On Wednesday Asian shares experienced modest decline as European Finance Ministers announced further meetings will be held in next month, returning uncertainty back to markets. China's Shanghai Composite index lost 2.3%, South Korea's Kospi traded down 0.7% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 1.9%. Australian S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1% and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average edged down 1.3%.
The ECB drained EUR 194.199 billion from banking system in line with its seven-day liquidity declining project. However, the amount is less than expected as the bank planned to drain EUR 203.5 billion. The bank also reported that 85 banks made bids reaching EUR 194.1986 billion.
According to Wall Street Journal, Chancellor George Osborn announced that British government plans to raise its bank levy. The current rate of 0.078% will be raised to 0.1%. The increase will produce additional 2.5 billion pounds for British government. Osborn will deliver this plan today at the meeting at the House of Commons.
A consortium of companies in India won a right to develop iron ore deposits in Afghanistan, according to Afghanistan mining ministry. The consortium represents seven companies that have won $10.3bn contract to develop three mine sites in Afghanistan. Officials claim the deal is going to be the largest foreign investment project in Afghanistan.
US stock futures rose amid hopes for euro-zone leaders will rectify economic problems in the EU. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 53 points to 11,551 and futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index climbed by 7.10 points to 1,198.2. Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 7.50 points to 2,228.5.
Shares opened flat on Tuesday after a strong jump on Monday. Stocks were little affected by news about soaring Italian bond yields. Dow Jones industrial average opened 0.05% or 5.60 points down at 11,517.41, Standard & Poor's benchmark gained 0.01% or 0.08 points reaching 1,192.63 while Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 0.2% or 5.15 points to 2,522.19.
Norway's financial system has become more vulnerable to global difficulties since 2011. Norway's economic outlook was decreased, banks plan on setting risk premia higher thus making bank funding becomes less accessible, reported Norges Bank. Increased instability in financial sector was mainly caused by situation in credit and money markets, the bank added.
On Tuesday Japan's benchmark Nikkei Stock Average jumped 2.3% or 190.33 points and closed at 8,477.82, indicating optimism on today's summit in Brussels held to provide detailed solutions for taming debt turmoil. Auto makers and energy companies were among major winners: Nissan Motor Co. improved by 2.7%, Honda Motor Co. rose 3.6%, while JX Holdings Inc. advanced 2.8%.
Copper futures gained in value and approached two-weeks high as Dollar weakened ahead of the EU finance ministers' meeting. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures for March delivery reached USD 3.385 a Pound at the early European trade, adding 0.41%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index extended gains on Tuesday depicting investor hopes European leaders will provide details how to solve debt crisis. Hang Seng Index advanced 1.21% or 218.39 points and closed at 18,256.20. Asian exporters and banks made major positive contribution to index. Lenovo Group Ltd. jumped 3.8%, Esprit Holdings Ltd. added 4.6% while Cosco Pacific Ltd. rallied by 7.8%. Among the financial sector Industrial
Transocean Ltd., oil drilling company, announced it is going to offer 26 million shares of common stock in order to raise finance for its recent acquisition. Shares of Transocean fell by 4.2% to $44 before the company said it plans to issue new shares that would represent about 8.9% of the total shares outstanding.
German DAX 30 Index followed its British peer and opened 0.4% lower on Tuesday morning after sharp gains during Monday trade. Weaker opening was mainly caused by anxiety that S&P rating agency said it may cut credit rating of France. During the day session the index recovered and climbed 1% fuelled by financial institutions. Insurer Allianz SE gained 2.8% while Commerzbank AG added 2.3%. Among
Italy's cost of borrowing jumped after the country sold 7.5 billion euros of government bonds. Three-year bonds now produce yield of 7.89% as compared with 4.93% yield in October. The 10-year bonds added 24 basis points to 7.31%. Yields continue to rise while prices carry on falling.
FTSE 100 index closed higher on Monday gaining 2.9 points or 148.11 points to 5,312.76, reflecting investor optimism towards European officials' ability to solve debt crisis. On Tuesday, however, FTSE 100 index opened slightly lower mirroring worries as S&P rating agency threatened to downgrade French AAA rating. During the day index regained 0.2% to 5,325.03, led by mining and financial companies. Randgold Resources Ltd. added
Wheat futures increased after testing four-month low as Italy had quite strong demand at bond auction even despite rising bond yields. On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, wheat futures for March delivery approached USD 5.9788 a bushel at the early European trade, increasing by 0.89%.
On Monday trading session Nasdaq Composite Index closed at 2,527.34, 85.83 or 3.5% up. Index experienced the biggest percentage advance since August 23 as most of its stocks surged. First Solar and Amazon.Com were among the main gainers each gaining 10.52% and 6.44% respectively. First Solar recently announced that it will become the main supplier of German solar hybrid company.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average index followed its major peers and increased sharply gaining 2.6% or 291.23 ending Monday trade session at 11,523.01. All 30 of Dow Jones constituents contributed positively to index led by aluminium producer Alcoa Inc. and Caterpillar each adding 5.7% and 5.49% respectively. Shares of Hewlett-Packard Company and Chevron Corp. also rebounded correspondingly by 4.49% and 3.77%. Dow Jones Index had the
On Monday S&P 500 Index jumped 2.92% or 33.88 points and closed at 1,192.55. All 10 index's industries rose, led by natural resource and energy companies. The index experienced the best trading since October 27. United States Steel Corp. gained 8.49%, while Alpha Natural Resources advanced 7.87%. Financial stocks also contributed positively to index as Genworth Financial Inc. added almost 13%, after Citigroup Inc. raised insurer's rating. Stocks
Swiss asset managers are likely to lose about 47 bn Swiss francs ($51.1 bn) as their clients are going to make large withdrawals ahead of tax arrangements with UK and Germany presumed to be implemented in 2013. Cash outflows are expected to surge during forthcoming 18 months. Bankers estimate potential capital outflows to be around 25%-30% of non-declared securities. Switzerland this year signed accord with UK
UK home prices climbed in November showing the highest increase since September 2010. The index shows the property prices increased by 0.4% in November from previous month and rose by 1.6% since November last year. Experts say the reason is lack of supply in the real estate sector coupled with low interest rates. However, despite slight increase in house prices the overall outlook on British
Honda Motor Co. sees its sales continue to decline in the US markets in December, but the sales are likely to improve after New Year, announced the head of Honda's North American unit. The US market is expected to be stable in 2012 at 13.4-13.5 million vehicles but the market share is likely to rise to 11% after being below 10% in 2011, he added.
Meeting of all parties in India failed to agree with opposition on the opening a retail sector for foreign companies. The cabinet already passed the decision to allow 51% ownership by foreign companies of the retail stores. The opposition argues it will severely hurt local retailers. The Parliament meeting to discuss the issue has been postponed for several times. Opposing parties announced they will not
Finance Ministers of the euro-zone are meeting today to discuss the options for expanding the bailout fund. They also are going to focus on providing more bailout funds for Greece. The ministers want to increase EFSF to 1tn euros. One option proposed is to provide insurance to about 30% of the bond value to increase demand for sovereign bonds. Investors consider rising power of EFSF
Gold futures decreased today but did not fall below the psychologically important level of USD 1,700 an ounce. The decline was caused by the lower-risk aversion among investors ahead of EU finance ministers' meeting; gold is considered to be a safe investment option with higher demand when the risk-aversion increases. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery