European shares took a step back, pushed down by touristy companies affected by security worries in Paris. Today, two persons died in a police raid in a Parisian suburb, one of them by blowing herself up, and seven others were arrested, while before that, two Air France flights were diverted while flying from U.S. to France after bomb threats, and a match between Germany and the Netherlands, which was expected to host Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel in it, was canceled two hours before starting. France's CAC index led the fall, floundering 26 points, or 0.54% to 4,910. The pan-European index FTSEurofirst 300 lost 0.20% to 1,495. Germany's DAX recovered the losses to trade flat at 10,972. Britain's FTSE took a similar path, trading flat at 17,488.

Housing Starts in the U.S. fell to a seven-month low at an annual 1.06M for October, lower 11% from September's 1.19M, while Housing Permits rose to 1.15M in October, from September's 1.11M. The fall in Housing starts pushed the dollar away from its recent highs however, with its index down 0.08% to 99.63. Dollar fell 0.20% against Euro to 1.0663. It lost 0.03% against yen to 123.41, while trading flat against Sterling at 1.5211.

Wall Street opened higher, with Dow Jones up 86 points, or 0.50% to 17,751. NASDAQ gained 22 points, or 0.45% to 5,009. S&P 500 rose 10 points, or 0.50% to 2,061.

Oil prices rallied, helped by the pause in the dollar's rally, and by hopes of a smaller than expected build-up in inventories. Brent futures for December gained 85 cents, or 1.96% to $44.42 a barrel. U.S. oil futures rose 60 cents, or 1.48% to $41.27 a barrel.

Gold prices recovered from a 5-1\2 year low, gaining $1.40, or 0.12% to $1,070 an ounce. Silver futures fell 6 cents, or 0.40% to $14.11 an ounce.