FROM MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD:

U.S. STOCK MARKETS:

Stocks extended their streak of declines Thursday as concerns about Spain's banks and a weak reading on mid-Atlantic business conditions outweighed upbeat earnings from Wal-Mart and Sears.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 156.06 points, or 1.2%, to 12442.49. The decline was the 11th in 12 sessions for the blue chips, the first time that has happened since 2002.

Standard Poor's 500-stock index retreated 19.94 points, or 1.5%, to 1304.86, its lowest close since Jan. 17. The Nasdaq Composite shed 60.35 points, or 2.1%, to 2813.69.

The Russell 2000, a widely watched benchmark for small-cap stocks, fell 2.3%, extending its drop from a recent high in March to more than 10%, a retreat commonly known as a correction.

After U.S. stock markets closed, Moody's downgraded 16 Spanish banks by between one and three notches. Earlier, speculation of a downgrade of the sector damped sentiment.

Meanwhile, the country sold EUR2.494 billion in bonds, near the maximum targeted amount, but at much higher yields than at previous auctions.

Business conditions in the mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly contracted this month, according to the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing index. Hiring also turned negative.

Jobless claims were unchanged from the prior week's upwardly revised reading, suggesting the labor market is stabilizing but slightly missing economists' expectations for a decline.

The Conference Board's leading indicators index unexpectedly declined last month. Facebook's shares priced at $38, the top of their expected range, on the eve of the social network operator's initial public offering.

The price valued Facebook at $104 billion, the biggest-ever valuation by a U.S. company at the time of its offering. Caterpillar fell 4.4%, suffering the biggest drop among Dow components, after saying sales of construction and mining machinery slowed in the three months to the end of April.

J.P. Morgan Chase fell 4.3% after reports Chief Executive James Dimon will be called to testify before the Senate Banking Committee in the wake of big trading losses.

Wal-Mart jumped 4.2%, its biggest percentage increase since 2008, after the blue-chip discount retailer reported fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue that exceeded analyst forecasts and provided a second-quarter earnings outlook that was in line with analysts' projections.

EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS:

European equity benchmarks kept up a losing streak Thursday as shares of Bankia SA tumbled on reports of customers pulling money out of the Spanish bank.

Speculation that Moody's Investors Service could downgrade the Spanish banking sector also darkened investor sentiment and, with worries about Greece also continuing to overshadow the market, the Stoxx Europe 600 index extended losses to a fourth day, dropping 1.1% to 241.63.

Topping the Stoxx 600 decliner list, shares of Bankia tumbled 14%. A local newspaper said customers were urgently withdrawing deposits after the recent nationalization of the bank, but Spanish Deputy Finance Minister Fernando Jimenez Latorre denied the report, according to media reports.

Bankia itself said in a statement that it expects no big changes in deposit levels. Further unsettling markets, a Spanish newspaper said Moody's Investors Service would downgrade up to 21 banks after the close of trading on European markets.

The Spain IBEX 35 index fell 1.1% to 6,537.90, with shares of BBVA SA losing 2.8% and Banco Santander SA down 1.7%. Elsewhere, the Athens General Index fell 3.4% to 536.49 and the FTSE MIB Italy index dropped 1.5% to 13,089.526, with shares of UniCredit SpA down 4.7%.

The French CAC 40 index fell 1.2% to 3,011.99. Credit Agricole SA fell 3.5% and Societe Generale SA lost 3.6%. The German DAX 30 index fell 1.2% to 6,308.96, with Deutsche Bank AG down 2% and Allianz SE dropping 1.9%.

The FTSE 100 index fell 1.2% to 5,338.38, as Vodafone Group PLC dropped 1.2%. Vodafone India Chief Executive Marten Pieters told reporters Thursday that the company is planning to list its Indian venture on local markets soon but didn't specify a date.

Among banks, HSBC Holdings PLC fell 2.5%, and Standard Chartered PLC was down 3%. Energy stocks were also lower, with BP PLC down 0.8% and Royal Dutch Shell PLC down 0.9%.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS

Asian markets ended mixed Thursday, stabilizing after heavy selling Wednesday, as worries over Europe subsided with Greece preparing to hold fresh elections in June.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.9% to 8876.59, Korea's Kospi climbed 0.3% to 1845.24, and the China Shanghai SE Composite finished up 1.4% at 2378.89. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.3% to 19200.93.

The Nikkei spent much of the day digesting growth data, trading between negative and positive territory in the morning, before drifting higher in the afternoon. Investors were cheered that Japan posted its third straight quarter of economic growth in the January-March period.

Annualized gross domestic product growth was 4.1%, above an expected 3.5%. Analysts said there was some bargain hunting too after the Nikkei's 13.4% fall from its March high.

Japanese machinery shares shot up in response to the growth data. Hitachi Construction Machinery rose 7.1%, Kato Works climbed 8% and Makino Milling Machine was up 5.1%.

Orders from Apple helped Sharp Corp. climb 5.7%. The U.S. tech giant has placed orders with a number of Asian suppliers to provide screens for the next-generation iPhone, expected to be released later this year. Another screen maker, LG Display in Korea, rose 3.2% on the news.

The Hang Seng Index failed to recover from its sharp drop Wednesday, when the market was hit heavily by short sellers, although Tencent Holdings, one of Wednesday's most shorted stocks, gained 2.5% after releasing first-quarter earnings.

Mainland China shares climbed after the head of the central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan, said the country's markets need reform and new instruments. He also said China would gradually expand quotas for foreign investments. Brokerages were strengthened by the news, with Hong Yuan Securities up 10% and Guoyuan Securities rising 5.8%.

COMMODITIES

Base metals closed mixed on the London Metal Exchange Thursday following a volatile session that saw the metals swing between gains and losses as investor sentiment remained at the mercy of macro headlines.

At the close, LME three-month copper was flat at $7,649 a metric ton, having traded in an around $150 range during the session. Thinly traded tin lagged the complex, closing 2.4% lower at $19,200/ton.

Crude oil futures fell Thursday, beset by the continued move against risk assets in the markets and a sour economic outlook, with European financial woes and weak U.S. readings on employment and regional business activity weighing.

Crude for June delivery settled down 25 cents, or 0.3%, at $92.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Brent contract fell by an even larger $2.26, or 2.1%, to $107.49. The spread between the contracts for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, and Brent, the European standard, contracted nearly $2 to $14.81.

The move came after operators of a pipeline that will flow crude from its Midwest storage hub to the Gulf Coast's refinery complex announced it will open the spigots this weekend. The move will reduce a vast glut of oil that has pooled in the middle of the country and narrow the difference between the oil market's two benchmark contracts.

Gold futures climbed, rebounding from the previous day's 10-month lows as investors closed bets on falling prices on a pause in the currency turmoil caused by Europe's debt crisis. The most actively traded contract, for June delivery, rose $38.30, or 2.5%, to settle at $1,574.90 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.