US stock markets closed up on Thursday, supported by fewer than expected jobless claims and F5 Networks' report on surge in earnings. S&P 500 rose 0.49% or 6.46 points and finished at 1,314.5, Dow Jones Industrial Average Index climbed 0.36% or 45.03 points and closed at 12,623.98, while Nasdaq Composite gained 0.67% or 18.62 points and settled at 2,788.33.
Canadian Dollar traded almost flat on Thursday evening as gains from fewer than expected US job claims and good bond auctions in Europe were outweighed by a decline in oil prices. Canadian currency was modestly changed against greenback and traded at C$1.0108 in Toronto. Currently USD/CAD is trading at C$1.0131.
Canada's inflation probably accelerated at the fastest pace in 2011 since the country began inflation level targeting in 1991. According to the poll of economists, the consumer price index surged by 2.7% in December on annual basis. November annual inflation rate reached 2.9%. Bank of Canada expects inflation to slow down to annual 1.5% through April-June period. The official report will be issued
New Zealand and Australian Dollars appreciated against their US peer on Friday as Spain and France faced successful bond auctions, boosting investor sentiment and stimulating demand for more risky assets. Aussie reached $1.0409 on Friday making 0.8% weekly gain while Kiwi traded at $0.8022 or 0.9% higher compared to January 13.
Borrowing costs dropped on Thursday as Spain and France successfully sold their sovereign bonds. France auctioned 7.97 bn Euros of debt, almost as much as it had planned. The average yield for French two-year notes slid from 1.58% in October to 1.05%. Spain managed to sell 6.61 bn Euros of notes with different maturities, almost 2 bn Euros more than the country
China's purchasing mangers index indicates, country's production may decline for a third consecutive month. The preliminary figure estimated by HSBC Holdings & Markit Economics has climbed from 48.7 in December to 48.8 in January. Although the reading is a three-month record high, it still fluctuates below 50, indicating contraction in production. Hang Seng Index cooled on the announcement.
The number of people applied for unemployment benefits in the US declined to almost four-year low. The number of jobless claims dropped by 50,000 to 352,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis last week, reported US Labour Department. Experts projected the jobless claims to fall to 385,000 last week.
German DAX Index closed 0.3% up on Wednesday and prolonged upward trend, opening 0.1% higher, led by Deutsche Bank. German benchmark rallied, after France and Spain performed well in bond auction and Euro appreciated sharply against the greenback. Financial and consumer service sectors posted the biggest gains. Deutsche Bank jumped 8.60%, while Commerzbank rocketed 12.40%. Car markers BMW AG and
The link between FTSE 100 Index (UKX) and Brent Oil (CO) climbed to 0.72, as both assets followed upward trend for two straight trading sessions. Meanwhile the relationship between UK benchmark and EUR/USD currency pair slightly increased from 0.45 to 0.48, while the negative correlation between FTSE 100 and USD/CAD currency pair strengthened further approaching minus 0.63. The relationship between
Energy commodities fell on Wednesday after the EIA reduced its oil demand forecast for 2012 and Barack Obama formally rejected the project of TransCanada pipeline. Investors also await US natural gas and crude oil inventory report due on Thursday. At the same time, delay in the Iranian oil embargo contributed to losses of oil futures. However, crude oil started Thursday
Agricultural commodities, excluding sugar, dropped on Wednesday on the expected surplus in the market. Coffee crops are likely to be even 3% larger than the initial estimate, reported the ICO. Biggest coffee producers as Ethiopia and Brazil plan to increase essentially coffee output over the next three years. However, coffee continued to draw support from easing worries over Colombia's and
Precious metals continued the previous day's rally, following the release of reports that the IMF is exploring the ways how to boost its lending capacity. Weaker US Dollar after slower than expected US industrial production also contributed to an increase in precious metals' prices. Moreover, GFMS expects the gold to hit $1,640 an ounce in the first half of the
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average soared on Thursday, after PBOC announced it will allow more lending and postpone stricter capital requirement restrictions. Nikkei 225 Index gained 1.12% or 95.95 points to 8,646.53, driven by industrial and basic material sectors. Nomura Holdings Inc. climbed 4.3%, while Daiwa Securities Group Inc. added 4.9%. On the downside Japan Tobacco dropped 3.27% and video game
Base metals faced mixed performance on Wednesday as the commodity group balanced on the positive data from the Euro Zone and slower than expected industrial production growth in the US and Japan. Copper, the top performer, was supported by BHP Billiton report of 7% decrease in the metal's output. However, restart of the Grasberg copper mine operations after three-month strike
Dow Jones Industrial Average Index surged on Wednesday, as investors anticipated growing optimism among US home builders amid news IMF agreed to grant additional loan program. Blue chip index climbed 0.78% or 97 points to 12,578.95 with 26 of 30 shares posting gains. Among the main winners were banking shares as Bank of America jumped 4.94% and JPMorgan Chase advanced
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1.30% or 256.03 points on Thursday to 19,942.95, led by financial stocks, as investor sentiment was fuelled by PBOC announcement about capital injections in the market are easing of lending and reserve restrictions. China Construction Bank Corp added 2.7% and insurer AIA Group surged 3.2%. Commodity stocks also rallied in Hong Kong's stocks exchange
S&P 500 Index rallied on Wednesday supported by the financials on the upside. US benchmark index added 1.11% or 14.37 points and finished at 1,308.04 with all 10 sectors posting gains. Goldman Sachs jumped 6.8% after the bank reported 58% or less than expected drop in profits. Morgan Stanley, which due to report earnings on Thursday morning, also advanced 6.8%.
Gold prices edged up on Thursday following the release of data that the IMF was weighing the possibility to increase lending capacity by $500 billion in case struggling EU members need more funds. The news stimulated appreciation of the EUR against the USD that pushed the gold prices higher. COMEX gold February contract traded at USD1,662.35 a troy ounce, on
Carrefour announced a 0.8% decrease in sales to EUR24.2 billion in Q4. The company blamed deteriorated economic environment that impacted non-food sales. In Europe sales declined by 4.3% while in Latin America sales increased by 6.8% and in Asia revenues added 2.8%. Carrefour sales for the whole year lost 0.6% on comparable basis.
Crude oil appreciated on Thursday as traders returned to commodity markets on the eased concerns over the Euro Zone's sovereign debt crisis and China's hard lending. Light, sweet crude oil March contract traded at USD101.44 a barrel, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, gaining 0.68%.
Hedge funds may sue Greece in the European Court of Human Rights to force the country to repay full amount of its debts. The country may be sued for violating bondholder rights or property rights as Greece wants to change the terms of bonds so that investors will receive less than they lent. However, the lawsuits can take multiple years
New Zealand's CPI unexpectedly fell 0.3% in Q4 as compared to 0.4% in Q3, reported Statistics New Zealand. Experts predicted the CPI to add 0.4% over the period. The major reason for a decline was much lower vegetable price that caused a 2.2% fall in food prices, claimed Chris Pike, manager at Statistics NZ.
Most European stocks ended slightly up on Wednesday trade as Greece kept working on deal with creditors and Germany sold bonds at record low borrowing costs. Stoxx Europe 600 climbed 0.08% to 253.48 and UK's FTSE 100 closed 0.15% up at 5,702.37. French CAC 40 dropped 0.15% to 3,264.93 while German DAX added 0.3%, finishing at 6,354.57.
Kodak announced that the company and its subsidies located in the US filed for chapter 11 in the US Bankruptcy Court. The chapter 11 stipulates business reorganization intended to boost liquidity and to provide the company with a possibility to concentrate on the most viable business lines. Kodak has got $950 million credit facility that will enable company to operate