By Adam Geller The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Investors set aside disappointing employment data and lackluster retail-sales reports yesterday, limiting their profit taking in a market that eked out incremental gains and kept stocks at their highest levels in months.

The gains, albeit small, sustained a rally that drove the Dow Jones industrial average Wednesday to its first close above 9,000 in more than nine months. The Dow finished virtually even yesterday, but the number of advancing issues significantly outnumbered decliners.

The Dow closed up 2.32 points, essentially unchanged, at 9,041.30. That followed a rise of more than 100 points on Wednesday, when it closed above 9,000 for the first time since Aug. 22, 2002.

Microsoft, one of the 30 Dow stocks, slid 78 cents to $24.09 per share following news of Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer's e-mail to employees outlining the dangers of dissatisfied customers and free software such as Linux.

Boeing, also a Dow stock, added 13 cents to $33.68.

The broader market also finished higher.

The Nasdaq composite gained 11.36 to 1,646.01. The Nasdaq is trading at levels not seen in 13 months.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 3.90 to 990.14. The S&P is at levels not seen since last July.

At the end of trading yesterday, the Dow had risen 20.2 percent, the Nasdaq had gained 29.5 percent and the S&P had climbed 23.1 percent since March 11.

Analysts said that despite the limited nature of yesterday's gains, the fact that there was not a broader sell-off indicates a growing sentiment by investors that the market is rebounding.

"We've been in a long and deep bear market and investors feel like the worst is over, and what appeals to them more than anything is some of the stocks that have gotten hit the worst," said Richard Cripps, chief market strategist for Legg Mason of Baltimore.

Investors have been encouraged by better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, signs of economic improvements and upbeat assessments of the economy by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

"People are anticipating that the economy is going to continue to grow — slowly, but nonetheless we are coming up from a very depressed level," said Richard Dickson, senior market strategist at Lowry's Research Reports in Palm Beach, Fla.

Even so, investors remain cautious ahead of the government's release today of May jobless figures.

"You have to see strong numbers for us to be convinced that the economy is in a true comeback and not just going up on air," said Stephen Carl, head of equity trading at The Williams Capital Group.

Gold/oil

In U.S. trading, gold soared $5.90 to $369.50 per ounce after the European Central Bank slashed interest rates and the euro rebounded in a rally that made dollar-priced bullion cheaper to European investors.

Oil surpassed $30 per barrel yesterday as OPEC producers Saudi Arabia and Venezuela prepared to seek assurances from nonmember Mexico that it would follow the cartel in any move to tighten supply. The three will meet today. In U.S. trading, oil gained 61 cents to $30.34 per barrel.

The Miami Herald Posted on Fri, Jun. 06, 2003 BY MARIKA LYNCH mlynch@herald.com

The Republic of Katakana is in trouble: The economy is in the dumps, residents are becoming radical and the government has begun to crack down on its own people.

Meanwhile, the nation's neighbors fear Katakana's downward spiral could affect their stability.

The scenario has played out around the world. But Thursday, leaders from 14 Latin American, Caribbean and African nations took on the problems of the imaginary republic in an exercise on democracy building. They posed as the country's neighbors, and explored how international organizations could intervene to avoid a regional crisis.

The exercise was part of a two-day conference at the Hyatt Regency in Coral Gables held by the Community of Democracies, a 3-year-old global forum of nations committed to strengthening democracy. Participants also shared ideas on fighting corruption, holding elections and strengthening political parties.

''The concept is to take a region, the Western Hemisphere and Africa, and bring them together to share best practices in the furtherance of democracy,'' said Paula Dobriansky, U.S. undersecretary of state for global affairs and chairwoman of the event. ``When countries are going forward and trying to assist another in their region, they can only benefit from knowing what works.''

IN EL SALVADOR

President Francisco Flores of El Salvador addressed the conference and told of his country's path from civil war to becoming one of the few countries in Latin America to establish a positive economic growth trend.

''After so many years of violence, El Salvador became synonymous with strife,'' he said. ``The El Salvador of 2003 is a radically different country.''

The country's turnaround, he said, came about because of a strong constitution that respected the political beliefs of all parties, the privatization of state enterprises, and changes to the budget to include more social programs.

''El Salvador found the path to defeat poverty and that path is democracy,'' Flores said.

The leaders also contemplated the use of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, the backbone of the Organization of American States.

The charter states how countries can intervene when a neighboring nation has a constitutional crisis and sets out a list of steps, from sending a delegation to evaluate the situation to ultimately suspending the nation from the OAS.

EXECUTIVE POWER PLAY

Created in 2001, the document can help nations move forward when a president oversteps his power, said Humberto de la Calle, former vice president of Colombia and permanent representative to the OAS.

''The problem of yesteryear was the coup d'état, that was 10 or 15 years ago. Now the same executive power is the one that ruptures the constitution,'' de la Calle, a speaker at the conference, said in an interview.

The charter has been used twice: in Venezuela, where the OAS brokered a compromise between opposition leaders and President Hugo Chávez to hold a referendum on his rule; and in Haiti, where OAS mediators haven't been able to bring the government and critics to an agreement on new legislative elections.

The U.S.-sponsored conference includes Jamaica, Brazil, Chile, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Cape Verde, Mali, Botswana, Senegal, Kenya, Ghana and Mozambique.

<a href=www.voanews.com>VOANews David Gollust State Department 06 Jun 2003, 06:19 UTC

Colin PowellSecretary of State Colin Powell begins a three-day Latin American trip on Sunday. He flies to the Chilean capital, Santiago to attend a meeting of Organization of American States foreign ministers, and he visits Buenos Aires for talks with Argentine officials including newly-inaugurated President Nestor Kirchner.

