FROM: MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD.

The Dow was in line for a fourth straight decline after a weaker than expected reading on consumer confidence erased early gains prompted by agreements designed to address Europe's sovereign-debt issues.

U.S. STOCK MARKETS

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 20 points, or 0.2%, to 12632 in afternoon trading, putting blue chips on pace for their first four-session losing streak since November.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index edged lower by 0.4 point, or 0.1%, to 1313, and the Nasdaq Composite rose four points, or 0.2%, to 2816.

The Dow climbed as much as 66 points before a reading on U.S. consumer confidence in January sent stocks lower. The abrupt swing into negative territory came after the Conference Board's index of consumer confidence retreated to 61.1 this month, from a revised 64.8 in December--well shy of the 68.0 reading expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.

Separately, U.S. home prices fell again in November, according to the Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller home-price indexes. The Case-Shiller index of 10 major metropolitan areas and the 20-city index both fell 1.3% from October. Tuesday's stock declines put at risk the chances for stocks to reach a handful of January milestones.

The Dow will finish with its largest January point gain in its history, absent a drop of 71.34 points or more. The Dow is also on pace to record its largest percentage increase in January since 1997. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is likewise set to notch its biggest point and percentage gains since 1997.

The Dow has climbed 3.4% this year through Tuesday afternoon, while the S&P 500 is up 4.4%. Investors once again digested quarterly earnings reports from major corporations.

Exxon Mobil fell 2%, leading the Dow lower, after reporting its fourth-quarter earnings edged up 1.6%, in line with estimates. Still, margins declined in the fourth quarter because of rising oil prices and tepid fuel demand. Pfizer fell 0.9% after the biopharmaceutical company reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that topped expectations but lowered its 2012 earnings outlook slightly. RadioShack plunged 30% after the consumer-electronics retailer reported disappointing preliminary fourth-quarter earnings and a drop in gross margins. The company also said it decided to suspend share repurchases for the near term.

EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS
European stocks rose Tuesday, as investors welcomed the agreement of a new fiscal pact and a permanent bailout mechanism for the euro zone, although gains were tempered by a couple of disappointing data releases from across the pond.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended up 0.7% at 254.41, closing the month 4% higher. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index ended up 0.2% at 5681.61, Germany's DAX rose 0.2% to 6458.91 and France's CAC-40 index finished up 1% at 3298.55.

Tuesday's session kicked off on a positive note, as investors reacted to news that 25 of the 27 EU governments had agreed on a pact to move closer to fiscal union and signed off on the details of a EUR500 billion permanent bailout fund for the euro bloc, which is expected to come into place in the middle of this year.

In terms of sectors, technology stocks lent support, led higher by London-listed ARM Holdings, which rose 2% following well-received fourth-quarter results.

The Stoxx Europe 600 technology index ended up 1%. However, some weaker-than-expected U.S. data releases in the afternoon took the shine off stocks the Chicago PMI for January came in at a below-expectations 60.2, while the Conference Board consumer-confidence index for the same month was also below expectations at 61.1.

Worries about Portugal and the possibility that it may need a Greek-style debt restructuring continued to weigh on investors' minds, although yields on 10-year Portuguese government bonds did ease from euro-era highs. British Sky Broadcasting gained 3.7% in London following well-received results.

Steelmaker Thyssenkrupp rose 2.7% after it agreed to sell its Inoxum stainless-steel division to Finland's Outokumpu. Outokumpu dropped 15%. Shares of French construction group Eiffage SA climbed 4.5% after J.P. Morgan Cazenove upgraded the stock to neutral.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS

Most Asian markets climbed Tuesday on cautious buying after European Union nations endorsed a treaty to enforce fiscal discipline, with Japanese stocks rising on the back of some positive economic data and earnings reports.

Chinese and Hong Kong stocks rebounded as coal miners and banks clawed back some of the losses from the previous session, while technology shares helped the Taiwanese market extend strong gains on a positive outlook.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.1% to 20,390.49, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3% to 2,292.61, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended 0.1% higher at 8,802.51 and South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.8% to 1,955.79. Taiwan's Taiex rose 1.5% to 7,517.08.

Several exporters declined in Tokyo as the yen appreciated. Shares of Toshiba Corp. fell 1.8% ahead of earnings due after the market close, while Konica Minolta Holdings Inc. lost 2.5% and Fujifilm Holdings Corp. tumbled 6.9%.

The losses in Konica and Fujifilm came as Canon Inc. dropped 4.2% amid uncertainty over its management's succession plans. But gains for industrial firms helped the Japanese market shake off early losses and end with modest gains.

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. rose 1.6% and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. added 2.9%. Shares of China Shenhua Energy Co. rose 1.5% in Hong Kong and 0.6% in Shanghai after saying Monday its 2011 coal output rose by a quarter.

Shares of rival Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. added 1.5% in Hong Kong and 0.6% in Shanghai. Chinese banks also recovered some losses suffered the previous day, with Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. gaining 2.1% and Bank of China Ltd. adding 1.5% in Hong Kong; in Shanghai, they rose 0.7% and 0.3%, respectively.

COMMODITIES
Base metals closed mostly in negative territory on the London Metal Exchange Tuesday, as earlier gains were reversed following the release of disappointing economic data from the U.S. and a decline in the euro.

At the close, LME three-month copper was down 1.3% at $8,320 a metric ton, well below its intraday high at $8,524.75/ton. Tin which is currently benefiting from the effects of weather-related output disruptions in Indonesia fared the best of the complex, closing 1.5% higher at $24,340/ton.

Crude oil futures turned lower Tuesday, as earlier steep gains rapidly evaporated after the dollar rose and negative U.S. macroeconomic data pulled most markets lower. Inventory data are also in focus.

Analysts expect weekly oil inventory data to show U.S. crude oil stocks rose 3 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 27, while refiners trimmed operations by 0.8 percentage point.

Crude stocks are already 3.5% above the five-year average and stand at an eight-week high. Traders said the market also was keeping a close eye on ongoing contract negotiations between a major union and companies operating plants that account for about one-third of nation's refining capacity.

The contract with the United Steel Workers union runs out at midnight Tuesday, raising concerns about a potential strike.

Crude for delivery in March settled 30 cents lower at $98.48 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after trading a broad $3.43-a-barrel range. Gold futures carved out a slight gain as weaker U.S. data and a declining euro tempered earlier gains. Gold for April delivery settled at its highest level in nearly eight weeks, gaining $6, or 0.4%, to finish trade at $1,740.40 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.