NEW YORK - Stocks steadily climbed back after initially falling in the US overnight, as investors snapped up some of the financial sector’s stronger players and pumped money into the materials and transportation sectors.
Traders dumped Lehman Brothers, but other banks that traded poorly during the day jumped in afternoon trade as punters bet that at least some institutions are in better shape than the troubled merchant bank.
A drop in crude below $US101 a barrel also boosted the market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, after dropping 170 points early on, clawed itself back to finish up 164.79 points on the day, or 1.46 per cent to 11,433.71, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 lifted 17.01 points, or 1.38 per cent, to 1,249.05.
The NASDAQ rose 29.52 points, or 1.32 per cent, to 2,258.22.

LONDON - European stock markets slumped on Thursday in the wake of heavy falls in Asia, pulled down by sharp losses for banking stocks as the global economic outlook seemingly turned darker.
Fears near to home that the European economy is at risk of recession dampened sentiment, and saw the euro strike a one-year low versus the dollar.
In London, the FTSE 100 index dropped 47.8 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 5,318.4.

FRANKFURT - Germany’s DAX 30 gave up 31.42 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 6,178.9.

PARIS - France’s CAC 40 shed 34.59 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 4,249.07.

TOKYO - Share prices in Japan fell on Thursday after a turnaround plan by Lehman Brothers failed to galvanise markets, sparking fresh worries on the US financial sector.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 244.13 points, or 1.98 per cent, to close at 12,102.5.

HONG KONG - Hong Kong share prices closed down on Thursday, marking an 18-month low, as investors dumped shares in China firms amid deepening fears of a global economic slowdown.
The benchmark Hang Seng index plunged 611.06 points, or 3.06 per cent, to 19,388.72.

WELLINGTON - New Zealand share prices closed lower on Thursday, dragged down by regional markets after making early gains on the NZ central bank cutting interest rates by 50 basis points.
The benchmark NZX 50 index lost 10.32 points, or 0.31 per cent, to close at 3,333.543.

SYDNEY - Australian markets have received a strong lead from Wall Street equities overnight, which finished almost 1.5 per cent higher. Oil, silver and gold were down, while copper was marginally higher.
At 0757 AEST, the Sydney Futures Exchange’s September Share Price Index contract was 43 points higher, or 0.89 per cent, to 4,878.
In news today, BlueScope Steel chief executive Paul O’Malley addresses the American Chamber of Commerce in Melbourne.
The Warehouse Group releases annual results.
Western Areas NL will hold its annual general meeting.
Style Ltd conducts a general meeting.
In Perth, it’s day three of the three-day Centre for Engineering Leadership and Management conference in Perth.
Yesterday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 fell 91.2 points, or 1.85 per cent, to 4,814.3, while the broader All Ordinaries shed 89.9 points, or 1.81 per cent, to 4,871.5.

NYMEX

Gasoline prices jumped to unprecedented levels in the wholesale markets on Thursday as Hurricane Ike tore across the Gulf of Mexico, but despite the growing worries, funds continued to liquidate investments in crude, anticipating a slower global economy and stronger US dollar.
Light sweet crude for October delivery fell $US1.71 to settle at $US100.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after dropping as low as $US100.10 a barrel.
The last time NYMEX crude traded below the $US100 mark was on April 2.
In London, Brent crude on the ICE Futures exchange fell $US1.33 to $US97.64 a barrel.
The wholesale price of gasoline ranged from $US4 to nearly $US5 a gallon on the US Gulf Coast on Thursday. That is up significantly from about $US3 to $US3.30 a gallon on Wednesday.
The market’s renewed storm worries arrived a day after the US Energy Department reported a larger than expected drop in crude and gasoline inventories, and OPEC decided to cut excess production by about half a million barrels a day.
A decision by OPEC on Wednesday to reduce output by 520,000 barrels a day failed to boost oil prices, which have fallen by 30 per cent since reaching a record $US147.27 on July 11.
In other NYMEX trading, heating oil futures rose 1.31 cents to settle at $US2.9155 a gallon.
Natural gas fell 14.5 cents to settle at $US7.248 per 1,000 cubic feet. The EIA said Thursday that natural gas in US storage rose last week.
CME Group, parent of the New York Mercantile Exchange, will open energy trading on the CME Globex and ClearPort platforms earlier than usual Sunday due to the hurricane.

COMEX

Gold fell again overnight, sliding below $US750 an ounce, continuing its longest decline for eight years.
Silver followed suit, to its lowest since June 2006, as precious and other metals continue to lose their lustre as safe havens and inflation hedges.
Gold is now down 28 per cent since March, partly attributable to the $US rising 15 per cent against the euro. The greenback hit an all-time low against the euro in July.
The US currency has hit its strongest level for a year, while concurrently the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index, which houses 19 commodities, fell to its lowest level since late January.
Gold futures for December delivery fell $US17.00, or 2.2 per cent to $US745.50 an ounce on COMEX.
That was the ninth straight loss, a run not seen since September 2000.
Silver futures for December delivery fell 33.5 cents, or 3.1 per cent to $US10.555 an ounce.
The havoc is being caused by the global slowdown, with countries not needing metals of any description if economies are going into recession.
Meanwhile, a recovering US currency is a better bet than hiding money away in physical gold, particularly as everyone else seems to be selling the soft metal.
Gold hit a record of $US1,033.90 on March 17.
Wheat futures for December delivery rose 0.5 of a cent to $US7.2625 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, mainly on US exports to countries including Japan.
Wheat has dropped 46 per cent from a record $US13.495 on February 27.
Corn fell on the CBOT for the third session straight as world demand for ethanol feed, together with some countries’ possible inability to pay for food, hit both that crop and soybeans.
Corn futures for December delivery fell 3.5 cents, or 0.7 per cent to $US5.3325 a bushel.

