Thursday 03 January 2013 | Close

	Foreign Equities	Close	Change	%Change
	Dow Jones (US)	13391	-21	-0.16
	S&P 500	1459	-3	-0.21
	NASDAQ	3101	-12	-0.38
	FTSE 100 Index	6047	20	0.33
	DAX 30	7756	-22	-0.29
	CAC 40	3721	-13	-0.34
	Nikkei 225 (Japan)	10395	72	0.70
	HKSE	23399	87	0.37
	SSE Composite Index	2261	28	1.25
	BSE India Sensex 30	19765	51	0.26
	NZ 50	4082	16	0.39

Thursday 03 January 2013 | Close

	Commodities	US$	Close	Change	%Change
	Aluminium	/t	2083	-45	-2.10
	Copper	/t	8137	-47	-0.57
	Nickel	/t	17446	-198	-1.12
	Gold	/oz	1664	-13	-0.80
	Silver	/oz	30.1	0.9	3.00
	Oil - West Texas crude	/bbl	93.1	1.4	1.53
	Lead	/t	2390	-31	-1.30
	Zinc	/t	2058	-50	-2.38

Thursday 03 January 2013 | Close

	Currency	Close	Pts Change	% Change
	$A vs $US	1.0482	--	0.08
	$A vs GBP	0.6460	--	-0.09
	$A vs YEN	91.46	0.10	0.11
	$A vs EUR	0.7978	--	-0.26
	$A vs $NZ	1.2593	--	-0.09
	$US vs Euro	0.7611	--	-0.33
	$US vs UK	0.6164	--	-0.18
	$US vs CHF	0.9203	--	-0.27

Markets fell as minutes from the latest Fed meeting indicated that were concerns over current bond purchasing measures and were contemplating ending the stimulus program earlier than expected.

The private sector added 215,000 jobs in December according to a report from ADP. Economists had expected a more modest 150,000 gain. ADP also revised November's employment gain upwards to 148,000 from 118,000. Separately, Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported today that planned layoff fell 43% in December from November and were 22% below December 2011 levels. Initial jobless claims rose a larger-than-expected 10,000 to 372,000 last week. The less volatile four-week moving average was up 250 to 360,000. The new employment data comes ahead of tomorrow's closely watched payroll and unemployment rate numbers.

Retailers reported mixed December same-store sales as fiscal-cliff woes weighed on consumers during the holiday season. Overall, the 17 stores tracked by Thomson Reuters reported a 4.5% increase in same-store sales compared to expectations of 3.3%. Macy's (M), Gap (GPS) and Costco's (COST) were among the stores to beat expectations, while Target's (TGT) and Limited Brands (LTD) fell short.

Hormel (HRL) is purchasing the Skippy peanut butter brand from Unilever (UN) for $700 million. Hormel is looking to diversify its product portfolio and expand its sales into China, where Skippy is the leading peanut butter brand.

For Australian ADRs listed on the NYSE, BHP Billiton slipped 90 cents (1.13%) to $79.03, ResMed gained 23 cents (0.54%) to $42.71, Telstra Corporation gained 18 cents (0.77%) to $23.48, Telecom Corporation of NZ fell 29 cents (3.07%) to $9.17 and Westpac lost 118 cents (0.85%) to $136.98.

Treasuries fell initially on the back of the stronger than expected employment numbers but trimmed back losses. At 7:45 AM (AEST), the 10-year Treasury note yield was 1.90% and the 5-year yield was 0.81%.

UK markets continued rising after a massive rally on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 indices pushed ahead by 0.3% in the latest session. The benchmark FTSE 100 index has surged by 2.5% over the last two trading days and it is now closed at 6,047. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index is up by 2.2% over the last two days and it is now closed at 12,651.

The main company leading the large-caps forward was retailer Next (NXT), which issued a better-than-expected fourth quarter trading statement. The retailer reported that fourth quarter sales were in line with its previous expectations, but cost cutting measures helped boost overall profitability. Shares in Next surged by 2.7% during the trading day.

Rio Tinto fell 32.50 pence (0.88%) to 3,658.50 pence and BHP Billiton slipped 9.00 pence (0.41%) to 2,199.50 pence.

This report from Next comes a day after John Lewis announced a jump in December sales.

Asian stocks tracked Wall Street higher, partly supported by upbeat Chinese data, but gains were capped as initial optimism over the US fiscal-deal began to recede.

At the end of the day's trade, Australia's S&P/ASX All Ordinaries was up 0.8%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.4% while Mumbai's Sensex added 0.3%.

Markets in mainland China and Japan remained closed for holidays.

In economic news, official data released in China showed non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index climbed to 56.1 in December, from 55.6 in November.

Metal-linked players were among the top performers, extending yesterday's gains in line with the uptick in overnight commodity prices.

In Hong Kong, Angang Steel jumped over 5% , Jiangxi Copper added 1.4% and Zijin Mining Group rose 1%.

Sydney-listed diversified miners Fortescue Metals Group and Rio Tinto extended gains by around 2.5%

each while gold-miner Newcrest Mining gained over 3%.

In Mumbai, Tata Steel and Sterlite Industries climbed around 0.5% each.

In the energy segment, Australian oil explorers Santos Ltd. and Woodside Petroleum added 2.3% and 0.7% respectively, while PetroChina and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. were up around 1% each in Hong Kong.

Among other gainers, property developers continued to move higher. China Resources Land jumped more than 4% while Poly Property Group added 1.7%.

In the financials sector, Ping An Insurance was up 2.5% while Industrial & Commercial Bank of China enhanced 1.8%.

Among Australian banks, NAB and Westpac improved by around 0.5% each while Commonwealth Bank enhanced 0.8%.

Some airline stocks in the region were also in focus today with Qantas Airways hitting an eight-month high in early afternoon trades. Shares were up 2.7% at close.

Indian carrier Jet Airways soared around 5% amid buzz the airline would sell 24% stake to UAE-based Etihad Airways.

In other news, Dr. Reddy's Labs Ltd. said it has started selling in the US a drug to treat baldness in men. Shares of the drug-maker topped the Sensex, rising 2.4% on heels of the news.