Bidding on the New York stock exchange began with lowering the main rates on Monday. In particular, the Dow Jones index lost 0.75%, going down to 12723.96 points.

Investors’ attention is attracted to Greece which is suffering from an acute political and economic crisis.

The leading political parties of the country did not manage to form a coalition government after the parliamentary elections on the 6th of May.

If a new cabinet is not formed new parliamentary elections will be organised in Greece. Experts forecast that the left-wing forces will win an absolute majority and as a result Athens could refuse to fulfil its obligations to international creditors and leave the eurozone.

NEW YORK (AP) – Stronger profits from General Electric, McDonald’s and other major U.S. corporations pushed stocks higher Friday. Optimism from Europe helped brighten the mood.

McDonald’s, the world’s biggest hamburger chain, said that profits in the first quarter rose 7%. Its stock was up 1.9% in early trading.
In Europe, Germany’s DAX was up 1%, and other major stock indexes were slightly higher. A closely watched survey in Germany, the continent’s economic powerhouse, showed business optimism rising for the sixth straight month. Most economists expected the index to decline. A gauge of optimism six months ahead was also positive.
Stock trend

Dow Jones industrial average, five trading days
Among stocks making big moves in the United States:
— Microsoft gained 4.7%. The tech giant posted quarterly earnings and revenue late Thursday that exceeded analysts’ projections. One highlight was a 4% increase in sales from in its Windows division, even though sales of personal computers running Windows have been weak over the past year.
— E-Trade Financial jumped 4.6%. The online broker reported a 40% jump in first-quarter profit after the close of trading Thursday, beating Wall Street estimates with the help of big tax benefit.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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AP – The price of gold plunged Tuesday after the Federal Reserve said inflation appears to be under control.

Gold for April delivery closed around 1:30 p.m. at $1,670 per ounce, down $7.50. Then the Fed released minutes from its March 13 meeting around 2 p.m., and within an hour gold had plunged to about $1,645 per ounce.

Investors often buy gold as a hedge against inflation. But some Fed members are concerned that the economic recovery will be slow and halting, according to the minutes, and that likely means inflation will stay in check.

Inflation “is what gold holders look for more than currency moves and economic recovery,” said George Gero, vice president of global futures at RBC Capital Markets.

Copper, an industrial metal, also fell slightly, losing 0.2 cent to $3.919 per pound for May delivery. The decline came despite a government report that factory orders bounced in February as businesses made long-term investments.

Silver, platinum and palladium settled higher. May silver rose 16.7 cents to $33.265 per ounce. July platinum rose $5.60 to $1,660.50 per ounce. June palladium rose 80 cents to $659.60 per ounce.

Silver, platinum, palladium and copper all fell after the Fed minutes were released.

Traders appeared to be weighing reports of strong auto sales in the U.S. against signs that demand in China is cooling. Christine Lagarde, chief of the International Monetary Fund, said Tuesday that the recovery remains particularly frail in Europe.

Oil prices fell as traders digested the mixed signs about the global economy. Benchmark U.S. crude gave up $1.22 to end the day at $104.01 per barrel in New York. Crude has traded near $105 per barrel since February, pushed higher by tension in Iran and the falling dollar. Brent crude was down 57 cents to finish at $124.86 per barrel in London.

In other energy trading, heating oil fell by 2.21 cents to finish at $3.2275 per gallon, and gasoline futures added 1.32 cents to end at $3.3954 per gallon. Natural gas increased by 3.5 cents to finish at $2.187 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In agricultural commodities, wheat and corn rose while soybeans fell. Wheat rose 1 cent to $6.58 per bushel. Corn rose 3.25 cents to $6.5825 per bushel. Soybeans fell 4.25 cents to $14.167 per bushel.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–Molson Coors Brewing Co. (TAP, TAPA) agreed to buy Central and East European brewer StarBev LP for 2.65 billion euros ($3.54 billion), edging ahead of a number of global brewers interested in the business and gaining a stronger foothold in Europe’s emerging markets.

