Japan's Nikkei Stock Average extended losses on Thursday a day after its weakest session for 2012. Nikkei 225 index lost 0.53% or 52.38 points and closed at 9,767.61. The losses were limited by upper house of parliament decision to reject Ryutaro Kono, PM's nominee to the BoJ board. Inpex Corp lost 1.3% on falling crude prices. Showa Denko gained 3.8%
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index traded lower on Thursday as investors returned from national holiday and digested news about Fed's decisions and the situation in Spain. Hang Seng index dropped 0.95% or 197.98 points and finished at 20,593.00. Banks faced a relatively weak session. Bank of Communications fell 3.2%, Bank of China lost 1.6% and Agricultural Bank of China sank
Dow Jones Industrial Average index prolonged losses on Wednesday, pressed by financial stocks which responded negatively to the developments in Europe. Additional downside effect came from a decline in commodity prices. Blue chip index tumbled 0.95% or 124.80 points and settled at 13,074.75 with 26 of 30 shares posting losses. Bank of America shed 3% while JP Morgan pulled back
S&P 500 index tumbled on Wednesday as weak Spanish bond auction renewed investor fears about possible recession. US benchmark fell 1.02% or 14.42 points and closed at 1,398.96. Sears lost 7.4% on news the retailer is considering to sell its casual clothing unit Lands' End, which it purchased in 2002. Memory card and chip manufacturer SanDisk plunged 11%, the most
Canadian Dollar fell against greenback before US jobs report due on Thursday on concerns hiring growth may slow. Its depreciation was fuelled also by debt concerns over Spain. Canada's currency weakened 0.5% to CAD 0.9963. Currently USD/CAD is trading at CAD 0.9962.
Crude oil traded higher during Asian session on Thursday, erasing earlier losses caused by buildup in the US crude oil inventories last week coupled with unsuccessful Spain bond auction. Light, sweet crude oil futures for May delivery traded at 102.03 US Dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, easing up by 0.55% from the session's low of 101.96
Brazilian iron ore output tumbled by 24% in February, according to Brazil's association of iron ore producers. The country exported 16.61 MT of iron ore in February as compared to 21.89 MT in February last year. The top Brazilian iron ore producers, Vale and MMX, reported that the reason was heavy rainfalls in the main mining region.
Gold futures increased during Asian trade on Thursday, bouncing off the previous lows as impact of the Fed minutes released earlier this week started to fade. COMEX gold June contract traded at 1,624.35 US Dollars per troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, advancing by 0.64%. Meanwhile, COMEX silver May contract traded at 31.380 US Dollars per troy ounce,
German plant orders advanced less than forecast in February as a fall in European demand almost erased gains from non-EU countries. Orders climbed 0.3% compared to January when they declined 1.8%, Economy Ministry reported on Wednesday. Economists questioned by Bloomberg predicted an increase of 1.5%. Orders for Euro Zone contracted 3.2% in February.
Members of the Euro Zone have to be prepared to provide a new bailout fund to Portugal next year, said Olli Rehn, Europe's economic and financial affairs commissioner. Portugal that received a rescue package worth 78 billion Euros is expected to need more financial backup before it is be able to return to the debt market in 2013, he added.
Yahoo is set to reduce the number of personnel by 2,000 staff, or by 14% of the total labour force. The company explained the move as an attempt to make Yahoo smaller, more flexible and more profitable. The cost-cutting measures are likely to save about 375 million Euros for Yahoo that failed to compete with Google in search engine area.
New Zealand and Australian currencies advanced versus their major counterparts on Thursday as US jobs report are expected to show further improvements in labour market. Aussie climbed 0.2% versus greenback to USD 1.0295 while Kiwi ascended 0.3% to USD 0.8172. Currently AUD/USD is trading at USD 1.0301 and NZD/USD is trading at USD 0.8169.
17-nation currency weakened towards Japanese Yen before German industrial production data which are expected to show contraction, adding pressure on ECB to postpone increasing interest rates. The Euro 0.2% against Japanese currency to JPY 108.13. Currently USD/JPY is trading at JPY 82.21.
US stock markets ended down on Wednesday as weak Spanish bond auction returned investor worries about global economic perspectives. S&P 500 index fell 1.02% or 14.42 points to 1,398.96, Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.95% or 124.80 points to 13,074.75 and Nasdaq Composite index gave up 1.46% or 45.48 points to 3,068.09.
USD/JPY was consolidating during last two days and formed a triangle pattern on a 1D chart. The formation has 73% quality along with 50% magnitude in a 34-bar period.The pair eased after it touched the resistance around 84.17 on March 15, and now is trading in 82.00 to 82.30 range. The formation would not last long, so traders may expect
The central bank of Poland warned it may raise the benchmark interest rates in case decelerating economic growth will not manage to restrict inflation. The Narodowy Bank Polski left its key rate unchanged yesterday at 4.5% and claimed its is considering to increase it. Inflation in Poland keeps fluctuating above maximum allowed rate of 3.5%.
Spain managed to auction EUR 2.6 billion (USD 3.4 billion) of notes or the amount close to the planned minimum. As result Spanish yields surged as the positive effect from ECB cheap cash faded. The Spanish borrowing costs for 10-year notes advanced from 5.45% to 5.64% yesterday compared to 4.87% on March 1, before PM Rajoy said Spain would fail to meet
European markets closed substantially lower on Wednesday as soaring Spanish and Italian borrowing costs weighed on investor sentiment. Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 2.1% or close to a one-month record low. FTSE 100 index plunged 2.3% and German DAX lost 2.8%. French CAC 40 index dropped 2.7% and Spanish IBEX 35 tumbled 2.1%.
Morgan Stanley projects the gold's price to average at 1,845 US Dollars per ounce this year whereas oil prices are likely to average at 105 US Dollars per barrel. The yellow metal's price is expected to rise to 2,175 US Dollars per ounce next year. However, the oil market is likely to follow bearish trend and may even decline to
USD/CHF traded above the 0.9100 though it slipped back to this level from 0.9182 today after the ISM non-manufacturing PMI declined more than it was expected (56.0 act./56.9 est.).
The greenback appreciated versus the yen today, breaching the forecast mean at 82.55, after the FOMC announcement yesterday that the US economy is picking up.
The British pound traded below the 1.5900 level today against the US dollar and left the daily forecast mean untapped (1.5939) as yesterday's FOMC comments on the US economy inspired optimism among investors the world-largest economy is on the right track to recovery.
The euro slipped further against the Japanese Yen after hitting the daily market participant's target (109.41) as German monthly Factory orders showed a contraction (0.3% act./1.2% est.) and monthly retail sales declined more than expected (-0.1% act./0.1% est.).
The common European currency advanced lower versus the American dollar after the FOMC announced yesterday that there is no need for the continuation of the Quantitative Easing; thus, the daily forecast mean at 1.3260 remained unttaped.