ASIA MARKETS: Shanghai, Hong Kong Rally On China Rate Cut

By V. Phani Kumar

Asian markets advanced Thursday, with Shanghai- and Hong Kong-listed shares pacing gains a day after the Chinese central slashed interest rates.

Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese shares also posted strong gains, with technology stocks such as Elpida Memory and Hynix Semiconductor among gainers after Wall Street stretched a rally into a fourth straight session. Resource stocks jumped in Australia on a sharp overnight rise in crude-oil prices.

Indian markets were closed for the day in the wake of synchronized terrorist attacks overnight in nine or more locations in the financial capital Mumbai, which left at least 87 people dead and 250 wounded.

China's Shanghai Composite jumped 4% to 1,972.82, after the People's Bank of China Tuesday slashed its lending and deposit rates by as much as 1.08%, in addition to cutting banks' reserve requirements sharply, in the central bank's strongest response yet to a recent slowdown in economic growth.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 3.9% to 13,893.73, while the Hang Seng China Ente

LATIN AMERICAN MARKETS: Region's Stocks Soar As Commodities Strengthen

By Carla Mozee

Stocks across Latin America's major markets zoomed higher Monday, bolstered by a jump in commodity stocks and a multibillion-dollar funding commitment from the U.S. for one of the country's biggest financial-services firms.

Stocks also held their ground after U.S. President-elect Barack Obama introduced his economic team, including New York Federal Reserve chief Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary.

Obama has stepped up efforts to contain the financial and economic crisis, reducing fears of a 2-month-long vacuum, analysts at BMO Capital Markets said.

Brazil's Bovespa jumped 9.4% to 34,188.83, its largest percentage gain since Nov. 13.

MARKET SNAPSHOT: Stocks Trim Weekly Losses On Word Geithner Will Head Treasury

By Kate Gibson

U.S. stocks on Friday surged on a report President-elect Barack Obama would nominate New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary. The leap higher in the final hour of trade came on the heels of a two-session freefall and halved the market's weekly decline.

After a volatile session, equities rocketed higher in the wake of an NBC report that Obama would appoint Geithner to head the Treasury Department.

Of the trio, Geithner is "the one people in the market wanted to see," said Owen Fitzpatrick, head of the U.S. equity group at Deutsche Bank. The choice is particularly important in light of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's comments earlier in the week "of being done with Tarp," said Fitzpatrick of the Paulson's decision to let the next administration decide how to spend the remaining roughly $350 billion of $700 billion bailout package.

"The comfort level is there with Geithner," said Fitzpatrick.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) surged more than 500 points before finishing at 8,046.42, up 494.13 points, or 6.5%. The blue-chip index lost 5.3% for the week.

LATIN AMERICAN MARKETS: Argentina OKs Pensions Takeover; Brazil, Mexico Mixed

By Carla Mozee

Argentine stocks fell Friday following a widely expected decision by the government to nationalize pension funds, and Brazilian stocks dropped more than 6%, with commodity stocks driving the decline.

Meanwhile, Mexican shares finished slightly higher after a better-than- expected report about quarterly economic growth and a rally on Wall Street on news that President-elect Barack Obama has made his choice for the nominee for Treasury Secretary.

Latin American markets finished lower for the week, led by a 5.8% fall by Brazil's Bovespa index.

"Unfortunately events this past week were once again driven by these words: credit crunch, recession, deflation, stagnation, demand slump, etc.," said analysts at Saxo Bank in a weekly commodity update.

Argentina's Merval equity index fell 4% to 828.94 in the wake of Thursday night's vote in the Senate that gives the Kirchner administration control of $24 billion in assets that had been managed by 10 private pension funds, ending a 14-year run of the system

MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Look For Respite In Holiday shortened Week

By Nick Godt

U.S. stocks will start next week with investors looking for some respite after reports of key nominations to the administration of President-elect Barack Obama helped stem heavy selling that had slammed the market to 11 year lows.

In particular, the nomination of Tim Geithner, currently the head of the New York Federal Reserve, as the next treasury secretary, seemed to find immediate approval from Wall Street, judging by a market rally that saw the Dow industrials jump nearly 500 points Friday.

"That's good news," said Robert Pavlik, market strategist at Oaktree Asset Management. "Now we have a team that can come together and start coming up with a plan. The foundation has been laid to start addressing the situation."