Stock market fixing:

Nikkei 225 +15.08 +0.12% 13,067.21
Topix +5.23 +0.4% 1 290.76
FTSE -122.80 -2.22% 5,406.80
DAX -81.46 -1.28% 6,305.00
CAC -108.10 -2.49% 4,231.56
Dow +81.58 +0.73% 11,229.02
NASDAQ +22.96 +1.03% 2,257.85
S&P +8.70 +0.70% 1,253.39
10yr Note -0.2300 -0.060% 3.811%
NYMEX Crude Oil +5.60 +4.12% 141.65
Gold +13.40 +1.44% 942.00

Japan's stocks rose a second day, led by real estate companies, after Urban Corp.'s convertible bond deal with BNP Paribas SA eased concern funding for developers will dry up.
Urban, Japan's eighth-largest developer, surged the most in four years, while real-estate advisory company Creed Corp. posted its biggest gain in three months after forecasting higher profit. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. climbed the most in five weeks, and Nippon Steel Corp. sent makers of the alloy higher after saying it will raise prices on girders.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 15.08, or 0.1 percent, to close at 13,067.21 in Tokyo. The broader Topix advanced 5.23, or 0.4 percent, to 1,290.76. The Nikkei swung between gains and losses 11 times today, and almost the same number of stocks rose and fell on the Topix.
Urban surged 20 percent to 248 yen, the sharpest advance since May 2004. BNP Paribas will proceed with the purchase of 30 billion yen ($281 million) worth of convertible bonds from Urban, the developer said yesterday. Urban plunged 28 percent on July 4 amid speculation the deal might not go through.
Creed soared 13 percent to 89,400 yen, the biggest gain since April 2. Annual operating profit is expected to rise 8.3 percent this business year, after having fallen by almost a fifth in the previous period, the company said yesterday. Operating profit is derived by subtracting the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses from sales.
Mitsui Fudosan Co., Japan's largest developer, jumped 4.2 percent to 2,495 yen, while Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. advanced 4.5 percent to 2,205 yen. Tokyu Land Corp. added 4.6 percent to 593 yen. Real estate companies posted the biggest gain among 33 industry groups.
Japanese developers' profits have been squeezed as the global credit crunch reduced funding available for projects. The Topix Real Estate Index's standard deviation was 3.4 percent in the past six months, almost twice that of the overall Topix and more than double the figure for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. A higher standard deviation indicates higher volatility.
Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's biggest publicly traded bank, climbed 3.5 percent to 988 yen, the most since June 2, and rival Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. rose 4.4 percent to 35,000 yen. Mizuho Financial Group Inc. added 2.7 percent to 526,000 yen. Banks had the second-biggest gain among groups on the Topix.
Mitsubishi UFJ's market value is 13 percent bigger than U.S.-based Citigroup Inc., while Sumitomo Mitsui said earlier this month it arranged a syndicated loan worth 50 billion yen ($471 million) for International Business Machines Corp.
Nippon Steel jumped 3.3 percent, the most in a month, to 560 yen, and smaller rival JFE Holdings Inc. added 3.4 percent to 5,170 yen. Nippon Steel said today it will boost prices on H- beams used in construction by 15,000 yen per ton this month.
Inpex Holdings Inc., Japan's largest oil and gas explorer, dropped 3.2 percent to 1.2 million yen, and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. slumped 2.6 percent to 7,120 yen. Itochu Corp., which invests in Russia's Sakhalin oil projects, declined 2.5 percent to 1,014 yen.






European stocks fell, led by retailers and food companies, on concern the economic slowdown and waning consumer demand will hurt earnings.
National indexes retreated in 17 of the 18 western European markets. Germany's DAX slipped 1.3 percent as Deutsche Bank AG declined. France's CAC 40 slid 2.5 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 2.2 percent.
The Bank of England kept its key interest rate unchanged at 5 percent, in-line with economists' predictions, as policy makers weighed the threat of Britain's first recession in a generation against the risk of accelerating inflation.
Kingfisher Plc and Burberry Group Plc of the U.K. fell the most in five months after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recommended selling shares in the retailers.
Financial companies led a retreat in the U.S. yesterday that sent the Standard & Poor's 500 Index into its first bear market since 2002. As of the close of European markets today, the S&P 500 was up 0.3 percent.
Record oil prices, rising inflation and more than $400 billion in credit-related losses have also pushed equity markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Germany and France down at least 20 percent, the common definition of a bear market.
Carrefour dropped 8.6 percent to 31.50 euros, its lowest in more than five years. Revenue rose 6 percent to 23.7 billion euros ($37.3 billion) in the three months ended June 30, the Paris-based company said. That was less than the first quarter's 10 percent increase and missed the 24.2 billion-euro median estimate of six analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Danone, the world's largest yogurt maker, lost 6 percent to 42.14 euros. Nestle, the largest food company, sank 4.3 percent to 44.12 francs.
The gauge for European food stocks dropped 4.1 percent.
Kingfisher decreased 5.3 percent to 99 pence after Goldman added the stock to its ``conviction sell'' list, citing the company's ``high exposure to France and big ticket items'' and ``unattractive valuation.''
Burberry, the 152-year-old British luxury label known for its trademark plaid, sank 6.2 percent to 403 pence. Goldman downgraded the stock to ``sell'' from ``neutral.''
HBOS Plc, the U.K.'s biggest mortgage lender, said the nation's house prices fell the most in 15 years in June as reduced lending deepened the worst property slump since the last recession in 1991.
Barratt Developments Plc, the U.K.'s worst-performing homebuilding stock this year, rallied 24 percent to 67 pence after saying it has renegotiated loan terms and secured a new 400 million-pound ($792 million) credit line to help safeguard its financial future in a slumping housing market.

Wall Street gained after the previous session's selloff despite higher oil prices, June retail sales, chemical sector merger and more problems for Fannie, Freddie and financials.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fallout.: Shares of the government lenders continued to plunge on worries about a potential collapse. Fannie Mae lost 14% and Freddie Mac lost 26%.
Elsewhere in the financial services sector, AIG and PMI Group both slipped after Moody's downgraded the companies' insurance financial strength ratings. Moody's also downgraded PMI's debt.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke told Congress Thursday that legislation is needed to modernize the nation's financial system.
Wal-Mart impresses, other retail sales mixed: The world's largest retailer reported stronger-than-expected June sales, thanks in part to the economic stimulus payments. As a result, Wal-Mart said second-quarter earnings will come in ahead of forecasts. Nonetheless, shares slipped 2%.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell last week, the government reported, although the number of Americans filing continuing claims rose more than expected.
Other stock movers: Dow Chemical is buying specialty chemical maker Rohm & Haas for $15.3 billion plus the assumption of debt. Shares of Dow slipped 3% Thursday morning, while Rohm & Haas jumped 64%.
But Dow stock General Motors slumped 7%, keeping the Dow from posting bigger gains. Fellow automaker Ford Motor lost 6%.
On the upside, some of the previous session's tech losers bounced back, including IBM , Cisco Systems and Applied Materials .
U.S. light crude oil for August delivery gained $1.60 to $137.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In the bond market, Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.94% from 3.95% late Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.