US equities experienced a worst day in last three months on returning fears about Greece's default and the impact of China's slowdown on global economy. S&P 500 index fell 1.54% or 20.97 points and finished at 1,343.36 while Dow Jones Industrial Average index plunged 1.57% or 203.66 points and closed at 12,759.15. Nasdaq Composite tumbled 1.36% or 40.16 points to
Canadian Dollar weakened against greenback on Tuesday as investor worries about global growth curbed demand for higher yielding assets including shares and commodities. Canada's currency lost 0.7% against US Dollar dropping to CAD 1.0019. Currently USD/CAD is trading at CAD 0.9997.
European stocks extended losses on Tuesday as investor worries about global economic outlook and Greece debt swap outcome returned. Stoxx Europe 600 lost 2.7%, UK FTSE 100 tumbled 1.9% and German DAX plunged 3.4%. French CAC 40 index fell 3.6% while Italian FTSE MIB index gave up 3.4%.
Crude oil futures advanced on Wednesday Asian trade on slightly weaker US Dollar and improving stock index futures. Light crude futures to be delivered in April gained 0.3% or USD 0.27. ICE Dollar index slipped 0.15% pushing commodity prices higher. April gasoline futures rallied 0.5% or USD 3.24 per gallon.
Gold futures recovered and traded higher on Wednesday, returning to $1,670.00 an ounce reading as investors regained interest in precious metal after a rapid price drop of 1.9% on Tuesday session. Gold to be delivered in April advanced USD 6.10 attaining USD 1,678.20 during electronic trade at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Republican Mitt Romney, ex-governor of Massachusetts won the primary presidential election in Ohio. Romney gained 38% of votes, followed by former Senator of Pennsylvania Rick Santorum with 37%, Speaker of US house Newt Gingrich with 15% and US Representative Ron Paul with 9% support.
Australian currency dropped versus 14 out of 16 main counterparts on the government report showing country's GDP expanded two times less than expected. Aussie fell against Greenback to USD 1.0509 and slipped 0.3% versus Yen to JPY 85.16. In contrast Kiwi jumped 0.5% against its US peer to USD 0.8165 and gained 0.3% versus Yen to JPY 65.91. Currently AUD/USD
Japanese Yen kept appreciating versus its main counterparts on Wednesday as weaker Asian stock markets and investor lack of confidence about Greece's ability to finalize debt swap agreement bolstered demand for safer currency. The Yen strengthened against the Euro to JPY 106.01 in Asian trade and added 0.3% versus US Dollar to JPY 80.67. Currently EUR/JPY is trading at JPY 106.22 and USD/JPY is trading
Australian gross domestic product grew 0.4% in the last quarter of 2011 or half the pace analysts had predicted. The slowdown in Australia's housing market curbed consumption and reduced sovereign bond yields amid weakening Aussie. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted a 0.8% gain in nation's growth. In the 4th quarter European debt crisis harmed Asian consumption of commodities and forced
Spain and Italy faced an increase in bond yields after news that Greek default is expected to force these countries to look for further financial aid. 10-year yields on Spanish debt jumped from 4.95% to 5.05% on Monday while Italy's 10-year debt yields added 10 basis points approaching 4.97%. Meanwhile, yields on the two-year Span's debt eased up to 2.31%
British FTSE 100 index kept following a downward path on Tuesday as China's reduced growth forecast kept weighing on financial and resource shares. Aviva PLC fell 3.7% after Exane BNP Paribas lowered stock's rating from neutral to underperform, citing weaker outlook for cash flows and earnings. BP PLC dropped 1.6% and Kazakhmys PLC gave up 1.8%. Polymetal International PLC plunged
Australian sugar output is likely to increase by 33 million tons attaining 4.63 million tons in 2012, indicating 18% gain on an annual basis, reported Rabo bank. Promising export opportunities for Australian cane sugar stimulated the government to provide incentives for farmers to expand sugar growing area. The area for planting sugar cane is projected to expand by 10% this
Goldman Sachs posted a 103 million US Dollars loss in Asia in 2011 as compared to a 2.1 billion US Dollars income in the preceding year. This is the first loss in the last two years. Experts attributed the loss to weaker China's equity market. The company was strongly impacted by fall in value of its stake in ICBC that
Cotton futures eased rally on Tuesday, falling from three-week high as India's Farm Minister asked to cancel cotton export ban that was the main stimulating factor for a 4.5% jump on Monday. Cotton futures for delivery in May traded at 0.9239 US Dollars per pound at the European afternoon trade, on the ICE Futures US Exchange, edging up 0.21%.
Central banks' gold buying is likely to fall by more than 30% this year, according to RBS report. The RBS expects the worldwide banks' gold demand to decrease to 300 tonnes as compared to 439.7 tonnes in 2011. In fact, last year's gold purchases soared by about 470% hitting 48-year high. The largest gold importers were Russia, India and China
Brazilian economy expanded less than initially expected in 2011. The GDP of the country grew by 2.7% in 2011 while analysts projected the figure to top 2.8%. Brazil faced economic boom due to high energy and high food prices. The country may become sixth biggest economy outperforming the UK as Brazilian output was worth 2.09 trillion US Dollars as compared
Energy commodities apart from natural gas were little changed on Monday as market balanced between supply and demand concerns. From the supply side, IAEA reported that Iran increased its production of higher-grade enriched uranium three times thus escalating worries over military strike between Iran and Israeli. Moreover, Barack Obama met Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the situation in the region. Further,
Industry metals posted losses on Monday following downgrade of China's this year growth forecast and disappointing economic data from the EU and US. Weak equities also contributed to the downswing of the metals pack. Moreover, poor China's demand and stockpiling at the Shanghai Futures Exchange weighted down on metals' prices. Alumnium is likely to face further fall in price despite
Precious metals tumbled on Monday after China announced it has set an eight-year low growth target of 7.5% for 2012. The commodity group started to move closer with riskier assets hence slowdown in the world's second largest economy created strong downward pressure on the precious metals. However, slightly lower US Dollar and increased dip buying limited the losses. Gold was
International Monetary Fund expects Portugal to return in sovereign bond markets next year. Portuguese government is attempting to reduce spending and increase taxes in order to fulfil IMF requirements in exchange for EUR 78 billion rescue package. Portuguese PM Pedro Passos Coelho expects country's economic performance to improve in next few months.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average prolonged losses on Tuesday as Yen appreciated and China announced its strategy to shift away from exports, pressing down on Japanese shipping firms and machinery providers. Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.56% or 54.44 points and ended at 9,644.15. Oil and metal shares provided substantial downward contribution with JX Holdings Inc dropping 1.2% and Inpex Corp giving
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index extended losses on Tuesday, weighted down by resource and insurance shares on investor concerns about world second biggest economy's growth prospects. Hang Seng index tumbled 2.16% or 459.06 points and finished at 20,806.25. Aluminium Corp. of China fell 5.3% and Jiangxi Copper Co lost 4.8%. AIA Group plunged 8.4% as investors digested news AIG sold
UK retail sales dropped in February for a second straight month as a decline in clothing buying offset the gains from food purchases, reported British Retail Consortium. Sales at stores that are operating at least one year fell 0.3% on annual basis. Same magnitude decline also took place in January. Although BoE expects slowing inflation to bolster consumption, the surge
European economy declined in the 4th quarter of 2011 as investment fell most since 2009 amid dropping consumer spending and exports. GDP both in Euro Zone and EU 27 area fell 0.3% compared to 3rd quarter said EU statistics office on Tuesday. Exports contracted 0.4% compared to a 1.4% gain in the 3rd quarter. Investment faded 0.7% and household spending diminished 0.4%.