Japan's Nikkei Stock Average opened higher on Thursday but erased gains later and closed into negative area, dropping 0.41% or 36.52 points to 8,847.17. Exporters experienced the biggest losses as Toshiba Corp. declined 1.7%, Sharp Corp. edged down 0.6% and Hitachi Ltd. gave up 0.9%. Nintendo Co and NEC Corp. lost 0.9% and 1.2% respectively ahead of their earnings reports.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index advanced rapidly on Thursday, as investors returned from 5-day Lunar New Year holidays and appreciated the Fed decision of extending period for low interest rates. Hang Seng Index rallied 1.64% or 328.77 points and closed at 20,439.14, supported by financial, resource and logistics stocks. Aluminum Corp. of China added 3.3%, Sino Land Co. surged 4.8%,
European shares closed lower on Wednesday, weighted by Novartis and Ericsson as both companies reported sharp declines in profits. Stoxx 600 index lost 0.4% and closed at 254.95 and CAC 40 index ended 0.3% down at 3,312.48. FTSE 100 gave up 0.5% and finished at 5,723.00. Only German DAX performed better and traded flat at 6,421.85.
Natural gas continued to advance for the third consecutive day on Wednesday following Chesapeake Energy's announcement on energy output reduction and expected fall in the US stockpiles. Natural gas February contract traded at USD2.787 per million British thermal units at the late US session, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, soaring 7.15%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average Index recovered on Wednesday, lifted by Bernake's announcement Fed will leave interest rates close to zero till late 2014 instead of 2013. Federal Reserve also is considering the third asset purchase program. Blue chip index surged 0.64% or 81.21 points and settled at 12,756.96, reaching 8-month record high. The main gainer was Caterpillar Inc. which jumped
Crude oil futures soared on Thursday following the Fed's decision to leave interest rates low till end of 2014 to boost economic expansion. Light, sweet crude oil futures for March delivery traded at USD99.83 a barrel during the Asian session, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, gaining 0.44% since opening.
A member from Angela Merkel's party refused recommendations from IMF that ECB should also take losses on Greece's debt. Christine Lagarde called yesterday for additional support from European governments to reduce Greek debt burden. However, ECB sees participating in accepting losses as a harmful action that can threaten confidence in the bank, said two people from ECB familiar with the
S&P 500 Index surged on Wednesday on Federal Reserve announcement, the institution will keep its key interest rate low by the end of 2014. US benchmark index climbed 0.87% or 11.41 points and finished at 1,326.06, with all 10 sectors posting gains. Apple shares extended gains, climbing 6% on excellent earnings report. On the downside Wellpoint Inc. dropped 4.76%, as
US natural gas stockpiles are expected to have declined much more than season' s average during the last week amid colder weather in the Northeast. The estimation based on the 16 analysts' forecasts predicts the stocks to have fallen by 5.3% or by 175 billion cubic feet to 3.115 trillion cubic feet over the last week. The average stockpile weekly
South Korea's economy expanded less than expected in the Q4 of 2011 due to weak demand caused by global economic slowdown. The GDP grew by 0.4% in Q4 as compared to 0.8% increase in Q3, the central bank reported. Considering yearly changes, the GDP expanded by 3.4% in Q4. The Bank of Korea added that slowing exports create difficulties to
The IMF warned of 20-30% jump in the oil price if Iran oil exports are impacted. The sanctions imposed by the EU on Iran are equivalent to oil blockade, so the market may face similar shock to Libya's revolution in 2011. In case Iran blocks the Straits of Hormuz the shock can be much larger. Currently, the oil stocks of
Russia may again face capital outflow in the nearest future, said Alexei Ulyukayev from the Russian Central Bank. He added that this phenomenon may appear in the current quarter but is likely to disappear as quickly as it occurs. The bank also announced its inflation forecast of 0.6-0.7% in January which is much more optimistic than 1% initially expected.
The US Dollar depreciated to the lowest reading in five weeks after Federal Reserved said it plans to leave its benchmark rate unchanged for one more year and also claimed to prepare for third asset purchase program. Dollar fell 0.2% against greenback in London trade, reaching $1.3127. EUR/USD currency pair currently is trading at $1.3107.
Germany faced an increase in the optimism among its consumers since the beginning of 2012. Willingness to purchase and economic expectations both improved essentially while income expectations stayed almost unchanged. The gauge of economic expectation added 8.4 points and willingness to purchase soared 14.4 points while income expectations indicator posted 0.1 points gain.
Gold posted strong gains on Wednesday after falling on Tuesday. The RSI for gold is bullish, suggesting further upswing in the commodity price. The yellow metal is likely to grow further to 1,714.55 level, after cutting this level gold is expected to jump to December's high of 1,762.50, then it could aim November's high of 1,802.75.
Hyundai Motors reported 38% increase in profits for Q4 as sales in the foreign and domestic markets jumped. Net income attained 1.8 billion US Dollars in the Q4. The company has mostly benefited from production cuts in Japan and weak Won. However, experts predict increased competition in the car market as Toyota and Honda start to recover.
Talks on Greek debt are planned to resume today, though the policy makers still are arguing over the coupon rate of restructured bonds. Private creditor representatives Jean Lemierre and Charles Dallara today return to Greece as EU finance ministers require debt holders to accept larger losses on Greek bonds. Both involved parties are squabbling to reach an agreement for more
Big rethink is necessary in the Euro Zone within world's economy, said Angela Merkel at the World Economic Forum. Structural reforms aimed at creating new jobs are crucial, she added. Indebted Euro Zone is the most discussed issue at the forum. Many consider Germany and other strong economies have to inject more money into rescue fund.
New Zealand's central bank decided to keep its benchmark interest rate at record low level on worries that Europe debt turmoil may harm overseas demand for country's commodity exports. Central bank's governor Alan Bollard also pointed out that inflation in New Zealand has slowed and therefore bank should stick to its record low key rate of 2.5%.
Federal Reserve is preparing for the third large asset purchase program to support economy expansion as unemployment is higher than acceptable, said Ben Bernake. Fed representatives also claimed the interest rate will remain low until by the end of 2014 and lowered the predictions for economic growth and inflation for upcoming two years. Stocks climbed after the announcement about keeping
Agricultural commodities rallied on Tuesday amid concerns over lower global crops. Unfavorable weather conditions in South America impacted severally the crops of grain commodities and coffee. At the same time, sugar remained resilient to the expected ample supplies. Corn futures extended the gains of the previous sessions on the speculation that the largest producers like Russia and Argentina plan to
Energy markets faced mixed performance on Tuesday with rallying natural gas and heating oil and falling crude oil and Brent oil. Concerns over the spreading Euro Zone crisis and rising DOE inventories of oil both created downward pressure on the oil prices. Potential loses in oil price may be prevented by the expected Fed's decision to hold low interest rates
Agricultural commodities rallied on Tuesday amid concerns over lower global crops. Unfavorable weather conditions in South America impacted severally the crops of grain commodities and coffee. At the same time, sugar remained resilient to the expected ample supplies. Corn futures extended the gains of the previous sessions on the speculation that the largest producers like Russia and Argentina plan to
Energy markets faced mixed performance on Tuesday with rallying natural gas and heating oil and falling crude oil and Brent oil. Concerns over the spreading Euro Zone crisis and rising DOE inventories of oil both created downward pressure on the oil prices. Potential loses in oil price may be prevented by the expected Fed's decision to hold low interest rates