** MORNING WRAP **

** US MARKETS **
Dow 0,33%; Nasdaq 0,72%; S&P 0,49%; Soxx 0,03%; Russel2k 0,74%; DJAIG 1,76%;
10yr Bond -0,19%; 10yr Yield 4,78%; Crude future 53,27; Gold 625,63

| Energy 2,58%| Materials 1,12%| Technology 0,5%| Healthcare 0,4%| Telecom
0,37%| ConsDisc 0,29%| Industrials 0,28%| Financials 0,22%| ConsStaples -0,08%|
Utilities -0,74%

– Money Managers Buy Large Caps, Sell Short to Seek Stocks Shelter in 2007 – U.S., South Korea Resume Trade Free-Trade Talks as Bush’s Authority Wanes – Canadian Dollar Falls Prey to Hedge Funds as Crude, Copper Prices Decline – Gold May Rise for Second Week as Investors Seek Alternative to the Dollar – U.S. Housing, Manufacturing Declined Last Month, Survey of Economists Says – Dodge May Delay Canadian Rate Cut as Dollar Drop Makes Export Attractive – General Electric Co., the world’s biggest jet-engine maker, agreed to buy
Smiths Group Plc’s aerospace business for $4.8 billion amid record demand for
commercial aircraft. – U.S markets are closed for Martin L. King Day.

** ASIAN MARKETS **
Nikkei 0,9%; Kospi 0,19%; HSI 1,48%; Taiwan 0,28%; China 3,78%; India 0,52%;
Thailand 1,28%; Australia 0,66%

– Japan’s Machinery Orders Rise, Supporting Case for Higher Interest Rates – Yen Rises After Japan’s November Machinery Orders Report Beats Forecasts – Asian Stocks Gain on U.S. Retail Sales; Samsung Electronics, Honda Advance – Asian Leaders Plan Free-Trade Area Stretching From India to New Zealand – PetroChina’s Oil, Gas Production Rose to Record on Western China Drilling – South Korea Eases Regulations on Overseas Investments to Curb Gains by Won – Cairn India Shares Surge 7 Percent on Efforts to Resolve Pipeline Dispute – Philippine Peso Will Rise to 48 as Coup Risk Fades, Says Morgan Stanley

** EUROPE: IN PLAY TODAY **

– London homeowners suffer inflation at twice the rate prevailing across the
U.K., according to a new calculator on the Office for National Statistics Web
site. A London homeowner with a 200,000-pound ($392,000) mortgage had a
personal inflation rate of 6.8 percent last November, the program shows. That
compares with the official retail-price inflation figure of 3.9 percent in the
month. London renters, by contrast, had a below-average rate of 2.9 percent. – Crude oil rose for a second day in New York after Algeria’s oil minister said
OPEC members are in ``consultations’’ on the recent price drop, raising
speculation that the group may bring forward output cuts. – Alitalia SpA: Shares in Italy’s state-owned carrier may be active after
financier Carlo de Benedetti confirmed after the market closed Jan. 12 that he
is examining a bid for the airline. De Benedetti’s Management & Capitali SpA met Jan. 12 to evaluate possible interest in making an offer before the
government’s Jan. 29 deadline for bids. – Allianz SE: The company’s domestic business may have exceeded its targets last year because of gains in property and life insurance, Gerhard Rupprecht, head
of Allianz’s German holding Allianz Deutschland AG, told Handelsblatt newspaper. – ABN AMRO CEO Rijkman Groenink said he wants to buy more banks in Italy
following his acquisition of Banca Antonveneta SpA last year, even as he sticks
to ambitious shareholder return targets for the largest Dutch bank. ABN Amro
spokesman Jochem van de Laarschot confirmed comments by Groenink about his aim
to expand in Italy reported by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera y’day. – BAE Systems Plc: Europe’s largest weapons maker will team up with Carlyle
Group or Rolls-Royce Group Plc (RR/ LN) to take over the dockyard that maintains the U.K.’s nuclear submarines, the London-based Times said, citing no one. – British Airways Plc: Europe’s third-largest airline plans to buy as many as 90 new planes, an order which may be worth as much as $17.6 billion, the Sunday
Express reported, without saying how it got the information. – Commerzbank AG: Chief Executive Officer Klaus-Peter Mueller said 2006 was a
good year and that the lender’s management may propose a higher dividend. – Eni SpA and Exxon Mobil Corp. are among oil companies that face further fines for continuing to limit competition in Italy’s jet-fuel market. – Grupo Ferrovial SA: Spain’s second-largest builder is negotiating the takeover of a U.K. waste-management company, said a spokeswoman for the company, who
asked not to be identified. – TUI AG: Chief Executive Officer Michael Frenzel said he would welcome another
``strategic investor’’ to help protect Europe’s largest travel company against
takeovers. – United Utilities Plc: The U.K.’s largest publicly traded water company will
say it has sold its Vertex customer-service business for between 215 million
pounds ($420.9 million) and 220 million pounds, the Financial Times said. – Vinci SA: The world’s largest construction company will post sales for 2006
closer to 26 billion euros ($33.6 billion) than to the 25 billion euros
announced at the beginning of the year, Chief Executive Officer Xavier Huillard
told French weekly Investir in an interview. – Volkswagen AG: The supervisory-board chairmen of carmaker Volkswagen and
truckmaker MAN AG will meet Sweden’s Wallenberg family this week to discuss
options for combining MAN and Swedish rival Scania AB, after MAN’s attempt to
purchase Scania was thwarted, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said. The