Wheat futures for March settlement were higher by 0.7% to $8.16 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Wednesday. The price of wheat advanced by 25% this year and is the best performer of S&P GSCI Commodity Index from 24 raw materials, but, however, it has dropped by 14% since July, the highest point in four years. Wheat
The MSCI Emerging Market Index increased by 0.4% to 1,050.28 points in Hong Kong trading session on Wednesday. That was the highest close point since April, 2012. Emerging markets advance on the World Bank positive growth perspective for East Asia - the region will probably grow by 7.5%. Also, investors traded positive on speculations that India will cut the key
The Ceska Narodni Banka will hold the key interest rate unchanged at 0.05%, for the third quarter a point lower than the Euro area level, according to a Bloomberg survey. The actual number will be announced on Wednesday 1 p.m. in Prague. Bankers of the Czech central bank set a debate whether to begin a selling the Koruna, Czech's currency,
The India's Rupee advance by 0.1% to 54.79 per Dollar in early Mumbai trading session on Wednesday. The Rupee rebounds from a month low, as the market was driven by speculation that the government will prepare policy adjustments to spur a domestic growth and attract more foreign investments to the third largest economy in Asia.
The Euro Stoxx 50 Index futures, a benchmark for the Euro area markets, were higher by 0.2% to 2,653 points in very beginning of European trading session. Markets showed positive sentiments, as Standard & Poor's improved Greece's credit rating to B- and changed an outlook to stable. Also, markets awaited economic German and American reports. Moreover, the U.S. lawmakers showed
S&P/ASX 200 Index increased by 0.46% to 4617.80 points in Sydney trading session on Wednesday. Today's positive performance extends the previous session's gains, what brings the index to a 16-month high or a level last time seen in July, 2011. The index set on a positive track, as seven days out of nine showed gains. All sectors were green, including
Mexican minimum wage commission, including governors, business and labor unions representatives, agreed to raise a minimum wage by 3.9% in the beginning of 2013. However, this increase brings the wage just under $5.1 or 65 Pesos a day in the best paid areas, which includes major cities and the capital. The minimum wage was well below the market wage for
The Hang Seng Index was higher by 0.4% to 22,589.50 points and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index increased by 0.6% to 11,371.02 points on Wednesday trading session in Hong Kong. Equities posted modest gains following a positive performance from the U.S. markets and optimism over the fiscal cliff talks. Most attention attracted HSBC Plc shares and Esprit Holdings Ltd,
Rural commodities except for wheat moved lower on Tuesday amid weak demand for US supplies. Grain and oilseed markets were dragged down by a cancellation of 420,000 tonnes of soybean orders from the US. Meanwhile, rising coffee and sugar production in Brazil continued to weight on softs. Weaker US Dollar and signs of better demand for wheat were the only
Energy futures rallied on Tuesday amid broadly weaker US Dollar. Moreover, hopes that the US lawmakers will agree on the next year budget and will manage to avoid deep recession next year boosted demand for riskier assets. Crude oil jumped on brighter demand outlook as the US is expected to avert so-called fiscal cliff while Japan is likely to ease
Base metals apart from nickel dipped on Tuesday as traders were cautious ahead of the key US data releases due later in the week. Bloated LME inventories as well as uncertainty over the Eurozone's demand pushed the industrial metals lower. However, hopes for progress in the US budget talks capped losses.Aluminum dipped on record LME inventories. Aluminum stocks advanced by
Precious metals were bearish on Tuesday as mounting hopes that the US lawmakers will manage to avert fiscal cliff spurred demand for riskier assets thus weighting on precious metals. At the same time, expected easing in Japan coupled with softer greenback were supportive for the commodity group.Gold dropped as investors shunned safe-haven assets amid expectations that the US will avoid
Asia's second largest economy recorded a 953.4 billion yen merchandise trade deficit in November, when it declined by 37.9% from a year ago amid weaker exports to China, the Ministry of Finance reported on Wednesday. Year-on-year, Japan's exports decreased 4.1% to 4.983 trillion Yen beating a forecast of 5.5% contraction following a previous month's 6.5% shortfall.
The 17-bloc nation's currency gained against the U.S. Dollar and Japan's Yen together with modest advance of European shares as the Bank of Japan is expected to boost the economy using unlimited monetary stimulus and as fiscal cliff talks are closer to reaching a deal. London's FTSE, Frankfurt's DAX and France's CAC indexes rose in a range of 0.2% to
Global economy's weak performance did not stop the World Bank from increasing its growth outlook of advanced economies in the East Asia and Pacific as improving domestic demand is helping the countries contribute on global growth this year with nearly 40%. The region is projected to expand 7.9% in 2013 following a 7.5% acceleration recorded this year.
Gold recorded gains and rebounded from its three-month low as bearish bets of investors were stopped by optimism burst to the market after U.S. lawmakers proceeded in new budget talks to avoid automatic tax hikes and spending cuts. Gold rose 0.3% to $1,676.85 an ounce on Tuesday following a fall to its lowest level since the end of August at
Wall street edged higher on upbeat Tuesday as investors confidence on fiscal cliff agreement rose after U.S. lawmakers came closer to reaching a deal in order to avoid tax increasing and spending cuts. The S&P 500 recorded its first two-straight-day gain bigger than one percent since July, when it advanced 1.15% to 1,446.79, while the Nasdaq Composite went up 1.46%
Oil rose on Tuesday on confidence the U.S. will reach compromise on the country's budget, easing concerns of looming ‘fiscal cliff' in the world's largest crude consumer's economy. Light, sweet crude for January settlement was at 87.93 dollars a barrel, up 73 cents or 0.84%. Brent for February delivery was up 1.20 dollars or 1.11% at 108.84 dollars a barrel.
Japan's leading index increased more than expected in October, according to data from the Cabinet Office on Wednesday. The leading index, which measures the economy's direction in the months ahead, rose to 92.8 in October compared with 92.5 in a preliminary report, following September's gauge at 91.3. Meanwhile, the lagging index was revised down from 87.2 to 86.8 in October.
Rating agency Standard & Poor's raised Greece's credit rating on Tuesday by six notches from ‘selective default' to ‘B-‘, praising a successful completion of the debt buyback programme and European leaders' decision to release bailout funds to Greece. The rating agency cut Greek ratings to ‘SD' on December 5, as the government encourage private bondholders to take part in the
Asian shares rose, with the regional benchmark index poised for the highest close since 2011, on optimism U.S. officials will reach a budget compromise and the BOJ will expand stimulus. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced as much as 1% to 129.12 at 1:55 p.m. Tokyo time. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 1.7% to 10,091.40, the highest since April.
The Australian Dollar fell for a third straight day versus the U.S. Dollar amid concern the South Pacific country's economy is slowing. The Aussie weakened as much as 0.2% to $1.0515 at 4:11 p.m. Sydney time, having declining 0.3% in the previous 2 days. The currency lost 0.1% to 88.62 yen. The New Zealand Dollar slid 0.3% to 83.94 U.S.
The Japanese Yen weakened to the lowest level versus the Euro since August 2011 on speculation the nation's central bank will extend policy easing at a meeting, which starts today. The Yen touched 111.71 per Euro, the lowest level since August 30, 2011, before fetching 111.65 at 1:24 p.m. Tokyo time, 0.2% below the close yesterday. It declined 0.1% to
Japan's Nikkei hit its highest level in more than an 8-month period for a second day in a row on Tuesday as Sunday's election victory of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party increased the possibility of further monetary easing in Japan in order to boost the economy. Increasing optimism on U.S. budget talks also added to the positive mood of investors resulting in