1.   Blue-chip stocks managed to hold on to modest gains after trading higher earlier in the day, but technology stocks dropped.

2.   Bonds were mixed after tracking U.S. Treasuries higher earlier in the day, as EMU concerns offset expectations for low inflation and stable interest rates in Europe.

3.   But it had been higher earlier in the day.

4.   Ferguson believes that the deformity rate might have been even higher earlier in the year before frogs with severe deformities died.

5.   Gilts were higher earlier after the Confederation of British Industry said retail sales fell from a year earlier.

6.   Gilts were higher earlier with German bunds after the Bundesbank, as expected, left interest rates unchanged following its monetary council meeting.

7.   Higher retail sales and optimism about improved company earnings drove share prices higher earlier in the week.

8.   That action, he said, helped the market move higher earlier in the week.