European equity markets closed down on Wednesday led by German and French stocks as ECB reported its balance sheet soared by 239 bn Euros. Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 0.7% reaching 240.74; German DAX slipped by 2.0% to 5,771.27; CAC 40 tumbled 1.03% at 3,071.08 and UK's FTSE 100 fell 0.1% to 5,507.40.
China's economy is likely to be impacted by the bleak economic outlook, industrial overcapacity and dismal real estate market, reported Bank of China Ltd. Economic expansion is expected to contract to 8.8% next year as compared to 9.3% in 2011, the bank added. The pace of China's growth will be severely affected by slowdown in developed countries as global economy is projected to grow by
China's company Soho Ltd. will buy Shanghai's commercial site for $632 million from two companies Greentown China Holdings Ltd. and Shanghai Zendai Property Ltd. The takeover is a part of Soho's strategy aimed at acquiring commercial property at important locations near the main transportation networks between Beijing and Shanghai.
China added about 12 million jobs in the urban areas and the rate of unemployment in cities decreased below 4.6%, said Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security referring to preliminary statistics.
Crude oil futures appreciated as investors mostly sold their oil holdings to get profits and reinvest them in the USD purchases amid fresh concerns over the Euro Zone's debt crisis. Light, sweet crude oil futures for February delivery traded at USD99.39 a barrel during the morning Asian trade, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, adding 0.03%.
US gasoline stocks are likely to fall by 50,000 barrels. However, experts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires have had different opinions as forecasts ranges from 3 million barrels fall to 1 million barrel increase. Traders await EIA report on the gasoline inventories due today.
Retail sales experienced substantial gains during Christmas holidays helped by warm weather and Christmas evening falling on a Saturday. Turnover in the last week surged 14.8% on a yearly basis, said ShopperTrak. On December 26 volume of sales expanded by 25.5% reaching $7.1 bn, added shopping mall traffic observer. Additional reason for good sales figures are said to be heavily advertising campaigns through the year.
China's SOEs' profits are expected to jump to about 900 billion yuan this year from 848.98 billion yuan in 2010. State enterprises saw stable growth in 2011 despite global economic challenges, said Huang Shuhe from Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. The companies enhanced innovation and corporate management this year that allowed them to raise profits by 3.6% on a yearly basis.
New York Times announced it is going to sell 16 of its regional newspapers across the California and US Southeast to Halifax Media Holdings to reduce costs and concentrate on its most significant newspapers and their websites. The deal is valued at $143 million. Regional newspapers have been suffering from decline in national advertising and local retail, reflecting broader economic struggles.
Gold prices decreased as investors tend to increase the Dollar positions avoiding the yellow metal as they are worried about the spreading Euro Zone crisis. Gold futures for delivery in February traded at USD1,556.15 a troy ounce during the Asian morning traded, on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, losing 0.51%.
On Wednesday Standard & Poor's decided to put retailer Sears Holdings Corp. for a probable downgrade. S&P agency insists that closing more than 100 stores is not very likely to improve Sears performance. Sears corporate credit rating affirmed by S&P currently is at B. Sears stocks plunged on Tuesday after retailer announced it will shut between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores to reduce costs.
China will go on increasing its currency flexibility and boosting domestic demand, according to foreign ministry. Since last year, the exchange rate had become much more flexible, said Hong Lei. The country's foreign trade is more balanced with decreasing current account surplus to 3% of the GDP in the first nine months of 2011, he added.
Alibaba group hired Washington based lobbying company signaling that China's e-commerce firm is interested to make a bid for whole Yahoo Inc. Hiring a US lobbying company could aid Alibaba avoid US political opposition against a full takeover of Yahoo Inc. by a firm from a nation that censors and controls the Internet.
US crude oil inventories data are likely to show a drop in inventories last week with the refining operations remaining unchanged. Analysts expect oil inventories to decrease by 2.2 million barrels for the last week, currently investors anticipate the EIA report on the oil inventories due on Thursday.
17-nation currency depreciated on Wednesday against greenback, reaching 15-record low after ECB issued report on its lending processes. The Euro tumbled from $1.3074 to $1.2938. During trade common currency hit $1.2910 which is the lowest reading since September 2010. US dollar index jumped from 79.792 to 80.526. Yesterday ECB issued report showing its balance sheet increased to a record €2.73 trillion after bank boosted lending from €214 bn
China's fiscal spending on rural development and agriculture is expected to amount more than 1 trillion yuan this year. The government introduced various reforms like grain subsidies, upgrade of irritation systems and enhancement of education to strengthen the national economy, said Zhang Ping, Minister of the NDRC. The policies have already brought the results as grain harvest is a record high this year amounting 571.21
US stock markets experienced a decline on Wednesday as investors were concerned about forthcoming Italian 10-year bond auction on Thursday. Italian 10-year borrowing costs currently are fluctuating near 7%. Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.1% or 139.94 points at 12,151.41. S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite fell 1.3% or 15.79 and 35.22 points to 1,249.64 and 2,589.98 respectively.
Most of Asian equities kept downward path on Thursday and closed lower as investors remained concerned about debt woe across the Europe. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.9%, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.6% while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.4%. Nevertheless Shanghai Composite and South Korea's Kospi managed to recover adding 0.1% and 0.3% respectively.
After substantial gains on Tuesday, German benchmark DAX index was marginally up on Wednesday. At the moment of writing DAX index is 0.07% or 4.21 points up at 5,893.97. Among main decliners were German automakers BMW AG and Volkswagen AG tumbling 1.2% and 1% respectively. Financial stocks also provided negative contribution as Deutsche Bank AG gave up 2% while Commerzbank AG lost 1.6%.
After prolonged Christmas holidays UK benchmark FTSE 100 opened 0.3% higher on Wednesday and extended gains later during day as Italy successfully sold bonds and their yields declined. At the moment of writing FTSE 100 trades 0.65% or 35.63 points higher at 5,548.33. Grocer Tesco PLC gained 2.2% after retailer reported strong Christmas sales. Drug producer GlaxoSmithKline PLC added 1% amid positive expectations about sector. Among main
S&P 500 Index added 0.01% or 0.1 point on Tuesday and finished at 1,265.43 led by utility stocks. On year-to-date basis the index is 0.6% up. Most negative contribution came from Sears Holdings Corp. after the retail company announced it will close 120 stores. Financials also weighted down on index as Morgan Stanley lost 2.98% and Citigroup Inc. was down 2.04%. Main gainers who helped
Dow Jones Industrial Average traded nearly flat on Tuesday following 427 point increase previous week. Blue chip index slipped 0.02% or 2.65 points closing at 12,291.35. Dow Jones was higher most of the session but retreated shortly ahead of closing as Sears announced about closing 120 of its stores. On the downside were financials J P Morgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp. falling
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average traded almost flat on Wednesday giving up 0.2% or 16.94 points, finishing at 8,423.62 amid tedious US data. Tokyo Electric Power Co plunged 12% after Yukio Edano, minister of Japan's trade and industry suggested company to consider nationalizing as firm's shares have lost around 90% of value after nuclear catastrophe in its Fukushima plant. Among main gainers were Toyota Motor Corp. and
After returning from holidays in Hong Kong's markets Hang Seng index dropped 0.59% or 110.50 points to 18,518.67 led by resource stocks. Analysts explain decline in the index with dreary US data as home prices fell more than expected while consumer confidence surged. China Coal Energy Co lost 1.9% while Zijin Mining Group Co. traded down 2.3%. China Overseas Corp. tumbled 2.95% and China Resource Land