants, despite being under pressure by Western nations to accept a nuclear-energy deal negotiated last month with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Gold futures pared early losses to settle higher.

Participants were rebalancing positions by resuming their selling of the U.S. dollar and buying commodities as concerns about the Dubai debt crisis eased. Comex February gold rose $6.80 to settle at $1,182.30 an ounce. Comex March silver rose 19 cents to settle at $18.525 an ounce.