Even though the deal gives Molson Coors access to a region where the beer market is growing, Molson Coors shares slid 5% to $43.40 in recent trading Tuesday afternoon as investors fretted about the transaction costs and integration worries. The stock is roughly flat so far this year, underperforming the broader market’s gain.

Private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners has owned StarBev, which employs about 4,100 people and generated sales of around EUR700 million last year, since it bought it from Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (BUD, ABI.BT) in December 2009. It had received a number of takeover approaches for the business since late last year and hired Nomura Holdings Inc. (NMR, 8604.TO) to evaluate the expressions of interest, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal in February. No formal auction process was launched.

Though StarBev’s business has slowed during the European debt crisis, beer consumption is seen as a growth market in the region. During a conference call, Molson Coors President and Chief Executive Peter Swinburn told analysts StarBev had top three market positions in all nine countries in which it operates, including the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary and Serbia.

He called the Central and Eastern European beer market “very attractive” as the middle class expands and due to a regional preference that favors beer. Swinburn said the region’s economies have stabilized and are on a path toward long-term growth, adding the gross domestic product in those economies is expected to rise above the rate of the U.S. in the medium term.

Swinburn said the business was one the company had “on the radar for a long time.”

Molson Coors, which brews Coors Light, Carling and Molson Canadian, will be gaining StarBev’s portfolio of more than 20 brands that includes Staropramen, Borsodi, Bergenbier and Jelen.

Swinburn told Dow Jones Newswires Molson Coors may take some of StarBev’s brews, most notably Staropramen, into new markets and can also increase StarBev’s market share through branding and packaging changes. He added StarBev only recently introduced Staropramen into markets like Serbia and Croatia, leaving some room for Molson Coors to expand those brands in Eastern and Central Europe.

Additionally, Swinburn said his company could take the U.K.’s Carling to some Eastern European markets, after learning some lessons from a launch in the Ukraine less than a year ago.

“The insight we picked up is that for Eastern Europe, the U.K. and specifically London is viewed as very aspirational,” Swinburn said.

Molson Coors’s sales have grown as it has raised prices and pushes into emerging markets like China. The company has operated over the past few years in Russia and Ukraine, markets Swinburn said have performed well for Molson Coors. The company expects the revenue coming from markets other than the U.S., Canada and the U.K. will increase “from low single digits to mid-teens” as it folds in the StarBev acquisition. The deal is also expected to add to earnings within the first year of operation.

While the deal will give Molson Coors greater access to key emerging markets as beer consumption in mature markets like the U.S. have been challenged by a weak economic recovery and market-share losses to wine and spirits, Moody’s Investors Service warned beer consumption in StarBev’s markets has been volatile in past recessions. The ratings firm warned that “with higher growth may come some greater fluctuation in financial results.”

As a result of those worries, as well as some integration challenges, Moody’s trimmed its rating on Molson Coors by one notch to Baa2, leaving it two levels into investment grade. Moody’s added it expects leverage to rise materially for the acquisition as Molson Coors will need to access the capital markets to take out a bridge loan and assure enough liquidity for some large maturities that are coming due in the next 12 to 18 months.

Swinburn told analysts that as a result of the deal’s financing requirements, Molson Coors won’t repurchase any shares under its current buyback program as it focuses on paying down debt. He later told Dow Jones Newswires the company intended to deleverage “very quickly” and expects to get back to the current balance-sheet ratios in about three years.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Mark Swartzberg expressed some concern about StarBev’s lofty 34% earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization margin, which he said raises the question of whether margins are at peak levels.

Swinburn told Dow Jones that there were opportunities for that metric to climb, citing Molson Coors’s ability to bring new brews to market and a better product mix that skews toward higher-priced beers as Eastern Europe’s economy grows. He said those margin benefits directly correspond with the region’s expanding middle class.

