MARKET ROUNDUP (Source Bloomberg)

U.S. Stocks Fall as Obama Holds Ground on Income Taxes; after President Barack Obama held his ground about raising tax rates for the highest-income Americans. The S&P 500 retreated 0.2 percent to 1,407.05 at 4 p.m. New York time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 13.82 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,951.78. More than 5.9 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, or 4.7 percent below the three- month average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. U.S. President Obama's administration rejected a Republican plan for tackling the fiscal cliff that omitted higher tax rates for top-earning Americans, leaving the issue unresolved with about four weeks left before more than $600 billion in tax increases and federal spending cuts start taking effect. European (SXXP)stocks rose as finance ministers met to discuss moves to stem the debt crisis.

European Stocks Rise for Second Day; Oerlikon Climbs; as American lawmakers continued to debate plans to address the socalled fiscal cliff. U.S. index futures and Asian shares were little changed. The Reserve Bank of Australia today cut its benchmark interest rate for the sixth time in 14 months. European governments are counting on the buyback as a market-based way of cutting Greece's debt, paving the way for continued aid payments. Finance ministers set a Dec. 13 meeting to release the next 34.4 billion euros ($45 billion) for Greece.

Oil falls on U.S. budget, fuel demand concerns (Reuters); Oil prices fell on Tuesday, as concerns about the U.S. budget crisis and global fuel demand outweighed ongoing worries about instability in the Middle East. Markets have been on edge for weeks about whether U.S. lawmakers can make a budget deal by year end to avert the' fiscal cliff" -- automatic spending cuts and tax hikes that analysts say could stoke a recession. Oil markets also have been weighed down by euro zone troubles this year. Even if a U.S. budget deal is reached, market players said oil prices would be dragged by the prospect that oil demand would remain weak next year in many developed economies. U.S. crude oil futures gave up 59 cents to settle at $88.50 per barrel, bouncing off the 14-day moving average when it hit the intraday low of $87.57 a barrel.

Source:Jupiter Securities Research, 05 December 2012