closing
Nikkei -230.97 -1.60% 14,209.17
Topix -17.66 -1.20% 1,407.44
FTSE +50.10 +0.83% 6,057.70
DAX +10.36 +0.15% 7,019.13
CAC +48.50 +0.98% 4,983.71
Dow -100.97 -0.81% 12,402.85
NASDAQ -11.05 -0.44% 2,480.48
S&P -8.02 -0.58% 1,377.65
10yr Note -0.7300 -0.184% 3.898%
NYMEX Crude Oil +0.41 +0.32% 127.76
Gold -4.40 -0.49% 892.60

Japan's stocks jumped the most in almost two months after orders for durable goods in the U.S. unexpectedly rose in April, easing concern an economic slowdown will curb spending in Japan's biggest export market.
Sony Corp., which gets a quarter of its sales from the U.S., sent electronics makers higher, while Canon Inc. jumped the most in a month. Mazda Motor Corp., which exports 80 percent of domestic production, led a gain by carmakers after the yen weakened against the dollar. Wigmaker Aderans Holdings Co. surged after its shareholders rejected the reappointment of executives.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 415.03, or 3 percent, to close at 14,124.47, the sharpest gain since April 2. The broader Topix index jumped 31.94, or 2.4 percent, to 1,380.63. All but one of 33 industry groups on the index advanced.
European stocks climbed after K+S AG, the region's largest maker of potash, raised its full-year profit forecast, while declining oil prices and a stronger dollar improved earnings prospects for retailers and exporters.
K+S jumped the most in two weeks. Carrefour SA and Home Retail Group Plc rose as oil fell for the first time in three days and analysts recommended the shares. Royal Philips Electronics NV, which generates about a quarter of its revenue from the U.S., advanced as the dollar gained against the euro.
Shares extended an afternoon rise as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke predicted the economy will grow without boosting inflation and U.S. factory orders unexpectedly gained, while Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc climbed on speculation that demand for its rights offer is strong.
K+S rallied 3.6 percent to 316.16 euros after the producer of potash used in fertilizers raised its full-year profit forecast 29 percent as prices for the commodity continued to increase.
Earnings before interest and tax will almost quadruple to at least 1.1 billion euros ($1.7 billion), compared with 850 million euros projected earlier.
Syngenta AG, the world's biggest maker of agricultural chemicals, gained 2.9 percent to 329 Swiss francs.
Carrefour climbed 3.1 percent to 45.38 euros as ING Groep NV initiated coverage of Europe's largest retailer with a ``buy'' recommendation and set a price estimate of 57 euros.
Philips, Europe's largest consumer-electronics maker, added 2.4 percent to 24.995 euros.


U.S. stocks dropped for a second day as growing speculation Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. will be forced to raise more capital led a slump in financial shares and helped erase earlier gains spurred by increased factory orders.
Lehman, the fourth-biggest U.S. securities firm, slid to its lowest level since August 2003 on concern it may report its first ever quarterly loss. Wachovia Corp., the fourth-largest U.S. bank, declined on a report billionaire investor Michael Price is betting the stock will drop. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. led energy shares lower as oil retreated for the first time in three days.
Nine of 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 retreated, extending the index's 2008 retreat to 6.3 percent.
Lehman Brothers dropped $3.29, or 9.7 percent, to $30.54 for the second-steepest decline in the S&P 500. The fourth-biggest U.S. securities firm may report its first quarterly loss since going public in 1994, increasing pressure on the company to raise more capital, according to analysts.
Lehman may seek as much as $4 billion by selling common stock, the Wall Street Journal reported today, citing unidentified people with knowledge of the matter. Lehman spokesman Mark Lane declined to comment.
Wachovia Corp. declined $1.68, or 7.2 percent, to $21.72, sending the S&P 500 Banks Index to the largest drop among two dozen industry groups. Price said the nation's fourth-biggest lender is likely to book much higher credit losses on its holdings of adjustable-rate mortgages and will have to raise more capital, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The dollar rose to a two-week high against the euro and increased versus the yen after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank is ``attentive'' to the implications of the currency's decline.
Traders interpreted the remarks as a sign that policy makers are done cutting interest rates as the weakened dollar causes the price of imports including crude oil to rise, sparking inflation. The U.S. currency has tumbled 9 percent against the euro and the yen since the Fed began cutting the target lending rate on Sept. 18.
``It could be a turning point for the dollar,'' said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist in New York at Bank of New York Mellon, the world's largest custodial bank, with more than $20 trillion in assets under administration. ``It's very unusual for a sitting Fed chairman to talk about the dollar explicitly.''
The dollar has increased 3.5 percent since touching the all-time low of $1.6019 per euro on April 22, as the Fed signaled it will stop cutting interest rates. It has arranged $39 billion of financing to facilitate the takeover of Bear Stearns Cos. by JPMorgan Chase & Co.
The Fed is working with the Treasury to ``carefully monitor developments in foreign exchange markets'' and is aware of the effect of the dollar's decline on inflation and price expectations, Bernanke said via satellite to the International Monetary Conference in Barcelona, Spain.
``Bernanke is now saying that he also has an interest in the level of the currency,'' said Torsten Slok, a U.S. economist with Deutsche Bank AG in New York, the biggest currency trader. ``If the last bastion of dollar weakness -- U.S. indifference -- is falling away, the dollar may rally.''
The dollar will strengthen to $1.49 against the euro by the end of the year, according to the median forecast of 44 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. It's expected to increase to 105 yen.

EUR/USD: fell from $1.5630 to $1.5410..
GBP/USD: slumped from $1.9740 to a low at $1.9600, rebounding later till $1.9650.
USD/JPY: gained fromY103.85 to a high at Y105.55 with a close level around Y105.00.

The U.S. currency's gains against the euro may erode before the European Central Bank's meeting on June 5 and the U.S. Labor Department's payroll report the next day, according to Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York.
The ECB will keep its main refinancing rate at a six-year high of 4 percent, according to all 59 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The U.S. probably lost 60,000 jobs in May, after a decrease of 20,000 the prior month, according to the median forecast of 78 economists in a separate Bloomberg survey.
The U.S. currency fell earlier against the euro on speculation credit market losses will widen.
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. may seek as much as $4 billion by selling common stock, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people with knowledge of the matter. Lehman spokesman Mark Lane declined to comment. S&P downgraded the credit ratings of Lehman, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch & Co. yesterday, saying they may disclose more writedowns for devalued assets.