-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480; john.kell@dowjones.com

–Kristin Jones and Marietta Cauchi contributed to this article.

Bloomberg – General Motors Co., with its premium brands losing ground, posted gains in U.S. vehicle sales that trailed analysts’ estimates while Chrysler Group LLC and Nissan Motor Co. reported better-than-projected increases.

GM sales of cars and light trucks rose 12 percent and Ford Motor Co. deliveries climbed 5 percent, according to company statements. The average of 10 analysts’ estimates was for gains of 19 percent at GM and 5.5 percent at Ford. Chrysler, controlled by Fiat SpA, said its U.S. sales climbed 34 percent. Nissan deliveries rose 13 percent, vaulting the carmaker past Honda Motor Co. through the first three months of the year.

Light-vehicle sales in March may have run at a 14.5 million seasonally adjusted annual rate, the average estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. GM’s results included a 16 percent drop for the Buick brand, which has one new model, and a 13 percent decline for Cadillac and its aging lineup.

“GM’s got problems in Cadillac, which they have a solution to with the ATS and XTS coming later this year, and Buick’s a work in progress,” Alan Baum, principal of Baum & Associates, a provider of auto-industry analysis in West Bloomfield, Michigan, said in a phone interview.

Toyota Motor Corp. sales increased 15 percent, matching seven analysts’ average estimate. Honda posted a surprise 5 percent drop in March deliveries, missing seven analysts’ average estimate for a 5.3 percent increase. Sales were 320,165 through March for Honda, said Sage Marie, a spokesman, putting the Tokyo-based automaker behind Nissan at 322,361 units.

‘Aggressive’ Competition

GM said Cadillac deliveries were hurt by the battle in the luxury segment, where Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Daimler AG are vying be the top luxury seller in the U.S.

“The competition is being very aggressive,” Kurt McNeil, GM’s Cadillac vice president of sales, said on a call with reporters. “It’s not for the faint of heart.”

GM deliveries rose to 231,052, the Detroit-based automaker said on its website. Sales were boosted by 8,251 deliveries for the Chevrolet Sonic subcompact, which gets 33 miles (53 kilometers) per gallon in combined city and highway driving. The company said it delivered more than 100,000 vehicles, including the Sonic, that get 30 mpg or more in highway driving.

GM fell 4.6 percent to $25.54 at 3:04 p.m. New York time. Ford was unchanged at $12.62.

Job gains and buyers who put off car purchases during the recession are driving the fastest three-month auto-sales pace in four years, even as average U.S. unleaded gasoline prices rose 20 percent this year through the end of March.

2012 Estimates

Analysts at Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank AG, Citigroup Inc. and TrueCar.com last month increased their estimates for full-year sales. Researchers at the four companies increased 2012 estimates by an average of 550,000 vehicles to 14.5 million. IHS Automotive said today it estimates 14.2 million light-vehicle deliveries in the U.S. this year, up from a previous estimate of 14 million.

“We see the economy slowing over the next three to six months,” George Magliano, senior principal economist for IHS Automotive, said today at an auto forum in New York. “That is going to slow down the auto recovery, but it certainly isn’t going to derail it.”

Analysts estimated that Chrysler’s sales would rise by 31 percent, the average of 10 estimates, and that Nissan’s would increase 11 percent, the average of seven estimates.

Fiat’s Record

The Fiat 500 achieved record monthly sales of 3,712, according to Chrysler’s statement. The Auburn Hills, Michigan- based automaker’s gains extended beyond small cars, with deliveries of its 200 and 300 sedans more than doubling from a year earlier and the Jeep Liberty, Wrangler and Grand Cherokee sport-utility vehicles each climbing at least 43 percent.

Ford’s sales rose to 222,884 cars and light trucks, up from March 2011 deliveries that were the best total of any month last year for the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker.

“We were coming off a big base from last March,” Mark Fields, Ford’s president of the Americas, said today at a lunch with reporters in New York.