FRANKFURT - Europe’s main interest rates remained on hold today when European Central Bank and Bank of England governors balanced their fight against rising inflation with the possibility of a continental recession.

WELLINGTON - New Zealand’s largest listed company, Telecom, has reported an annual operating surplus from continuing operations down 15.5 per cent to $NZ713 million ($A563.64 million).

TOKYO - Japan’s longest sustained economic expansion since World War II appears to have ended amid growing fears of a recession in Asia’s largest economy, a Japanese Government report said today.

TOKYO - Japan Airlines, Asia’s largest carrier, said today it had returned to an operating profit in the three months to June as route cuts and layoffs helped offset soaring jet fuel costs.

WASHINGTON - Troubled US banking giant Citigroup has agreed to buy back $US7.5 billion ($A8.2 billion) of tainted securities it marketed to tens of thousands of investors, US regulators announced today.

LONDON - British bank Barclays said that net profit slumped 35 per cent in the first half, hit by writedowns of $US2.1 billion ($A2.31 billion) from the US sub-prime housing and credit crises.

PARIS - French insurance giant AXA reported a 32 per cent slump in net first-half profit today, reflecting a fall in the value of selected assets due to the credit crisis.

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa’s gold production declined by 12.3 per cent in June 2008 compared with the same period last year.

WELLINGTON - A retired Taupo couple have been told they will lose their home if they do not pay $18,000 for a Blue Chip development that was never built.

LOCAL NEWS

SYDNEY - Sydney’s debt-laden Lane Cove tunnel owner and operator, Connector Motorways Pty Ltd, has received an underlying credit rating downgrade to B from Standard & Poor’s (S&P).

MELBOURNE - Australia’s corporate watchdog is putting unlisted property schemes, credit ratings agencies and listed investment funds under the microscope in response to concerns sparked by the ongoing financial market turmoil.

STOCKS TO WATCH ON THE AUSTRALIAN STOCK EXCHANGE TODAY:

TEL - TELECOM CORPORATION OF NEW ZEALAND LTD - down two cents to $2.90
New Zealand Telecom has reported an annual operating surplus from continuing operations down 15.5 per cent to $NZ713 million ($A563.64 million).

NWS - NEWS CORP - up down 56 cents to $16.17
NWSLV - NEWS CORP NON VOTING SCRIP - down 73 cents to $15.55
A more challenging outlook than expected for News Corp has forced analysts to downgrade their 2009 fiscal guidance for the media giant.

TAH - TABCORP HOLDINGS LTD - up 57 cents to $9.17
Tabcorp reported a net loss of $164.6 million as the Victorian Government indicated it won’t compensate the gaming company for terminating a key licence.

SGB - ST GEORGE BANK LTD - up 44 cents to $29.29
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION - up 16 cents to $23.15
St George Bank has a far worse outlook than any of its peers, but is likely to talk up its prospects to attract a higher takeover bid, according to JPMorgan.

MRE - MINARA RESOURCES LTD - steady at $1.49
Australia’s second largest nickel producer has posted an 80 per cent fall in net profit for the half-year amid rising costs and declining commodity prices.

KBC - KEYBRIDGE CAPITAL LTD - up 17.5 cents to 94.5 cents
Infrastructure and property investor Keybridge Capital said it is going into funds management, and forecast fiscal 2009 earnings to grow by as much as 32 per cent after rapidly growing profit in 2008.

AHI - ALLCO HIT LTD - went into a trading halt at 15 cents
A halt was placed on trading in the securities of Strategic Finance listed on the NZDX market, ahead of an announcement. Owner Allco HIT announced that a consortium including senior management was planning to buy Strategic Finance.

CEU - CONNECTEAST GROUP - down 14.5 cents to 85 cents
ConnectEast Group has reported average daily traffic volume of 133,722 trips during the EastLink motorway’s inaugural tolling week, down from 270,868 average daily trips taken when the Melbourne based toll-road was offered free from June 29 to July 23.

NKP - NKWE PLATINUM LTD - down eight cents to 90 cents
Xstrata Plc, which is pursuing Lonmin Plc through a $US10 billion ($A11 billion) takeover, has signed an agreement with Nkwe Platinum Ltd to earn a significant stake in five South African platinum projects.

SRA - STRATHFIELD GROUP LTD - steady at four cents
Audio and mobile products retailer Strathfield Group has acquired two businesses in the electronics and communications sector for $140 million to strengthen its business in a challenging market.