US mkts end off day's low post Microsoft, Exxon upgrade

The US markets ended off day's low post Microsoft, Exxon upgrade while shrugged off disappointing outlooks from Target and Home Depot.

By Varinder Bansal, Research Analyst at CNBC-TV18

The US markets ended off day's low post Microsoft, Exxon upgrade while shrugged off disappointing outlooks from Target and Home Depot.

Dollar Index was up 0.5% and CRB Commodity Index up 0.2%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 30.5 points at 10,437, after seeing recovery of 75 points from day's low of 10,362.

The Nasdaq Composite ended up 6 points at 2,204, after seeing recovery of 19 points from day's low of 2,185.

The S&P 500 Index ended up 1 point at 1,110, after seeing recovery of 8 points from day's low of 1,102.

Asian markets opened marginally in the green. Kospi was up 1.1%. Hang Seng and Shanghai gained 0.7%. Taiwan was up 0.5% and Straits Times up 0.2%. SGX Nifty rose 0.3%. However, Nikkei fell 0.1%.

European markets ended lower. The CAC was down 0.8%, DAX down 0.45% and FTSE down 0.68%. CBOE VIX ended down 2.1% at 22.4.

US stocks in news

Microsoft was up 2% at 18-month closing high after Morgan Stanley raised its price target.

Exxon Mobil rose 0.8% after Barclays raised its recommendation to overweight from equal-weight.

Home Depot was down 2.4%, as it predicted no meaningful recovery until the second half of 2010.

Target was down 3%, as it forecasted holiday quarterly profit short of analysts estimates, early November results showed tepid consumer demand.

Global M&S

Indian Connection: RePower was up 2.15%, Vestas down 2.4%, Mercator Lines Singapore up 5% and Aditya Birla Minerals up 3.6%.

Continued on the next page...