Ford’s car sales were mixed, with deliveries of the Focus compact rising 65 percent to 28,293 and Fiesta subcompact deliveries falling 34 percent to 6,502. Sales of the company’s F-Series pickups increased 9 percent to 58,061.

Improving Mileage

“People didn’t buy for a number of years, so you still have some remaining pent-up demand,” Bert Boeckmann, the owner of a Ford dealership in North Hills, California, said yesterday in a phone interview. “You have a more positive attitude from people about buying cars right now, and you have people who are justifying it on the basis of improving their mileage.”

A 14.5 million sales rate for March would exceed the 13.1 million pace from a year earlier and set an average rate of 14.6 million for the first quarter, ahead of analysts’ estimates for full-year deliveries. Total light-vehicle sales last month may have risen to 1.42 million, the average of eight analysts’ estimates. That would be the highest monthly total since August 2007, according to researcher Autodata Corp.

Toyota began U.S. deliveries of its 50 mpg Prius c hybrid subcompact last month. The Prius “family” of four models, including the original hatchback, climbed to 28,711 units in March, a record for the model line, the Toyota City, Japan-based automaker said in an e-mailed statement.

Volkswagen AG’s combined sales of its namesake and Audi brands increased by 30 percent to 48,173, according to separate company statements. The gain missed three analysts’ average estimate for a 35 percent rise.

Affiliates Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. combined to sell 20 percent more vehicles than a year earlier, beating the average of five analysts’ estimates for an 18 percent gain.

–With assistance from Tim Higgins in Southfield, Michigan, Keith Naughton in New York and Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles. Editors: Bill Koenig, Niamh Ring

To contact the reporter on this story: Craig Trudell in Southfield, Michigan at ctrudell1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Daurat at cdaurat@bloomberg.net; Jamie Butters at jbutters@bloomberg.net

CNBC – The bull market in stocks will continue the rest of the year despite the outsized gains already in the first quarter as more equity “disbelievers” are converted, the economy improves and more companies follow Apple’s lead in paying a dividend, well-known Wall Street strategist Byron Wien says.
“I actually thought the S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC – News) could reach 1500 based on the generally achieved (but not last year) multiple of 15 times and operating earnings of $100,” wrote Blackstone’s Wien in a strategy note to clients Tuesday, which reviewed his classic “Ten Surprises” outlook for the year. “Estimates have been trimmed somewhat, but, at this point, I still think 1500 is likely.”
“Over the past three months the pessimistic mood has changed to optimism,” continues Wien, formerly the long-time chief investment strategist at Morgan Stanley. “Ordinarily, optimistic sentiment readings presage a market correction, but there are so many investors looking for an opportunity to increase their exposure that even a minor downdraft gets cut short by a flood of buyers. This could continue for a while.”
So far this year, the S&P 500 is up 12 percent to above 1400, Wien’s original 2012 forecast for the U.S. benchmark. Federal Reserve officials made note Tuesday of the strengthening economy in minutes released from the central bank’s March meeting.
“Over the past few years the work of the Economic Cycle Research Institute has gained some respect,” stated Wien, now the Vice Chairman of Blackstone Advisory Partners. “Its index peaked in April 2010 and April 2011, warning of slower economic activity to follow. The S&P 500 subsequently declined 15% in both of those years. The index is currently rising and there are enough positive economic factors influencing it to believe that it won’t peak soon.”
In a rare instance of discussing a specific company, the strategist singled out the tech giant’s declaration of a dividend as another reason to be bullish stocks.
“Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL – News) paving the way for a greater focus on dividends will help the indexes move ahead.”
For the best market insight, catch ‘Fast Money’ each night at 5pm ET, and the ‘Halftime Report’ each afternoon at 12:00 ET on CNBC. Follow @CNBCMelloy on Twitter.

