Energy markets were mostly higher on Thursday on persistent supply concerns and potential increase in demand after the ECB and PBOC reduced interest rates. Crude oil was the only loser as stronger US Dollar and pessimistic US services sector data both weighted on the commodity price. Brent oil approached five-week high amid concerns that continuous oil workers' strikes in Norway and Iranian
Hong Kong equities faced a choppy session on Friday as unexpected China's interest rate cut signaled weaker than expected outlook for national economy. Hang Seng Index traded close to flat giving up 0.04% and closing at 19,792.08. Financials declined on rate cuts while some car makers and real estate companies surged on hopes that the rate reduction would stimulate their
Farm commodities were mixed on Thursday, balancing between expectations for better weather conditions in Brazil and persistent drought in the US. Wheat rallied as hot and dry weather in the US continued to weight on the crop prospects. Moreover, easing measures across the globe are likely to spur demand. Corn soared to nine-month high as US drought continued to limit output. However,
Industry metals responded positively to global easing policies on Thursday but appreciating US Dollar finally outweighed central bank's stimulus and sent the commodity pack lower. Aluminum fell by 2% amid stronger greenback on Thursday; however, expectations for improving demand after the ECB and PBOC eased their monetary policies may support the metal in the nearest term. Copper price decreased despite
Japanese shares depreciated on Friday as Chinese and European rate cuts failed to convince investors about soon improvements in global economy. Nikkei 225 index fell 0.65% or 59.05 points and finished at 9,020.75. J Front Retailing surged 1.5% after the company announced it is working on launching a tender to acquire controlling stake in shopping-centre operator Parco. Shipping giant Kawasaki
German DAX Index declined on Friday, falling by 0.1% at the time of writing. Shares declined despite easing measures by the ECB; the bank cut its core interest rate from 1% to 0.75%. Even larger than expected increase in German industrial production failed to lift stock markets. At the moment, market players are cautious ahead of the key US data
Dow Jones Industrial Average Index traded lower on Thursday on speculation that US consumers spent less than expected last month and Chinese economy may be experiencing worse slowdown than earlier predicted. Blue chip index dropped 0.36% or 47.15 points and closed at 12,896.67. Banks led the loss for the index after ECB lowered is key rate by quarter point and
FTSE 100 Index dropped by 0.1% on Friday to trade at 5690.50 at the time of writing. Negative producer prices data weighted down on the UK stock markets. At the same time, recent ECB's cut of the benchmark interest rate failed to provide support for the equities. Aviva was the top-performer, soaring by 2.95%, on news that the insurance firm
S&P 500 index breached its three day gains on Thursday as investors considered that recent ECB interest rate cut would have a minor impact on Eurozone's economy. Moreover, traders awaited US jobs report due on Friday. US benchmark slipped 0.5% or 6.44 points to 1,367.58. Netflix Inc rallied 13% after the analyst reported firm's online audience outperforms cable and TV
On Thursday, July 5, Greece's Finance Ministry claimed that it is unable to collect 12.6 billion Euros of tax fines, which amount to 6.2% of GDP. Instead tax collection mechanism gathered only 4.77% of the total amount that is 630 million Euros. 180 000 of remaining tax cases are still in Greek courts. Moreover, income tax and VAT receipts declined 30% and 7%,
Mario Monti, the Prime Minister of Italy, approved EUR26 bln spending cut to diminish the government`s expenditures' size and try to postpone destructive 2% point sales tax rise. Monti aims to calm down soaring bond yields and assure investors in his ability to meet deficit goals. The plan is to cut spending by EUR4.5b this year, EUR10b next year and
The sales of the largest French automobile manufacturer, Peugeot, went down by 13% in the first half of 2012 and its market share declined by 1% to 12.9%. A factor for the slowdown would be that the company's most profitable marketplaces, France, Italy and Spain, are suffering from financial problems.
European stocks dropped before US jobs reports and industrial output in Germany. US futures were slightly changed, shares in Asia declined. Peugeot SA recovered 1.7%. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA fell 4%. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 0.3% in London. Standard & Poor`s 500 Index futures lost 0.2%, whilst the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.5%.
The budget deficit of the second largest euro economy increased a little in a period of five months, while the country is implementing changes in its tax system to close the deficit and reach EU targets. France`s budget gap expanded to EUR69.6b. The country has reported EUR7.2b of extra taxes revenues in 2012, although growth is to decelerate to 0.3%.
PASHR Philippines stocks are expected to increase by 25% in 2012 as reported by Jonathan Garner, chief strategist of Morgan Stanley. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose by 23% this year becoming one of the five top scorers, as the local administration is implementing reforms to decrease the current budget deficit.
India should avoid changes in taxation of foreign investors, said a key adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The nation sets up the rule to liquidate tax avoidance, and this announcement should be interpreted as a welcoming step for investment not as a doubt in investor`s honesty. The BSE India Sensitive Index fell 0.4% today in Mumbai, while the Rupee
Samsung's shares decreased by 2% as the company's sales were lower than expected. ECB's decision to diminish the interest rate and the downgrade of loan yields in China, led the international demand for electronics to go down. As the biggest operating market for Samsung is Asia, the decline in the Asia-Pacific stocks led to the company's shares descent.
After almost two-year break Ireland, which was given a bank bailout of 85 billion euro, has come back to the capital market. On 5 June, the debt agency of Ireland raised 500 million euros in an auction of the three-month debt. The agency put up to the auction the three months Treasury bills at an interest rate of 1.8%, which
In June US employers increased hiring new people, however experts claim it does not imply that country's economy is in a safe zone and the debt crisis in the Eurozone is not a threat. Reuters analysts reported that in June the number of employed people grew by 90,000. Nevertheless, this most probably won't be enough to reduce the current 8.2% rate of
MSCI's Asia-Pacific index diminished by 0.9% while Japan's Nikkei 255 Index and Hong Kong Hand Seng Index both declined by 1 and 2%. On Thursday, PBOC decreased the benchmark interest rate to from 6.31% to 6%, cutting the rate for the second time this year to stimulate slowing economic growth in the country.
For the last year there has been a continuing decrease in platinum stocks. In Australia, Aquarius Platinum Ltd.'s shares have declined by 85% while South African Anglo American Platinum Ltd. tumbled 30% over the last year. Furthermore, the price for platinum has decreased since September 2011 to USD1,485.30 per ounce. Taken ample global supplies and moderate increase in auto-catalyst demand,
Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, said the growth outlook for 2012 is likely to be reduced amid worsening labour market, investment and manufacturing activity in the US, Europe, Brazil, India and China. New projections will be reported in the next 10 days. Meanwhile growth estimate for the US has been already lowered to 2% from 2.1%
As the European economy is still in the recession, the ECB cut its core interest rate to 0.75% from 1%, the lowest rate in the Eurozone's history. Moreover, the bank decreased the deposit yield to 0% from 0.25% to encourage the lending among banks. Meanwhile Mario Draghi, ECB president, announced that the Eurozone's economy is expected to grow slightly or
The second time during the last two months the central bank of China has cut the benchmark interest rate in attempt to prevent the economic slowdown. Benchmark lending interest rates were decreased from 6.31% to 6%, whereas deposit rates were diminished by 0.25%, from 3.25% to 3%. During the first three months of 2012, China had the slowest economic growth