US Markets

U.S. stocks surged higher Thursday as investors looked to break a six-session losing streak with a relief rally. Leading the gainers were materials and energy stocks, with DuPont rising 1.7%, Chevron gaining 1.5% and Caterpillar up 1.4%. The sole decliner on the Dow was Verizon Communications, off 0.4%, as telecommunications stocks lagged. Financial stocks, the worst performer so far this week, bounced back strongly as well. Wells Fargo gained 3.1%, Morgan Stanley advanced 2.7%, Goldman Sachs rose 2.4% and Citigroup added 2.1%.

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On the upside, U.S. trade deficit descended to its lowest level of the year in April, as exports hit a new high and purchases of oil fell off sharply due to a surge in prices. The U.S. trade deficit declined 6.7% to $43.68 billion, narrowing much more than Wall Street expected. The stock advance came as the Dow looks to avert a six-week losing streak, the index's longest slide since July 2004. Even so, the Dow is off only 6% from its April 29 high. The gains came despite an rise in new U.S. jobless claims, another sign of persistent weakness in the economy. Initial unemployment claims increased 1,000 to 427,000 in the week ended June 4, with the prior week's figure revised higher to 426,000. Inventories of U.S. wholesalers climbed by 0.8%, less than March's 1.3% rise, while sales of wholesalers went up a mere 0.3%, after a 3.0% gain in March. The big slowdown in demand and the smaller than expected gain in inventories suggested businesses weren't optimistic about the economy going into the second quarter. Earlier, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said that the recent weakness in the economy was likely just a temporary soft patch, which isn't uncommon during recoveries, and that growth should resume and strengthen. Some investors disagreed, pointing to recent data to argue the market had further to fall, in spite of Thursday's rebound. Shares of Texas Instruments gained 0.8% as investors took the chip maker's lowered second-quarter earnings and revenue outlook in stride. Interpublic Group led the S&P 500 gainers with a 6.4% rise, after Moody's Investors Service lifted the advertising agency into investment-grade territory with a two-notch upgrade, noting the company's improved operating performance. Fitch Ratings had lifted Interpublic into investment-grade territory in October, and the stock is up 53% in the past year.

European Markets

European stock markets ended a six-session losing streak Thursday, helped by gains for Wall Street, while the European Central Bank signaled that interest rates in the euro zone are headed higher. After straddling the flat line for much of the session, the Stoxx Europe 600 index rose late in the session, ending with a gain of 1% at 271.76. The index fell more than 1% in the prior session. European stock markets got a boost after U.S. data showed the nation's trade gap unexpectedly narrowed, though other data showed an uptick in new jobless claims. Wall Street added to opening gains, supporting European markets. Read more on U.S. stock market action On Thursday, the ECB Governing Council, as expected, left its key rate unchanged at 1.25%. Shares of Infineon Technologies AG fell 0.6% after a downgrade to equal weight from overweight at Morgan Stanley, which said margins for the German chip maker could flatten out at 20%. Shares of Suez Environnement rose 2.1% after an upgrade to overweight from neutral at J.P. Morgan Cazenove. The investment firm cited attractive earnings growth potential and lower risk versus the utilities sector. Veolia Environnement SA rose 1.8%.

Asian Markets

Steep losses for Chinese banks weighed on Hong Kong and Shanghai indexes, with the two bourses leading losses in Asia Thursday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed down 0.2% at 22609.83, though that represented a recovery from being down more than 1% earlier in the afternoon session. But the Shanghai Composite which closes an hour ahead of Hong Kong finished with a sharp 1.7% loss at 2703.35. Japanese blue chips managed to end higher after trading negative for most of session, as the Nikkei Stock Average ended 0.2% higher at 9467.15--though the broader Topix was down 0.2%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.3% to 4549.6. South Korea's Kospi declined 0.6% to 2071.42, India's Sensex fell 0.1% to 18384.90 and Singapore's Straits Times Index dropped 0.2% to 3097.57. Banks fell sharply in Hong Kong, with Industrial & Commercial Bank of China down 1.4%, China Construction Bank falling 1.9%, and Bank of China giving up 1.3%. In Shanghai, ICBC lost 1.1%, while Agricultural Bank of China fell 1.8% and China Merchants Bank dropped 2%. China Citic Bank said late Wednesday it plans to raise 26 billion yuan ($4 billion) via rights issues in Shanghai and Hong Kong by the end of June. Shares of China Citic ended down 1.2% Thursday. In Tokyo, technology companies were mostly weaker, with losses on the tech-heavy Nasdaq exchange in the U.S. Wednesday not helping sentiment already hit by the dollar hovering around 80 yen. NEC lost 2.4%, while Renesas Electronics fell 2.2% and Elpida Memory lost 1%. Nintendo, extending sharp losses from the previous session, fell 4.7%, partly due to a UBS rating downgrade to neutral from buy. The price had fallen 5.7% Wednesday, when the company unveiled its next generation Wii video-game console. Oil futures traded over $101 a barrel in Nymex electronic trading on Thursday, helping energy shares, with Santos shares up 1.7% in Sydney, and China Petroleum & Chemical, also known as Sinopec, rising 1.2% in Hong Kong. Airlines suffered from the crude rally, with Air China down 3% and China Eastern Airlines off 2.8%. Australian shares ended in the green as investors scaled back expectations for interest-rate increases following some relatively weak jobs data. Companies closely tied to consumer spending advanced, with department-store retailer David Jones shares up 0.8%, and Westpac Banking shares up 1.2%. over the world's biggest economy.

Base Metals

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange closed Thursday mostly higher, shrugging off a drop in the euro as U.S. equity markets climbed and investors looked to the release of key Chinese trade data Friday. Despite suggestions from traders and analysts that prices could be due a further pullback, the markets managed to erase early losses as U.S. stocks rose on better than expected export data, as well as a signal from the European Central Bank of a further lift in rates. LME three month copper closed the open outcry session at $9,055 a metric ton, up 0.3% on Wednesday's PM kerb close. Spot gold and silver, agricultural commodities and crude futures all also gained. The euro, meanwhile, tumbled against the greenback usually a weight on demand for the dollar denominated metals, which appear more expensive to holders of the common currency when EUR/USD falls. Nickel which has struggled to gain ground in recent sessions turned out to be the strongest performer of the day, closing 1.7% higher at $23,100/ton. Crude futures rose Thursday, adding to Wednesday's gains as growing devisions within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries feed uncertainty in the market. Light, sweet crude for July delivery recently traded $1.17, or 1.1%, higher at $101.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rising above $102 a barrel earlier in the session. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $1.49 higher at $119.34 a barrel. At a Vienna meeting Wednesday, members of OPEC failed to reach a consensus on lifting output, a move that surprised oil markets and pushed U.S. oil futures prices above the key $100 a barrel level. Discord surrounding OPEC's decision displayed fissures between group members, which was enough to send prices higher despite a pledge from Saudi Arabia to meet the market's oil needs. Gold futures gained on Thursday, supported by European concerns about inflationary pressures. Gold for August delivery rose $8.10, or 0.5%, to $1,546.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. A close in the black would break a two day losing streak for the yellow metal.

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