The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.2% on the mid trading session in Tokyo on Thursday. Index shows the longest winning streak since July amid speculation the FED will outline a bond-buying programme at policy meeting today. According to a Bloomberg survey, two-thirds of economists think that Ben Bernanke, the FED Chairman, will announce Q3, which is likely to push markets' benchmarks even higher.
The Bank of Korea announced holding the key interest rate unchanged at 3% for the second consecutive month. Analysts of the bank expect consumer price increase in coming month due to recent typhoon and higher oil and grain prices in the world market. However, these factors keep inflation in the target bands of 2% and 4% and bank's analysts consider the recent government spending expansion as
German stocks rose on Wednesday after the German Constitutional Court baked up the euro area bailout fund. Hopes for easing in the US and China also spurred rally of German shares. DAX Index added 0.48% to trade at 7,354.22. Six out of nine business sectors included in the index posted gains. The top-performers were technology and financial firms. SAP advanced
UK stocks were slightly lower on Wednesday despite positive news from the Eurozone. The German Constitutional Court approved the euro area bailout fund and yields on Italian short-term debt tumbled during today's auction. Providing additional support for UK equities, UK jobless claims posted an unexpected decline last month. The FTSE 100 Index lost 0.03% to trade at 5,790.84. Only three
Hong Kong equities rallied on Wednesday after the country's Premier Wen Jiabao hinted that the government has a room for monetary and fiscal reforms to stimulate faltering economy. Escalating expectations that the Fed will announce QE3 also supported Chinese stocks. The Hang Seng Index surged 1.10% to close at 20,075.39. Seven out of nine economic sectors included in the index
Japanese stocks skyrocketed on Wednesday on rising hopes that the Fed and POBC will embark on stimulus measures amid weak state of the global economy. Lifting Japan's shares, the country's machinery orders beat estimates in July even despite weaker exports and fading subsidies for automobile purchases. The Nikkei 225 soared 1.73% to close at 8,959.96. All sectors within the index
On Wednesday, Germany witnessed an increase in its borrowing costs, as it was selling its 5-year government debt on an auction. Germany's Treasury managed to sell debt worth EUR3.97 billion in 5-year notes, having the average yield of 0.61%, compared to the yield of 0.31% during a similar auction in August. Demand exceeded supply only 1.4 times.
US blue chips rose on Tuesday amid mounting expectations that the US and China will loosen their monetary policies to boost growth. Meanwhile, rising cautiousness ahead of the German Constitutional Court decision regarding its support for the ESM capped the upswing of the US equities. The Dow Jones Industrial Index gained 0.52% to close at 13,323.36. Eight out of nine
US stocks advanced on Tuesday on hopes that the Fed will announce easing measures at the upcoming FMOC meeting due to start on Wednesday. At the same time, investors remained cautious ahead of the German Constitutional Court ruling regarding its backup of the Eurozone rescue fund. The S&P 500 rallied 0.31% to close at 1,433.56. Seven out of ten sectors
The Census Bureau reported on Wednesday that the amount of Americans who lived in poverty in 2011 was 15% or 46.2 million people, which is an insignificant change from the figure for the preceding year, which was 15.1%. However, the median U.S. income in 2011 declined by 1.5% from the reading in 2010.
Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that the amount of crude oil inventories grew by 2.00 million barrels and reached 359.1 million barrels, compared to a 7.42 million barrels decline over the preceding month in the previous week. Analysts, however, expected that crude oil inventories would decline by 2.59 million barrels.
Futures for natural gas were lower in U.S. morning trading session on Wednesday, as traders were locking gains from a rally which brought prices to a 5-week high. On the NYMEX, October delivery futures for natural gas were traded at USD2.961 a MMBtu, which was a 1.05% fall for the U.S. morning trade. Earlier, prices rose by 1.4%, being traded at USD3.036 per MMBtu.
On Wednesday, the Euro was traded near a 4-month high versus the Greenback, after the constitutional court in Germany approved the bailout fund, and amid continuing speculations about Fed's further monetary stimulus. The EUR/USD pair hit a 4-month high of 1.2936 and consolidated at 1.2905, which was a 0.40% gain for the U.S. morning trading session.
Eurostat reported on Wednesday that Eurozone's industrial output in July gained 0.6%, offsetting the decline which occurred in the preceding month. Analysts, however, expected that the output would fall by 0.1%. Year over year, the industrial production fell by 2.3% in July, whereas in June it declined by 2.1%. Following the release of the data, the 17-nation currency remained higher versus the Greenback, adding 0.23% to
Crude oil futures turned lower after U.S. government's report showed oil supplies rose surprisingly last week. Crude with October contract inched lower 0.21% to $69.93 per barrel. U.S. crude oil stockpiles jumped 2 million barrels in the week ended September 7, beating expectations for a decline of 2.6 million barrels.
Gold futures soared on Wednesday, reaching six-month high, as German Federal Constitutional Court cleared the way for Eurozone rescue fund. Bullion for December settlement jumped 0.38% to $1741.40 per ounce. Elsewhere on the Comex, silver and palladium for December settlement added 0.46% and 0.70%, respectively. At the same time, October copper erased 0.39%.
U.S. import prices jumped for a first time in five months in August, as fuel prices rose. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Wednesday, the prices paid for U.S. import rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in August, compared to expectations for a 1.4% increase. The cost of petroleum imports jumped 4.1%, pushing overall import prices higher.
U.S. stocks edged higher on Wednesday, after a German court said it would not block ratification of the Eurozone's rescue fund. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%, to 13,328; the Standard & Poor 500 Index gained 0.3%, to 1,435.10, while Nasdaq-100 futures jumped 0.4%, to 2,791.25.
Japanese core machinery orders surged in July, mostly led by an increase in manufacturing sector orders. Machinery orders, which is a leading indicator of corporate capital investment, jumped 4.6% from the prior month, after adding 5.6% in June, the Cabinet Office said on Wednesday. Manufacturing sector orders rocketed 12%, sign manufacturers are more confident about Japanese economy.
The number of filed unemployment benefit claims in the U.K. declined the most in more than two years in August, as the economy created more jobs in order to curb the recession. Jobless benefit claims fell 15,000 to 1.57 million, the Office for National Statistics reported on Wednesday. Employment rose by 236,000 to overall 29.6 million, posting the biggest gain in two years.
German Federal Constitutional Court cleared the way for Eurozone rescue fund on Wednesday. The European Stability Mechanism of total value of the 500 billion euro aimed to provide financial assistance to Eurozone's countries in financial difficulty. Moreover, German Court gave parliament veto powers over any future increases in the size of the fund.
The major European stocks index Stoxx Europe 50 gained 0.98% to 2,582.84 on early London trading session. Index gained a second day after the top German court approved country's participation in Eurozone's bailout fund with certain conditions. This decision increased confidence in the market that governments will not let economies get worse.
European stock futures were slightly positive as Euro Stoxx 50 index was up by 0.1% to 2,562 on late Asian trading hour. Investors keep positions on hold till German top constitutional court announce decision on the country's participation in the €500 billion Euro region bailout fund. The court announces its verdict at 10 a.m.
U.S. 5-year notes outperformed 2- and 10-year treasuries in terms of price due to the so-called butterfly spread estimate of value. The spread was negative at 54.61 basis points on Wednesday, after slipping to -54.86 points on Sept. 10, the record low since 2006. The Fed has decreased benchmark rates to near zero percent.