Merkel's Christian Democratic Union puts extra pressure on Greeks to rescue Euro. Officials from German Chancellor's party are urging Greece to fulfil the requirements to get second bailout package, pointing out that Greece's exit from Euro Zone is realistic. Greece keeps struggling to approve a debt-swap agreement with private lenders.
Energy markets continued to tumble on Thursday with the Dow Jones-UBS Energy Index dropping by 1.62 over the day. Crude oil opened higher yesterday on the possible shutdown of the oil exports from Nigeria; however, after European officials announced that embargo of Iran's oil imports is likely to be delayed for six months, crude oil dropped 1.75%. EIA report on
Corn continue to face strengthening tie with wheat as all grain commodities fell sharply after US crop report. At the same time, corn correlation with coffee edged down to 0.41 from 0.75 as coffee price continues to be supported by unfavorable weather forecast in South America. Corn's dependence with Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) slightly increased to 0.06 over the
Agricultural commodities, excluding sugar, fell on Thursday after rallying over the previous day. The commodity group started Thursday on a positive note as weaker US Dollar and anticipation of the US crop report lifted agricultural commodities' prices. However, after the release of the US crop report that unexpectedly indicated an increase in global grain supplies, corn and wheat tumbled to
Italy's costs of borrowing decreased at the latest bond auction despite relatively low level of demand. The cost of borrowing on two-year bonds decreased from 5.62% to 4.83% with demand exceeding offer only 1.22 times while on Thursday's Spanish debt auction bids were almost four times higher than the offer.
On of US leading banks J.P. Morgan Chase & Co reported 23% decline in its fourth quarter earnings as income from investment banking tumbled. Bank's investment banking division reported a drop of 52% in profit. In total J.P. Morgan posted a net income of $3.73 bn or $0.9 a share compared to $4.83 bn or $1.12 per share a year
Gold futures declined on Friday as economic uncertainty over the Euro Zone increased US Dollar's safe haven appeal while stronger demand from China ahead of the Chinese New Year limited losses. COMEX gold for delivery in February traded at USD1640.45 a troy ounce during the US trading session, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, easing down 0.44% since opening.
The US trade balance tumbled more than expected in December. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that country's trade balance declined to minus USD 47.8 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis from minus USD 43.5 billion in November. Experts projected the trade balance to edge down to minus USD 44.6 billion.
Copper's alternation with zinc and nickel remains relatively stable at about 0.72 while interdependence with aluminium dropped sharply on Thursday from 0.69 to 0.57 as aluminium price faced pressure from all-times high aluminium stocks at LME warehouses. Meanwhile, copper's tie with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) tumbled to the lowest level in the last month of 0.34 as stock
Relations between gold and silver have remained stable for more than one week while gold's correlation with platinum has been falling since the beginning of the week with correlation coefficient declining from 0.91 to 0.77. Gold's tie with palladium tumbled from 0.63 to 0.54 from the beginning of 2012. Meanwhile, gold's correlation with Dow Jones Industrial Average Index decreased to
Precious metals, excluding palladium, advanced on Thursday with the Dow Jones-UBS Precious Metals adding 0.56% over the day. Silver was the top gainer rallying 0.98% amid strong demand as US Mint announced American Eagle silver coin sales hit three-month high. Gold found support on the weaker US Dollar and increased demand in the US as Mont gold coin sales advanced
Base metals, excluding aluminium, continued to rally on hopes of steady China's demand and successful bond auctions in Italy and Spain. Copper, top performer, gained 2.89% over the day amid stronger Euro, expected supply disruptions from Indonesia and falling copper stocks in LME warehouses. Experts claim the LME inventories may decline further creating fresh stimulus for copper price. However, on
The Vietnam State Bank announced the country's gold imports are likely to rise close to 2.1 tons. The bank granted quotas on gold imports to 10 companies. Vietnam seeks the ways to diversify reserves from US Dollar and the Euro to limit the risk inherent to these currencies. Currently, the country's gold reserves amount 200-300 tons.
EU plans to postpone full ban on Iranian oil imports by six months as potential increase in energy prices would push the EU in even more severe recession. US, Europe and Asia supported the oil embargo on Thursday probably not fully considering the consequences of the ban.
The PBOC announced the country is preparing to marketize the interest rates. The reform of the financial system is conducted while taking all the specifics of the local and global economic situation, the bank added. However, currently the marketization should not take place in the fair market as it may impact the benefits of the bank's clients. Meanwhile, one-year lending
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. plans to reduce the number of jobs as the bank seeks to cut costs of the Australian operations. ANZ explained the redundancies as an inevitable measure to stay afloat amid difficult economic environment linked to revenue generation and funding costs. The bank did not provide the exact number of job cuts but said
Crude oil futures increased during the Asian trading hours on the broadly weaker US Dollar. The US Dollar index declined from 81.364 to 80.607. Light, sweet crude oil February contract advanced to $100.10 a barrel at the electronic trade, gaining 1%.
Japan's consumer sentiment rose in December, reflecting the first improvement in the last three quarters. The consumer sentiment diffusion index added 4.9 points to minus 57.5 last month from minus 62.4 in the preceding quarter. The indicator subtracts the number of people who believe the economic situation deteriorated over the last year from the number of individuals who say the
Barack Obama formally notified the Congress that US government needs to borrow another $1.2 trillion to meet existing commitments. Congress should vote during the next 15 days on the approval of the proposal that may raise debt ceiling to about $16.4 trillion. The government was near default in 2011 exceeding its debt ceiling. The proposal is expected to increase battles
Gold futures eased down during the electronic session following the declines in other metals' prices. COMEX gold futures for delivery in February traded at $1,642.40 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, during the Asian trading hours, losing 0.3% since opening.
Apple decided not to open the store on Friday because of safety concerns as more than a thousand people were standing in line and waiting for the store to open, said one of the customers. Many people were displeased with the decision and started to throw eggs in the shop's glass walls. Other Apple stores opened timely and sold their
Slovenia was trying to reassure the international lenders that the country is able not to follow Hungarian footsteps, even after the country's leader failed to shape the government. Slovenia's debt rating was cut from Aa3 to A1 by Moody's in December. Experts claim the overreliance on exports to the EU and political turmoil will lead to further credit downgrade and soaring borrowing costs. Currently, the
The CPI fell to 4.1% last month, hitting the 15-month last month. Experts believe the drop may force the government to ease its prudent monetary policy. However, fast policy easing might spark financial risk due to exorbitant money supply. Growing labour costs were the major drivers for decline in the CPI implying that monetary policies do not have to be
The US federal budget balance increased less than expected, according to official data released on Thursday. The US federal budget balance edged up to minus USD 86 billion from minus USD 137.3 billion in the previous month, reported Department of the Treasury. Experts predicted the balance to rise to minus USD 79 billion in December.