Officials here insist the Bush administration has not been neglecting Latin America despite its recent focus on Iraq. But they nonetheless say the Powell trip begins an "intensified U.S. focus" on the region that will also include a White House visit later this month by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva.

Mr. Powell will join fellow hemisphere foreign ministers in Santiago Sunday and Monday for the annual OAS General Assembly. A senior U.S. official said the meeting will have a largely economic focus with a hope that severe recessions in key member countries, including Argentina and Peru, have begun to "bottom out."

But there will also be discussion of the political crises in Venezuela and Haiti, and the ministers are expected to approve a plan for an OAS summit in Mexico in the latter part of the year.

Mr. Powell will stop in Buenos Aires Tuesday to meet Mr. Kirchner, Argentina's new populist President, who was sworn into office only two weeks ago.

Reuters, 06.06.03, 2:35 AM ET (Adds close in Japan and other markets, updates prices) By Raju Gopalakrishnan SINGAPORE, June 6 (Reuters) - Japanese shares surged to their highest levels in months on Friday, but the rally in most other Asian stock markets lost steam as investors awaited more clues on the U.S. economic recovery story. The euro remained firm against the dollar at about $1.1845 <EUR=> after ticking up in the aftermath of Thursday's widely anticipated half-point interest rate cut by the European Central Bank. Gold prices slipped after surging on Thursday on the strength of the euro, and oil futures were firm after rising on more talk of OPEC supply cuts. After a week of the best gains seen this year, most Asian stock markets sobered as profits were cashed in ahead of the weekend and U.S. jobs data later in the day. The keenly awaited indicator should provide clues on the timing and strength of the recovery in the world's biggest economy. But Japanese shares did not pause. The Nikkei average <.N225> ended 1.49 percent up at 8,785.87 points, the highest close since January 23, as steel and chemical shares caught up with the earlier rally led by tech and auto stocks. The broad TOPIX index hit a six-month high. "The high level of market energy, reflected in a rise in trading volume, is having a positive impact on investors," said Yusuke Sakai, manager of equities at Mizuho Securities. "If the buying focus returns to high-tech issues, that would easily prop up the Nikkei average above 8,800." Markets in Australia <.AXJO>, Singapore <.STI>, Hong Kong <.HSI> and Taiwan <.TWII> were little changed. Indian shares <.BSESN> were up 0.87 percent after the onset of the much-awaited annual monsoon. South Korea <.KS11> was closed for a holiday. JOBS OUTLOOK CLOUDY The United States is to announce the May jobs report later on Friday and analysts expect unemployment in the month to have risen to 6.1 percent from April's 6.0 percent. But sizable statistical revisions and uncertainty about how quickly the recent rebound in confidence will induce firms to begin hiring again have left many in the market not knowing what to expect. On Thursday, the U.S. government said applicants for initial jobless benefits rose last week to 442,000, the highest level in more than a month. Economists had forecast 420,000 new jobless claims and the weekly figure raised some anxiety before the monthly report. To offset the gloom, an upbeat sales forecast by Intel Corp (nasdaq: INTC - news - people) offered cheer to technology companies in Asia. Intel is the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer and its forecasts are widely viewed as an indicator of demand in the PC industry. In its report issued after Wall Street closed on Thursday, Intel narrowed its revenue forecast but said sales of its microprocessors, chipsets and motherboards, which account for more than 80 percent of total revenue and are included in most personal computers, were "trending to the high end of the normal seasonal patterns". In the currency markets, the dollar crept lower against the yen, but quickly moved back to about 117.85 <JPY=> by 0615 GMT from 117.30 yen as intervention fears resurfaced. AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR STRONG The Australian dollar <AUD=> broke above 67 U.S. cents for the first time since July 1999 after the Reserve Bank of Australia governor said the local currency's rally had not been excessive. But it fell back after Governor Ian Macfarlane said he could cut rates if the world economy did not improve. U.S. Treasuries firmed slightly in Asia after slipping overnight ahead of the jobs report. The benchmark 10-year note <US10YT=RR> was last at 102-21/32 for a yield of 3.31 percent, down from 3.34 percent in late New York trade. Spot gold <XAU=> was weaker as the euro came off its highs, inching down in Asian trade to about $366.90 per ounce from about $368.75 in late New York. Front-end NYMEX oil futures were flat at $30.74 per barrel after gaining 69 cents on Thursday, boosted by news that two key OPEC oil ministers would meet their counterpart from non-aligned Mexico. The talks between Saudi Arabia's Ali al-Naimi, Venezuela's Rafael Ramirez and Mexico's Ernesto Martens will come ahead of next week's OPEC meeting. The three countries were the architects of drastic oil curbs in 1998 and 1999.

<a href=www.iribnews.com>iribnews.com 10:08:43 AM Singapore, June 6 - Oil prices rose in Asian trading on Friday on anticipation of a production cut when OPEC meets next week, dealers said. At 11:30 am (0830 GMT), New York's benchmark Light Sweet crude oil for July delivery was trading at 30.80 dollars a barrel, up from its overnight close of 30.74 dollars. The 11 members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are due to meet on June 11 in Doha, Qatar to decide whether to cut production. "Concerns over a possible cut in production by OPEC as well as talk that Venezuela may cut production has weighed heavily on the market, pushing prices consistently higher," a local trader said. He said OPEC's decision and other factors may help push oil past 32 dollars a barrel. "Prevailing concerns over historically low stocks in the us aswell as news that the north Iraqi oil fields may not be able to produce much for two months due to looting has also supported the rise in the prices," said a dealer.