SNB, the Swiss bank will defend its minimum Swiss franc-euro exchange rate at 1.20. The speculation over the possible increase of the exchange rate floor had appeared before the official announcement and increased the number of short positions in currency. Following the official report on no change in the exchange rate floor, the Swiss franc increased as investors tried to cover their short positions in
China's analysts urge government officials to implement a gradual monetary easing policy to escape faster than projected slowdown of the economy in 2012. The calls appeared after the government released statement saying that the prudent monetary policy would mostly stay unchanged next year. The country has to ease its monetary policy to decelerate the fell in economic growth, said Qu Hongbin, chief economist at
The government of Italy called a conference vote to approve EUR20 billion austerity package that is expected to support country's economy during the recession. The first vote is planned to start at 9:00 GMT on Friday at the lower house. The package has to be passed by Senate before Christmas.
Copper futures cover the previous losses following the Spain's auction. Spain sold EUR6 billion of bonds exceeding the target of EUR3.5 billion. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, copper futures for delivery in March traded at USD3.292 a pound at the early European trade, adding 0.42% since opening.
Old Mutual, UK's long-term savings group plans to sell Nordic operations to Skandia Liv, Swedish insurance company for $3.2bn. Largest part of the funds generated from sale the company will use to decrease debts and the rest amount will be distributed among the stockholders. Following the news, the shares of Old Mutual surged by 11%.
India's currency, rupee continues to fall against the American dollar hitting a new record low amid global financial concerns. The Indian currency decreased against the USD and the pair USD/INR achieved 53.651 in the morning trade. The benchmark Sensex index also followed the trend of the downward move. The tools for combating the inflation are limited, explained Pranab Mukherjee, India's Finance Minister.
Vladimir Putin, Russian PM, announced Russia has a sustainable growth as compared to western economies and is likely to expand between 4.2% and 4.5% in 2011. Vladimir Putin, who is running for the next presidential elections due 4 March 2012, said the inflation rate is stable and expected to be slightly higher than 6% this year.
The ECB announced it plans to lower the region's growth forecast on the uncertainty over the Euro Zone debt crisis. The bank expects the inflation rate to stay above target of 2% in the upcoming few months and ease afterwards on the lower region's growth. The ECB also outlined the high risk of further increase in taxes for fiscal consolidation.
Gold continues to extend losses after falling below a key support level on the concerns over the Euro Zone that forced investors to sell the yellow metal holdings to boost cash. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for delivery in February traded at USD1,578.25 a troy ounce at the early European trade, edging down 0.55% since opening.
UniCredit SpA, Italy-based banking organisation will use its EUR7.5 billion increase in capital, which is expected to be approved today, to provide funds for lending to country's businesses and private persons as well as to boost operations in East Europe, said Federico Ghizzoni, the bank's CEO. The funds will not be immediately transferred to East European countries as they are quite strongly financially positioned, he
Despite avoiding delisting from Tokyo Stock Exchange, Olympus, the scandal camera producer from Japan saw decline in share price. The stock price decreased by 20.8% today on investor fear about the low liquidity of the company. Olympus will consider closer cooperation with other companies to strengthen the financial position, said Shuichi Takayama, Olympus president.
Crude oil decreased during the morning Asian trading hours following the OPEC decision to maintain oil output at 30 million barrels daily. Experts claim the decision is aimed at raising the supply and lowering the oil price. On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for January delivery traded at USD94.91 a barrel in morning session, losing 0.04% since opening.
Some large energy generation companies in Europe claim EU has to increase carbon prices to meet its green targets. The EU declined CO2 emissions price by 55% to EUR6.45 this year. The industry representatives sent a letter to the European Commission outlining the necessity to reduce the number of Emissions Trading Scheme permits in order to increase their price. Thus, companies would be interested in investing more in
The PMI of the Euro Zone increased slightly in December. The indicator achieved 46.9 this month as compared to 46.4 last month. The manufacturing output index rose to 47.9 this month from 47.0 in November. The index above 50 signals growth while below 50 indicates contraction.
Brazilian government has approved the merger of two largest Latin American airlines TAM, Brazilian airline company, and LAN, Chile's airline provider. The new company will be called LATAM and will be worth about $14.5bn serving more than 115 destinations in about 23 countries. The antitrust authorities accepted the merger but imposed 11 conditions to not violate fair competition in the industry.
Japan's market sentiment looks pessimistic amid strong yen and European woes, according to Tankan survey. The sentiment of large manufacturers declined to minus four from plus three since September, reported the Bank of Japan. Experts claim the sentiment may slide further in case the yen gets firmer and Europe's crisis continues.
European share markets opened modestly higher on Thursday. Stoxx Europe 600 index added 0.2% to 232.96, French CAC 40 index traded flat at 2,976.19 whereas German DAX 30 index climbed 0.4% at 5,696.40. UK's FTSE 100 index ascended 0.2% reaching 5,377.84. Recovery was mainly led by financial stocks.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is being stricken by German political turbulence, impending to disturb her struggle to implement measures developed during the last week's summit. The political crisis overwhelmed Chancellor's administration 5 days after she announced that agreements made during EU summit is a step forward to resolve crisis. The disruptions occurred as Jens Weidmann, Bundesbank's President, indicated the central bank might not deliver its
Canadian Dollar depreciated against the Greenback reaching the lowest value in 2-weeks after European borrowing costs surged depressing demand for less secure assets. Canada's currency lost 0.5% to C$1.0397 in Toronto evening trade, the lowest level since November 28 when it hit C$1.0474. USD/CAD is currently trading at C$1.0367.
New Zealand and Australian Dollars weakened against most of their counterparts on growing investor concern that deepening European debt crisis will hinder economic growth. Australian Dollar reached record low against the Greenback since November 28 and was trading at $0.9869 In Sydney evening trade while New Zealand's Dollar lost 0.5% to $0.7466 also breaching 2-week low. AUD/USD currently is trading at 0.9920 and NZD/USD
The Dollar index, measuring the US dollar against a bundle of 6 other currencies traded 80.502 in Asia trade compared to 80.538 during North American evening trade on Wednesday. European common currency succeeded to regain small fraction of value lost against the Greenback on Wednesday, climbing $1.2986 to $1.2991 in New York afternoon trade. EUR/USD currently is trading at $1.2995.
On Wednesday US shares closed down for a third consecutive day as investors dumped gold and euro amid European debt fears. Moreover, euro breached the psychological $1.3 level. Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.1% or 131.46 points to 11,823.48, while Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.6% reaching 2,539.31. S&P 500 Index edged down 1.1% or 13.91 points to 1,211.82.
In November foreign direct investment (FDI) in China dropped on annual basis, the first time since 2009. According to Ministry of Commerce, FDI lost 9.8% to $8.76 bn, after gaining 8.8% in October. Liu Li-Gang, economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., suggests the policy makers may be forced to lower further the reserve requirements in December.
Ben Bernanke, head of the Federal Reserve in a closed meeting with Senate Republicans said Fed is not planning to bail out Europe. However, Bernanke admitted Europe's failure to solve debt crisis can harm US economy. According to Bob Corker, Tennessee Republican, Fed Chairman pointed out that Fed has is not going to intervene further in region's debt turmoil.