Bloomberg – Asian stocks rose following the biggest quarterly gain since 2010 as oil and the Australian dollar advanced after a Chinese manufacturing gauge climbed to the highest level in a year.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) added 0.4 percent as of 9:15 a.m. in Tokyo. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures gained 0.4 percent. Australia’s currency advanced 0.8 percent to $1.0428, while the U.S. dollar fell against most of its major counterparts. New York oil rose 0.4 percent to $103.40 a barrel.

“The hard-landing argument is now being taken out of the equation,” said Kurt Magnus, executive director of currency sales in Sydney at Nomura Holdings Inc, referring to the prospect of a severe slowdown in the Chinese economy. “I would strongly suspect that support for the currency will be evident all week in the Australian dollar.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.8 percent and South Korea’s Kospi Index advanced 0.3 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.8 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index jumped 11 percent in the first three months of this year, the biggest quarterly rally since September 2010.
To contact the reporters on this story: Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net; Masaki Kondo in Singapore at mkondo3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net

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US stocks rose on Wednesday as signs of a labour market recovery helped shake off jitters that had sent shares to their worst performance in almost three months.
The S&P 500 gained 0.7 per cent to 1,352.64 after ADP, the payroll processor, reported the private sector added 216,000 jobs in February, slightly ahead of expectations. That comes ahead of the official monthly non-farm payroll report on Friday, which will be closely watched by markets.
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“The fundamentals in the market continue to surprise on the upside and beat expectations. Today’s ADP numbers add to that. There are two drivers in the market, primary are the fundamentals and global risk is a secondary consideration in our forecasts. Clearly, the attention is getting back on the fundamentals where it should be,” said Doug Coté, chief market strategist at ING Investment Management.
He added: “We think this market continues to run. Friday’s non-farm payrolls are forecast at 210,000 but are we projecting 280,000.”
The S&P 500 index had dropped 1.9 per cent on Monday and Tuesday as global economic growth concerns and Greek debt worries crept back into the markets, taking away investors’ appetite for risk.
The US Treasury department late on Wednesday said it would sell $6bn in shares of AIG . Shares of the insurer that was rescued during the financial crisis in 2008 were down 1.2 per cent to $29.45 in after-hours trading.
The financial sector led the S&P 500 during the day, closing up 1.3 per cent as Greece inched nearer to a successful debt restructuring agreement with private sector bondholders as a deadline approached. Morgan Stanley , the worst hit among the major banks earlier this week, rose 3.2 per cent to $17.88. Citigroup climbed 3.5 per cent to $33.24, Bank of America went up 4 per cent to $8.02 and Goldman Sachs rose 2.4 per cent to $116.40.
After having spiked on Tuesday, investor expectations of volatility, as measured by the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s Vix index, which is also known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge”, dropped back below 20. The Vix was down 7.8 per cent to 19.25 points, but still has risen 13 per cent for the week.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the day up 0.9 per cent at 2,935.69. Apple – now the most owned stock by US mutual funds according to Citigroup – see-sawed throughout the day as Tim Cook, chief executive, unveiled the latest iterations of its popular products, including the iPad. Apple closed up 0.1 per cent at $530.69.
Netflix , the video streaming and DVD delivery service, rose by up to 4 per cent after announcing it would enter into partnerships to stream content for cable companies. But the volatile shares in the company were sent down by as much as 4.3 per cent after Apple debuted the latest version of Apple TV in the afternoon. Netflix shares recovered a bit to close down 1.8 per cent at $105.19, as it assured customers that it services would be available on Apple TV.
Pandora , the internet radio company, slumped 23.9 per cent to $10.86, erasing nearly all of its gains for the year. The company reported widening fourth-quarter losses compared to the same period a year ago and lowered future earnings guidance to below analyst consensus. Mark Mahaney, an internet analyst at Citi, downgraded the shares to “neutral”.
“We initiated [Pandora] with a ‘buy’ last July with the stock at $18. That call clearly hasn’t worked. As a speculative ‘buy’ – with no profitability track record and no near-term profitable outlook – [Pandora] always carried very little margin for error. And now there’s error,” he said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6 per cent to 12,837.78. The earthmover Caterpillar gained 2.2 per cent to $108.28, the third highest riser on the blue-chip index.
