On Friday Australia's and New Zealand's Dollar enlarged their losses against US Dollar for a third consecutive day as European debt anxiety damped demand for more risky assets. Australian Dollar lost 0.6% reaching $1.0208 in Sydney while its New Zealand peer gave up 0.4% to $0.7779. Currently AUD/USD is trading at $1.0233 and NZD/USD is trading at $0.7796.
Copper futures tumbled to one-week low on the persistent worries over the Euro Zone financial difficulties after French bond auction. COMEX copper for delivery in March traded at USD3.413 a pound during the early European Thursday's trade, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, decreasing by 0.61% since opening.
US production of gold declined slightly in October to 20,500 kg from the revised September's figure. Daily October's production approached 661 kg as compared to 690 kg in September, reported the Institute U.S. Geological Survey. The average price per one ounce of gold was $1,668.70 in October, indicating 6% decline on a monthly basis.
17-nation currency traded 0.2% from 11-year record low on Friday morning as expectations about fading spending and consumer confidence amid surging French yields boosted anxiety among investors. The Euro depreciated to $1.2784 in London and tumbled against Japanese Yen to ¥98.70. Currently EUR/USD is trading at $1.2778 and EUR/JPY is trading at ¥98.60.
Germany has to support more financing to boost emergency bailout fund and rescue the Euro Zone, said Klaas Knut, the member of ECB Governing Council. German officials are likely to refuse increasing financing for the Euro Zone bailouts. Angela Merkel has refused calls to intensify bailout funding, instead emphasizing the role of budget discipline as a tool for curtailing debt crisis.
Japanese recovery from earthquake may have slowed down in November and October, suggest the Japan Center of Economic Research. The analysts predict country's GDP fell in two previous months creating 0.1% contraction for the last quarter. The main reasons for slowdown in growth are the strengthening of Japanese Yen and the drop in European demand.
Asia shares experienced a further decline on Friday on rebounded worries about deepening European debt crisis and disappointing US mortgage aid program. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average finished 1.2% down, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1.3% while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.8%. Shanghai Composite traded almost flat giving up 0.1% and South Korea's Kospi tumbled 1.5%.
European shares saw a drop on Thursday session as Deutsche Bank, UniCredit and Santander reported sharp losses. Stoxx 600 index gave up 0.9% or 2.23 points and closed at 247.39, French CAC 40 lost 1.5% or 48.74 points reaching 3,144.91. UK's FTSE 100 index tumbled 0.8% or 44.19 points at 5,624.26 while DAX 30 index experienced a smaller decline of 0.25% or 15.56 points to
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC may reduce its payroll by 10,000 jobs in line with its strategy of investment banking sector contraction, reported Financial Times. Redundancies will focus on equities segment of investment division as it was unable to compete with major rivals in the sector. However, the bank's representative said that the number of 10,000 was exaggerated.
Crude oil futures declined after supply news from the US but Iranian issue limited losses. Crude oil inventories decreased to 4.4 million barrels last week while gasoline inventories jumped to 3.4 million barrels, announced American Petroleum Institute. Crude oil futures for February contract lost 72 cents and currently traded at $102.50 a barrel at the electronic trade.
China's largest carriers will not pay the EU carbon tax aimed at reducing carbon emissions as China's Air Transport Association refused to cooperate with the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, said one official. The new carbon tax that was severely criticized by the US, Canada, India and China came in force on January 1.
New industrial orders index increased by 1.8% in the Euro Area in October on a monthly basis after decline by 7.8% in September. In the EU new orders rose by 0.5% in October after 2.1% decrease in September. Excluding railway, aerospace and ships, the orders on which appear to be more volatile, new orders in the Euro Area fell by 0.5% and in the
Corn futures eased down as investors continue to eye weather conditions on South America as well as firm Dollar weighted down on the corn price. Corn futures for delivery in March traded at USD6.5462 a bushel during the early European trade, on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, losing 0.66%.
Corn futures eased down as investors continue to eye weather conditions on South America as well as firm Dollar weighted down on the corn price. Corn futures for delivery in March traded at USD6.5462 a bushel during the early European trade, on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, losing 0.66%.
France sold about 8 billion euros of different government's bonds with 4.02 billion euros of 10-year bonds. The 10-year bonds saw 6.61 billion euros bids generating the yield of 3.29%, up from 3.18% last month. Bids exceeded supply 1.6 times that is lower than during the previous auction when the bid-to-cover ratio was 3.1. France sold 2.2 billion euros of 30-year bonds with yield of 3.97%.
US stock market indexes traded down on Thursday as concerns on European debt crisis offset better-than-expected country's employment data. On the morning session S&P 500 fell 6.92 points to 1,270.3, Nasdaq Composite dropped 2 points to 2,646.45 while Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 77.19 points reaching 12,341.23.
The EU announced it has reached a preliminary agreement on total ban of Iranian oil exports, the measure supported by the US and aimed at reducing Iran's oil revenues. The agreement has not been debated yet and the time of the ban coming in force has not been set. Iran claims its economy is vulnerable to the ban as the largest part of oil
The Euro dropped to 16-month low against the US Dollar after French bond auction. French faced higher interest rates of 3.29% on 10-year bonds as investors are concerned about possible French credit rating downgrade. Moreover, the banks may see 550 billion euros of bad loans, said Luis de Guindos, Spain's economy minister. The Euro tumbled to $1.2831 against the USD and to 11-year low against
Gold futures rally for the fourth consecutive day, attaining two-week high. The yellow metal retained its safe-haven appeal as investors are impacted by the worries about the spreading Euro Zone's crisis and political tensions between Western economies and Iran. COMEX Gold February contract traded at USD1,621.65 a troy ounce, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, surging 0.55% since opening.
UK's services sector grew more than expected in December. The services PMI increased to 54.0 last month from 52.1 in the preceding month, hitting five-month high. Analysts expected the figure to rise to 51.6. Services sector increased by 0.3% approaching 0.4% in Q4, lower than 0.7% in Q3. The increase is inspiring, taken the recession in the Euro Zone, said Chris Williamson, chief economist at
The number of US claims for unemployment benefits declined last week signalling positive outlook for country's labour market at the beginning of the year. Jobless claims dropped by 15 000 to 372 000 previous week, said US Labor Department today. Economists questioned by Bloomberg earlier predicted that claims might fell to 375 000.
US companies added more jobs in December than was previously expected by analysts, indicating US labour market is recovering. In total, US firms added 325 000 jobs in December compared to 178 000 earlier predicted by economists. Increase in hiring is likely to boost consumer spending that creates around 70% of US total expenditure.
UK's national currency strengthened against the Euro on Thursday, reaching the 15-month record high against the 17-country currency after yields on French bonds increased at the nation's first bond auction in 2012. British Pound gained 0.2% and was trading at £0.8271 in London midday. Currently EUR/GBP is trading at £0.8267.
UK FTSE 100 index gave up 0.7% and was trading at 5,628 on Thursday as several European banks posted losses. Moreover, Financial times reported Spanish lenders might be forced to set aside $65 bn to cover additional provisions on bad mortgages. Next Plc. lost 2.15%, Tesco dropped 2.19% and Vodafone Group declined 2.08%. The index partly recovered in the afternoon