October crude-oil futures gained as much as 42 cents to $101.29 a barrel in electronic trading, after falling $1.71 to $100.87 a barrel Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

On the currency front, U.S. dollar was quoted in the lower 107-yen levels, flat with its levels late Thursday. The won started stronger, but reversed early gains trade weaker at 1,113.2 a dollar. The Australian dollar strengthened to trade above the US$80 mark and the kiwi traded at two-year lows of US$0.6524.

In the Asian financial markets stocks were sharply higher in early trade. Hong Kong stocks wavered between gains and losses. Meanwhile, the Tokyo shares surrendered most of their early gains ahead of a long weekend, as the financial markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong and South Korea will be closed on Monday for a holiday.

The Japanese market closed higher, ending a three-day losing streak. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index scale up by 0.93% at 12,214.76, and the broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 1.25% to finish at 1,177.20.

On the economic front, The Japanese economy contracted by a revised 0.7% in the second quarter of 2008, the Economic and Social Research Institute said, slightly worse than last month's preliminary report of a 0.6% quarterly decline. On an annualized basis, GDP was down 3.0% in the second quarter - in line with expectations and lower than the 2.4% preliminary decline. Revised exports were down 2.5%, while imports eased 2.6%. Revised nominal GDP was down 0.8% after a preliminary reading of -0.7%, slightly better than forecasts that called for a 0.9% decline.

The Chinese stock market closed at par as economic indicators created a mix picture of the economy. According the National Bureau of Statistics, China's industrial output rose 12.8% in August from a year earlier, the lowest in one and a half years. The pace, which decelerated for a second straight month, was 1.9% lower than July and 4.7% lower than last August. The last slowest growth rate was 12.6% in February 2007 when many businesses closed during the Chinese lunar New Year holiday.

In another data release the total retail sales of consumer goods for the month of August, reached 876.8 billion Yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.2 %. The growth rate was 6.2% higher than the same period last year and 0.1 % points lower than the previous month. The August retail sales totaled 876.8 billion Yuan

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was at par with 2,079.67 on screen. The Shenzhen composite index increased by 0.60% to 578.76.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was down by 0.2% at 19,352.90, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index plunged by 0.8% to 9,975.

The Australian stock market was trading higher after posting losses for the previous three sessions. The benchmark S&P;/ASX 200 index was up 1.86% at 4,903.8, while the broader All Ordinaries rose 1.76% to 4,957.1.

The New Zealand market was trading higher on a weaker New Zealand dollar and a fall in crude oil prices. The benchmark NZX 50 index was up 0.84% at 3,361.69, ending a two-day losing streak. On the economic front, overall retail sales in New Zealand declined by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in July compared to June. Statistics New Zealand reported that in dollar terms, total retail sales fell by NZ$44 million for the month.

The South Korean market also closed higher, reversing yesterday's losses. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index or Kospi was up 2.40% at 1,477.92. The Kospi fell 1.48% as investors dumped most blue chips on concerns over fluctuations due to the expiration of futures and options.

In India, Heavy selling in index pivotal ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries pulled the BSE Sensex below 14,000 mark in late trade. Sensex provisionally ended down 383.76 points. The BSE 30-share Sensex provisionally ended down 383.76 points or 2.68% to 13,940.53. At the days low of 13,933.87 hit in late trade Sensex fell 390.42 points. At the days high of 14,433.20 hit in early trade, the Sensex rose 108.91 points. The S&P; CNX Nifty was down 89.35 points or 2.08% to 4,200.95 as per the provisional figures.

On the economic front, Industrial output rose 7.1% in July 2008 from a year earlier, above the previous month's 5.4% rise, data released by the government today, 12 September 2008, afternoon showed. The figure was above market expectations of a 6.5% growth. Manufacturing production rose 7.5% in July 2008 from a year earlier.

The wholesale price index-based inflation rose 12.10% in the week ended 30 August 2008, below the previous weeks annual rise of 12.34%, government data released after market hours on Thursday, 11 September 2008 showed. The annual inflation rate was 3.72% during the corresponding week of the previous year.

Elsewhere, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index plunged 3.5% to 1,804.06; Singapore's Straits Times index was up by 1.2% at 2,570.67; and Taiwan's Taiex is up 0.94% at 6,310.68.

In the other part of the world, European shares snapped a three-session losing streak on Friday, with energy companies rebounding after the sector helped U.S. shares to stage a dramatic turnaround in the latest Wall Street session.

Of national indexes, the U.K. FTSE 100 index rose 1.1% to 5,375.50, the German DAX 30 index climbed 0.8% to 6,227.23 and the French CAC-40 index added 1.3% to 4,303.62. However the market showed some decline in growth on the back of negative economic news showing deceleration in industrial output of the region. At 11.38 GMT all this national indices continued with their negative positions as U.K. FTSE 100 index was up by 1.1% to 5,374.50. The German DAX 30 index gained by 0.5% to 6,208.63, while the French CAC-40 index was up by 1.1% to 4,295.91.

On the economic front, employment has continued growing in the Euro Area from April to July despite the adverse economic climate. The number of persons employed has increased by 0.2% in the second quarter of the year in the countries sharing the Euro, somewhat below the 0.3% increase posted in the first three months of the year. Compared to the same period last year, the amount of people employed has risen by 1.2%, following a 1.6% increase in the first quarter of the year.

In another economic release, Euro zone industrial output fell more sharply than expected in July, giving the latest sign that the European economy is flirting with recession. The industrial output in the euro zone fell 0.3% against the previous month and registered a 1.7% fall on the year.

In France, the consumer prices eased in August as fuel and food prices dropped, offsetting the end of the summer clothes sales and hikes in gas and electricity tariffs. Consumer inflation slowed to 3.5 percent year-on-year from an unrevised 4.0 percent in July. On a monthly basis, prices fell 0.1 percent in August.

Looking ahead the day is scheduled to release some of the most awaited data from US statistical house. Starting with the Canada, which will release its capacity utilization for the second quarter. After this we have producer price index of US for the month of August, which will be accompanied by retail sales data for the same time period. In the evening we have business inventories for the month of August, which will be accompanied by Reuters/Michigan, will release its consumer sentiment index for the month of September.

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