The consumer goods maker Kraft was the biggest loser on the Dow, falling 1.2 per cent to $37.83 as the company was downgraded from “buy” to “hold” by Scott Mushkin, analyst at Jefferies.
“2012, however, appears to be a year of investment and we expect limited upside for the next two to three quarters until the focus shifts to the post-separation outlook,” he said, adding that he still believed in the company’s longer-term prospects.
Cyclical materials stocks recovered slightly, up 0.4 per cent, but have been the hardest hit sector on the S&P 500 this week, having dropped 3.4 per cent. The fertiliser maker CF Industries was up 4.1 per cent at $175.84. Eastman Chemical and Dow Chemical were up 2.1 per cent and 1.9 per cent to $51.17 and $33.12, respectively.
Energy stocks were up 0.6 per cent led by a 7.3 per cent jump in shares of Valero Energy at $27. First Solar continued its losses, falling another 6.6 per cent to $25.80 as a report said the renewable energy company was cutting production at its operations in Germany and Malaysia.
The Philadelphia Gold and Silver index was down 0.1 per cent, having fallen 8.3 per cent since Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, last week disappointed markets with a downbeat statement on the likelihood of a third round of quantitative easing.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks broke a three-day losing streak on Wednesday, recovering some recent losses after a report showed the U.S. private sector added more jobs than expected last month.
After suffering their worst decline in three months on Tuesday, stocks received an early lift after payroll processor ADP said U.S. private employers picked up the pace of hiring in February.
A report from The Wall Street Journal saying the U.S. Federal Reserve is considering a new type of mortgage and Treasury bond-buying program boosted stocks, particularly the financials.
Banking stocks – Tuesday’s big losers – were the strongest sector on Wednesday. The KBW bank index (DJI:BKX) advanced 1.9 percent. Morgan Stanley (NYS:MS) gained 3.2 percent to $17.88 following a 5.3 percent drop in the previous session.
“Earlier in the week, portfolio managers, advisors and institutional money managers were looking for some sort of pullback just because it’s good to buy on the dip, and we’ve had such a nice run,” said Mark Martiak,, senior wealth strategist at Premier Financial Advisors in New York.
“The right part of the economic good news, good data story was the private sector adding 216,000 jobs.”
The news comes after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke stirred caution among many in financial markets last week by giving no clear indication that he plans to spur faster growth by pushing for another round of asset purchases, or quantitative easing.
Improving economic figures have helped push the S&P 500 up more than 20 percent from the October closing low.
Investors continued to eye signs of progress in negotiations between fiscally troubled Greece and private creditors that will result in a substantial write-down for Greece’s debt costs.
Tuesday’s tumble was prompted by renewed concerns about Greece and the outlook for the global economy. It was one of the worst performances since stocks began rallying in October and the third straight decline for the S&P 500.
Six Greek pension funds are still holding out against joining the deal while eight have agreed to take part.
The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI:DJI) rose 78.18 points, or 0.61 percent, to 12,837.33 at the close. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (MXP:SPX) climbed 9.27 points, or 0.69 percent, to 1,352.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index (NAS:COMP) added 25.37 points, or 0.87 percent, to 2,935.69.
The PHLX housing sector index (XPH:HGX) advanced 2.7 percent, with Hovnanian Enterprises (NYS:HOV) up 2.5 percent at $2.46 after posting results.
Apple shares were volatile as the company unveiled its latest iPad, which commands upwards of two-thirds of the growing tablet market.
Apple shares fluctuated between gains and losses after the reveal, closing up just 0.08 percent at $530.69. Earlier in the session, Apple’s stock had gained as much as 1.4 percent to reach an intraday high at $537.78.
Shares of Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc (NYS:FCX) fell 1.1 percent to $38.99 and Newmont Mining Corp (NYS:NEM) slipped 0.9 percent to $56.68 after Indonesia announced new rules to take more profits from vast mineral resources by limiting foreign ownership of mines.
The PHLX gold/silver index (XPH:XAU) shed 0.1 percent.
Investors kept an eye on oil prices after France voiced skepticism that a planned revival of talks between six world powers and Iran over its nuclear program would succeed.
Rising geopolitical tensions could bring war to the region, raise oil prices, and harm the global economy.
Volume was light, with about 6 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, below the daily average of 6.9 billion.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of nearly 4 to 1, while on the Nasdaq, about three stocks rose for every one that fell.
(Reporting By Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)

