Global Market Update

Asian Markets
Japan's Nikkei benchmark edged higher on Tuesday,but gains may be limited as uncertainty over the Middle East persists.Techs gained after Hitachi Ltd. sold a disk-drive unit to Calif.-based Western Digital for about $4.3 billion.Australian stocks slipped 0.2 percent in early trade on Tuesday, with worries about high oil prices.
Nikkei Stock Average 225 was up 0.38 pct up 40.42 points to 10,545.44.
Hang Seng Index was up 0.18 pct up 41.99 points to 23,355.18.
KOSPI Index up 0.88% or 17.41 points at 1,997.68.
Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.08 pct up 2.45 points to 2,998.66.


US Markets
U.S. stocks on Monday ended lower, with tech stocks down the most amid high oil prices and continued turmoil in the Middle East.Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 79.85 points, or 0.66%, to 12090.03.The S&P 500 Index closed down 11.02 points, or 0.83%, to 1310.13.The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 39.04 points, or 1.4%, to 2745.63.The CBOE Volatility Index rose above 20. Intel was down 1.6% after Wells Fargo & Co. cut its view of the semiconductor sector.Starbucks gained after Morgan Stanley upgraded the coffee retailer.

European Markets
European markets also ended the day lower. FTSE was down 0.28 pct down 16.61 points to 5973.78.DAX was down 0.24 pct down 16.97 points to 7161.93.
CAC40 was down 0.74 pct down 29.80 points to 3990.41.

Crude Oil & Gold
Oil prices fell back from a session high of nearly $107 a barrel Monday.Crude-oil prices continued to gain $1.02 to close at $105.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Gold rose to settle above $1,343 Monday, as crude oil prices sharply pulled back