Stocks likely to jump on bin Laden's death

Stock index futures rose sharply late Sunday on the first reports that
al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been killed and his body was in the
hands of U.S. armed forces. In addition, crude oil and gold prices fell, and
silver initially plunged more than 12%, and the U.S. dollar jumped in
electronic trading.

President Obama announced at 11:35 p.m. ET that Bin Laden had been killed in
a firefight at a large compound in Abbottabad, a city about 40 miles north
of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. There were impromptu celebrations of
the news in Washington, D.C., New York City and elsewhere.

Futures for June delivery of the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) were
up 91 points to 12,847 at 12:35 a.m. ET Monday. Futures in Standard & Poor's
500 Index ($INX) were up 10 points to 1,370. And futures trading in the
Nasdaq-100 Index ($NDX.X) jumped 20 points to 2,421. Futures trading offers
an early signal of where stock trading will move.

Meanwhile, crude oil for June delivery was down $1 to $112.93 early Monday
after falling to as low as $112.21. Gold was off $5.60 to $1,550.60 an ounce
after dropping to as low as $1,540.30. Silver for July delivery was down
$4.46, or 9.2%, to $44.14 an ounce. Its low was $42.19.

The markets' initial euphoria may have been tempered by worries that the
success of the U.S. mission may invite al-Qaeda retaliation.

Stocks in Japan were higher, with the Nikkei 225 Index ($JP:N225) up 145
points to 9,995. Stocks were mixed in other Asian and Pacific markets.

There have been reports for some time that U.S. forces had been closing in
on the elusive terrorist leader with multiple drone attacks on suspected
al-Qaeda sites in Pakistan and in Afghanistan. A tip on bin Laden's
whereabouts was first reported to the U.S. military last August, and
planning for the operation began in February, President Obama said.

Abbottabad has been a tourism hub for years but has lately attracted new
development coming out from the capital of Islamabad. The Pakistan Military
Training Grounds is located there. The attack on bin Laden's compound lasted
about 40 minutes and also resulted in the death of one of bin Laden's grown
sons, news reports said.

Bin Laden helped finance and organize the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks
that left 3,000 people dead and dramatically altered U.S. foreign policy and
the nation's sense of security. The al-Qaeda leader's ability to elude
capture deeply frustrated the George W. Bush administration.

The terror attacks involved hijacking four U.S. passenger jets. Two were
flown into the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. A third was flown into
the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed into a field in western Pennsylvania
after passengers attempted to retake control of the plane from the
hijackers.

U.S. financial markets didn't open on Sept. 11, 2001, and did not reopen
until the following Monday. The Dow fell 685 points, or 7.3%, to 8,921 and
helped turn a nasty market pullback into a full-fledged rout. The stock
market didn't bottom until Oct. 9, 2002.

The economy also went into a swoon in the aftermath of the terror attacks.
The Federal Reserve cut rates sharply over the next two years to help the
economy.

But critics of those moves said the Fed left rates too low for too long and
helped set off the real-estate bubble of the last decade. That bubble burst
in 2007 and 2008, causing a near meltdown of the U.S. financial and banking
systems and the Great Recession from which the United States is only now
starting to recover.

China astronaut calls for U.S. cooperation

China's most renowned astronaut said on Friday his country and the United
States should make good on their presidents' promises to cooperate in space.

"I think the two countries should proactively implement the intent expressed
in the joint communique to eliminate obstacles and promote exchange and
cooperation in our space programs," Yang Liwei, now the vice director of the
country's Manned Space Engineering Office, said.

Efforts at U.S.-China cooperation in space have failed in the past decade,
stymied by economic, diplomatic and security tensions, despite a 2009
attempt by President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, to
launch collaboration.

Obama and Hu, in a statement in November 2009, called for "the initiation of
a joint dialogue on human spaceflight and space exploration, based on the
principles of transparency, reciprocity and mutual benefit."

U.S. fears over national defense and inadvertent technology transfer have
proven to be major roadblocks, particularly after Beijing carried out an
anti-satellite test in January 2007, using a ground-based missile to destroy
one of its inactive weather satellites.

Yang, considered a hero of China's ambitious space program and the first
from his country to enter space, made the statement during a carefully
controlled media visit to China's astronaut training facility in the western
suburbs of Beijing.

There, journalists were ushered through an echoing hall housing three new
space flight training simulators, none in use by China's 24 astronauts.

But China is pushing forward without the United States, its funding in the
face of NASA scale-backs and its cooperative efforts with Russia and other
countries possibly constituting the next best hope for the future of space
exploration.

Yang noted potential joint space research programs with France and efforts
to launch the Mars probe Firefly 1 with Russia "in the near future."

He said the Chinese government has spent more than 20 billion yuan ($3.1
billion) in the first phase of its space planning, but has no specific
target to put a man on the moon. Chinese scientists have talked about the
possibility after 2020.

Over 13 years, starting in August 1996, China ran up 75 consecutive
successful Long March rocket launches after overcoming technical glitches
with the help of U.S. companies.

In 2003, it became the third country, after the United States and Russia, to
send a man, Yang, into space aboard its own rocket.

China launched its first moon orbiter, the Chang'e-1, in October 2007,
accompanied by a blaze of patriotic propaganda celebrating the country's
technological prowess.

Yang said China's space program was intended to benefit humanity and promote
scientific and cultural developments.

"For myself, I hope to one day set foot on the moon, like the beautiful
Chinese legend of Chang'e," Yang said, referencing the namesake of China's
moon orbiter, a mythical Chinese goddess who was banished to Earth and later
flew to the moon only to regret abandoning her husband.

Yang then gave more down-to-earth reasoning for China's space ambitions.

"Of course, it also has an important value for the nation's image and
prestige," he said.

Oil prices ease in Asian trade ahead of key US data

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for June delivery was down 68
cents to US$113.25 from New York's close and Brent North Sea crude for June
eased 43 cents to US$125.46.

"Any data related to the US will be important," said Ben Westmore, a
Melbourne-based commodity economist with National Australia Bank.

"I think around current levels, we will see slight easing but we will see
nothing dramatic," he told AFP.

Non-farm payroll figures for April due out on Friday are among the US data
expected to be released this week and will be keenly watched by analysts for
clues on the state of the world's biggest economy.

"On Friday, we have April payroll data which will be the one to watch and
will have an impact (on crude oil futures)," said Westmore.

Westmore said prices also eased off as investors digested data released on
Friday that showed US consumer spending slowed in March despite a slight
rise in income.

The Commerce Department said on Friday that US consumer spending rose a
seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent after an upwardly revised rise of 0.9
percent in February.

Consumer spending is a key driver of the US economy.