BEIJING/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Beijing and the influential U.S. agriculture department may have overstated China’s corn crop by as much as 14 percent, pointing to higher imports from the world’s second-largest consumer of the grain that could squeeze already tightening global supplies.
If China plugs the gap between projected and actual domestic supply with additional corn imports, it would drive up international prices already near four-month highs. Wheat markets could feel the impact too if Beijing snaps up the grain as a substitute to corn for animal feed.
“Many are skeptical over the corn output figure,” said Li Qiang, a senior analyst with JC Intelligence (JCI), an influential consultancy. “The industry expected an output increase, but not by as much as the bureau says.”
China’s National Bureau of Statistics said that farms produced a record corn crop in 2011 of 191.8 million tonnes. But enthusiastic local officials often overstate the size of crops in China to impress central authorities and win bigger subsidies.
A Reuters investigation based on assessments from some cooperatives, key trading houses and JCI suggests that Beijing has overstated the crop size by between 6.8 million tonnes and 24 million tonnes, the equivalent of between 12 days and 44 days of consumption.
The impact of tighter-than-expected supplies is already being felt in the domestic market. Competition between local industry processors and state-owned procurement agencies for supplies is pushing domestic prices higher.
State grain buyers are struggling to replenish depleted national stocks, raising the risk the government will limit purchases by processors, whose rapid expansion has been blamed by Beijing for threatening the country’s grains supply.
Strategic stocks are well below the government’s comfort level after three years in which Beijing has drawn them down to boost domestic supply and dampen food prices driven higher by growing demand for meat from an increasingly affluent population. Low stockpiles give Beijing little wriggle room before it has to import.
The United States Department of Agriculture, whose figures international traders rely on to gauge global demand and supply, estimates the record crop plus imports of four million tonnes will meet China’s demand this year.
But it may need much more to plug the supply shortfall caused by the crop overestimate, bolstering a global corn market already being hampered by a severe drought in agriculture powerhouses Brazil and Argentina.
Just two weeks ago, China bought 120,000 tonnes, it’s first purchase since the harvest was completed late last year.
Chicago Board of Trade benchmark corn prices hit their highest levels since January this week as drought in agricultural powerhouses Brazil and Argentina worried buyers, although the price is well off the highs of 2010 and 2011.
U.S. corn stocks are forecast by the U.S. agriculture department to shrink this year to their smallest level in 16 years, reducing U.S. export potential to meet China’s needs.
Still, global wheat supplies are in a better position to take up some of the slack. Major producer Australia is expecting record-high wheat output this year, adding to bumper supplies from the Black Sea region.
World wheat stocks at the end of the 2011/12 season look set to eclipse the previous record set more than a decade ago, according to the International Grains Council (IGC), which raised its forecast for production to an all-time high.
That will encourage China to buy more wheat and only take corn when prices dip or look relatively cheap.
“They are smart buyers so they will be very opportunistic, choosing the right time to buy,” said Adam Davis, a senior commodity analyst at Merricks Capital in Melbourne.
“We see year-on-year increase in corn imports, just as we did with soybean imports.”