The U. S. Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.9 percent yesterday as a government report showed retail sales advanced 0.6 percent last month from May, exceeding the 0.4 percent gain projected by economists. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. also reported a 65 percent jump in quarterly net income as revenue from trading and stock underwriting reached record highs.

Futures on the S&P 500 climbed 0.8 percent after Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, forecast sales will reach as much as $8.9 billion in the current quarter, surpassing the $7.86 billion estimated by analysts. The report came after U. S. markets closed.

Asian stocks gained for a second day, led by technology and mining companies, after an Intel Corp. sales forecast exceeded analyst estimates and metal prices rose.

China's foreign? exchange reserves, the world's biggest, topped $2 trillion for the first time as overseas investors became more confident that the nation's economy is recovering.

The reserves rose a record $178 billion in the second quarter to $2.132 trillion, the People's Bank of China said today on its Web site. That dwarfs a $7.7 billion gain in the previous three months. The nation's trade surplus was smaller in the second quarter than the first and foreign direct investment in China has slowed this year.

"It's inevitable that China will continue investing in Treasuries because of the sheer scale of its reserves," said Ken Peng, an economist with Citigroup Inc. in Beijing. "Diversification will happen at a slow pace, with commodities the favored alternative." China Economic growth rebounded to 7.8 percent in the second quarter, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists. That number will be released tomorrow.

The Bank of Japan may extend its emergency? credit programs today as companies struggle to borrow and political turbulence threatens to stifle an economic revival.

The Brazilian real, China's yuan and India's rupee are all likely to strengthen about 10 percent against the dollar in the coming year, according to Bank of America Corp. strategist Michael Hartnett. Bank of Amercia economists "believe the global recession ended in the second quarter of 2009 and a fragile recovery has begun in the third quarter,"

Indian Stock markets are expected to open positive and may continue to remain positive during the day.