Mid-Morning Recap by TradeTheNews Staff - Many of the major overseas equity indices added 1% overnight leading to a strong open for US equities. Generally solid Feb same-store sales figures have helped retailers add to the overall strength. ANF +1% AEO +5% TGT +2.5% MW +10% GYMB +3.5% PSUN +4% TJX +1% JCP +4% MCD +1% Financial stocks are seeing money flow back in with investment bank/broker dealers surging. MER +3% GS +3% BSC +2.5% LEH +3% April crude is making new session low at $61.20 while XOM â0.5% is the biggest drag on the Dow. Gold is drifting away from is recent strong correlation with equity markets as it ticks back towards the unchanged level with the softness in crude. May copper futures are up another 2.5% and look set to test the multi-month high of $2.90 made in late Feb. - Before the open the ECB raised rates 25 basis points while the BoE left rates unchanged. Both moves were generally expected and initial reaction in the currency markets were muted. US Treasuries opened moderately lower and have maintained a fairly tight range. The 10-year is off 8/32 yielding 4.52%. The EUR/USD â0.4% later moved to session lows following remarks from the ECBâs Trichet. He hinted that European rates are nearing the neutral level by calling key rates moderate rather than low as he has in the past. There has been talk of strong Japanese retail selling of the Yen, which has helped USD/JPY to its biggest gains in nearly 2 years. USD/JPY currently trades up 135 pips to 117.40.