German DAX index traded into negative territory on Monday as PMI data showed Euro Area business activity index dropped more than expected to 49.3 in February. Index recovered during the session as retail sales in Euro Zone unexpectedly rose in January. BASF SE lost 0.9% after Citigroup lowered share's rating to neutral. HeidelbergCement AG tumbled 2.6% after ING cut stock's
British FTSE 100 index faced a choppy session on Monday as UK service PMI declined in February. Weir Group tumbled 3.4% after Citi analysts cut stock's rating from neutral to sell. Tesco PLC lost 0.4% on news it plans to create 20,000 new jobs in Britain. On the upside BP PLC rallied 1.5% after company said it has reached a
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled on Monday weighted down by technology, financial and resource stocks as Chinese government lowered GDP target from 8% to 7.5% for year 2012. Hang Seng index fell 1.38% or 296.95 points and settled at 21,265.31 with all nine sectors posting losses. China Life Insurance and Ping An Insura led decline for the index, dropping
Glencore has reported an essential increase in net profit due to higher commodity prices. Revenues for 2011 added 28% approaching 186.2 billion US Dollars while profit gained 7% attaining 4.06 billion US Dollars. Taken strong performance, the company started to accelerate merger negotiations with Xstrata. However, Glencore has not offered better merger terms and main shareholders of Xstrata said they
China's demand for sugar is likely to increase by 4% over the decade, reported Rabo bank. At the same time, Morgan Stanley experts China's sugar demand will outweigh output by 2.5 million metric tons in the current season. Sugar prices are relatively high amid expected tightening of supplies. Sugar for delivery in March traded at 24.83 US cents per pound
India announced it imposed total ban on the cotton exports that comes in force immediately, citing significant fall in output. Cotton crops were hurt by diseases in many regions of the country hence country's textile producers were worried about the high prices and cotton shortages. The move is expected to send the cotton price higher.
EU's retail sales increased in January but overall economic performance of the region stayed weak. The Euro Zone's retail sales posted 0.3% gain while analysts predicted a 0.1% decline. The whole EU region faced a 0.7% jump in retail sales in January, reported Eurostat. Considering separate country data, retail sales were mixed with a 0.6% drop in Germany and a
Copper futures declined on Monday after China reported on the reduction of this year's growth forecast. Moreover, escalated worries over Greece's capability to pay back its debts weighted down on base metals. Copper futures for delivery in May traded at 3.874 US Dollars per pound at the early European session, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, losing 0.75%.
Rural commodities apart from coffee were higher on Friday despite stronger US Dollar and weaker equities. Grain commodities drew strength from rallying soybean futures that hit five-month high on the lingering concerns over South America's crop conditions. Moreover, wheat and corn were supported by the sustainable demand from China for US grains. Further, expected fall in the Russia's wheat exports
Energy market faced mixed performance on Friday with falling Brent and crude oil and growing natural gas and heating oil. Crude oil retreated from 110 US Dollars per barrel on the weaker equities and stronger US Dollar. Moreover, Saudi Arabia denied rumors on the key pipeline explosion that was the main factor sending oil prices to ten-month high. Further, Barack
Base metals, excluding zinc, were depressed on Friday by weak China's demand and strong US Dollar. Fluctuating energy prices also added to the volatility of the industry metals pack. Aluminum was the top-loser during the day despite strong demand from South Korea and Japan. Copper continued to balance between record high inventories at the Shanghai Futures Exchange and more than
Precious metals fell on Friday amid broadly stronger US Dollar after negative news from the Euro Zone. Moreover, Ben Bernanke's announcement that the second round of quantitative easing in the US is not imminent continued to pressure precious metals' price. However, commodity group was supported by increased buying of the large exchange-traded funds. Gold holdings of the world's largest ETF
Rural commodities apart from coffee were higher on Friday despite stronger US Dollar and weaker equities. Grain commodities drew strength from rallying soybean futures that hit five-month high on the lingering concerns over South America's crop conditions. Moreover, wheat and corn were supported by the sustainable demand from China for US grains. Further, expected fall in the Russia's wheat exports
Energy market faced mixed performance on Friday with falling Brent and crude oil and growing natural gas and heating oil. Crude oil retreated from 110 US Dollars per barrel on the weaker equities and stronger US Dollar. Moreover, Saudi Arabia denied rumors on the key pipeline explosion that was the main factor sending oil prices to ten-month high. Further, Barack
Base metals, excluding zinc, were depressed on Friday by weak China's demand and strong US Dollar. Fluctuating energy prices also added to the volatility of the industry metals pack. Aluminum was the top-loser during the day despite strong demand from South Korea and Japan. Copper continued to balance between record high inventories at the Shanghai Futures Exchange and more than
Precious metals fell on Friday amid broadly stronger US Dollar after negative news from the Euro Zone. Moreover, Ben Bernanke's announcement that the second round of quantitative easing in the US is not imminent continued to pressure precious metals' price. However, commodity group was supported by increased buying of the large exchange-traded funds. Gold holdings of the world's largest ETF
British service sector declined in February though the index above 50 showed the economy is expanding. The service Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped from 56.0 in the first month of the year to 53.8 in February. Nevertheless the service company confidence reached one-year record high amid growing employment across the sector.
Euro Zone manufacturing activity index dropped from 50.4 in January to 49.3 last month, lower than preliminary figure of 49.7. German PMI fell to 53.2, reaching two-month low while Italian and Spanish PMI indices slipped to 44.7 and 42.9 respectively, also attaining two-month record lows in February.
Asian equity markets finished lower on Monday as China lowered its GDP growth forecast for year 2012 from 8% to 7.5%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.4%, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.8% while China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.6%. South Korea's Kospi declined 0.9% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index faded 0.2%.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average lost ground on Monday as China lowered its economic growth goal and left target inflation rate unchanged at 4%. Nikkei 225 index lost 0.8% or 78.44 points and finished at 9,698.59 with energy and technology stocks tumbling most. Sony Corp fell 3.3% and Panasonic Corp slipped 2.2%. Olympus plunged 3.2% on rumours about new executive arrests.
Dow Jones Industrial Average index traded close to flat on Friday as investors remained cautious about developments in Iran and awaited February employment report. Blue chip index edged down 0.02% or 2.73 points at 12,977.57 with 15 of 30 shares posting loss. American Express and IBM provided main downside contribution slipping 1% and 0.8% respectively. On the positive territory AT&T
S&P 500 index closed lower on Friday pushed down by energy shares. US benchmark index lost 0.33% or 4.46 points and closed at 1,369.63. Big Lots tumbled 4% after retailer lowered its earnings forecasts. Peabody Energy slumped 6.5% after Iranian media said an explosion took place at Saudi Arabia pipeline. Saudi Arabia rejected the news. Alpha Natural Resources fell 5.7%
Crude oil futures gained a spree during the Asian trade on Monday following the Enbridge's report on the fire at its pipeline in Illinois. Moreover, Barack Obama announced that the country may use military force to defend the interests of US in dealing with Iran. Light, sweet crude oil futures for April delivery traded at 107.17 US Dollars per barrel
Moody's has downgraded Greek credit rating again from "Ca" to the lowest level of "C". The rating agency cited high risk of country's default even despite deal with its bondholders on almost 70% debt write-off. The deal will allow Greece not to return about 107 billion Euros to the private investors. Moody's stressed that planned reforms to avoid default are