Washington - US stocks were led lower Tuesday by energy and metals producers, erasing an earlier rally and masking gains made in airline shares as the price of oil hit its lowest level in five months.

Alcoa Inc, Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp all lost more than 3 per cent as crude oil for October delivery fell 5 per cent to 109.71 dollars per barrel.

But the share price of Delta Air Lines surged 13 per cent and AMR Corp, parent company of American Airlines, jumped 11 per cent. Automaker General Motors Corp rose more than 6 per cent.

The 30-share index, BSE Sensex, which continued to trade strong since morning, has crossed 15k mark on the back of strong buying action witnessed across key stocks, 

At present (14:04 hrs), Sensex stood at 15,063.05, up 564.54 points, while the broad based Nifty gained 170.35 points at 4518.80.

Crude oil prices declined to around $106 per barrel and actuated some massive buying across the board on the major Indian stock exchanges this afternoon.

Mumbai, Sept 2 : Markets are abuzz with activity in Mumbai ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi, which begins on Wednesday.

Markets were decorated beautifully as shopkeepers displayed their wares in interesting ways to attract the customers.

Miniature temples, crowns, thrones to seat the Ganesha idols, and an array of varied decorative items are some of the items that are most sought after.

For the people, the festival is an occasion of great joy and even the hike in prices of the materials because of inflation could do little to dampen their festive spirits.

After opening the day on subdued note on Monday (Sep 01) following the

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks opened slightly higher Tuesday, but gains were limited due to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's sudden resignation announcement the previous day.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 63.11 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 12,897.29.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 8.1 points, or 0.66 per cent, to 1,238.74.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 108.05-10 yen, up from Monday's 5 pm quote of 107.71-73 yen.