Germany benchmark index DAX 30 maintains upward trend. Index closed last week 0.7% or 45 points up at 6,080.68, led by financial companies and auto producer stocks. It was the biggest weekly gain for DAX 30 since 2009. BMW AG gained 0.8%, Daimler AG rose 1.7% and Volkswagen AG edged up 1.5%. On Monday trade index kept upward path climbing 0.4% to 6,102.87. Industrial company
On Friday UK's FTSE 100 index closed week at 5,552.29, 63 points or 1.2% up, led by banking stocks. Barclays PLC rose 7% HSBC Holdings PLC added 3% while Standard Chartered PLC gained 3.2%. On Monday trade UK benchmark index extended gains after Mario Monti proposed a plan to reduce Italy's debt burden. FTSE 100 gained 0.5% or 26.25 points to 5,578.54 in London morning trade.
Dow Jones Industrial Average Index closed slightly down on Friday giving up 0.01% or 0.61 points to 12,019.42. Despite Friday's decline the overall weekly gain for the index reached 7%, a record-high since 2009. Similarly to S&P 500 banking shares brought main positive contribution J. P. Morgan Chase added 6.14% and Bank of America gained 1.99%. Main decliners were Hewlett-Packard and Johnson&Johnson dropping 1.91% and
On Friday S&P 500 benchmark index closed at 1,244.28, 0.02% or 0.3 points down. Nevertheless index gained 7.4% on weekly basis as Fed cut dollar borrowing rates for European banks and China announced monetary policy easing. For S&P 500 Index last week was the best since March 2009. Banking stocks were among main gainers. Morgan Stanley advanced 6.96%, J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. added
Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 closed 0.6% or 52.23 points higher at 8,695.98 on investor hopes for progress in tackling debt crisis. Financial shares were among main advancers in Japan. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group added 2.2%, Mizuho Financial Group Inc. gained 2.9% while Nomura Holdings Inc. rose 2.8%. Asian exporters also contributed positively to the index: Elpida Memory Inc. edged up 4.1% and Toyota Motors Corp. surged 2.66%.
Although US stocks opened higher on Friday morning trade, Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index did not manage to maintain gains and closed slightly down. Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 0.01% or 0.61 points and closed at 12,019.42 while S&P 500 slid 0.02% or 0.30 points and ended week at 1,244.28. Nasdaq Composite was the only of three major indexes that managed to
According to preliminary results of Russian parliament elections, United Russia party has lost majority in State Duma as it gained 49.8% votes compared to 64.1% in previous elections in 2007. Initial results show that 3 other parties that have surpassed 7% boundary are the Communist party that gained 19.2%, Just Russia party with 13.1% and Liberal Democratic Party that got 11.7%. Nevertheless, PM Putin has claimed
On Sunday Italian premier Mario Monti's government anticipated emergency austerity measures valued at €30 bn. According to Italian Cabinet's statement, the package consists of proposals aimed at stimulating growth worth €10bn as well as €20bn of structural measures that should be implemented by the end of 2014. The decision comes ahead of European summit due December 9.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended 0.7% or 139.30 points up closing at 19,179.69 as investors reflected their optimism that European leaders will be able to provide tangible solution for debt crisis this week. Exporters Hong Kong, Li & Fung Ltd. and Lenovo Group Ltd. supported the index adding 3.3% and 2% respectively. China Southern Airlines Co. weighted down the index as its shares lost
Yahoo Inc. stocks extended gains as various media speculated on potential offers for the search engine which is struggling to maintain its market share against Google Inc. Last week Yahoo closed at $16.23 appreciating more than 7%. According to latest reports Yahoo Inc. could be valued at $20 per share. Nevertheless, potential bidder, Alibaba Group, refused to provide any details of potential deal.
Spanish industrial output declined 4% in October, said Spain's statistics agency on Monday. October's drop is the worst reading during a year compared to 1.4% contraction in September. Output decreased in all industrial areas. Durable goods lost 14%, energy output edged down 7.6% while intermediate goods gave up 5.8%. Falling output may be a signal that Spain's economy will contract in the last quarter.
Swiss Market Index swung between rewards and losses as biggest Swiss banks extended gains on approved Italian austerity measures while Adecco, the world's biggest recruiter of part-time workers, declined. Today Credit Suisse climbed 1.6% reaching 23.24 Swiss francs while UBS AG advanced 1.3% to 11.51 Swiss francs. Adecco lost 2.7% to 39.25 francs.
On Monday US Treasuries declined as Italy's proposed austerity measures to reduce government debt hurt demand for US assets. 10-year borrowing costs climbed 3 basis points reaching 2.07% Roger Bridges, Tyndall Investment Management Ltd manager of fixed income predicts that US yields will increase further as investors regain confidence towards Europe.
Italy's government bonds appreciated after PM Mario Monti declared €30bn growth and austerity measures to decrease nation's debt burden. Borrowing costs of 10-year notes dropped 29 basis points or 0.29% reaching 6.4%, the lowest yield in nearly two months. Analysts claim markets are speculating on positive outcome of the upcoming EU summit on December 9.
Japan's bonds gained as their yields fell from a 4-month record high as uncertainty across Europe boosted demand for sheltering assets. Japanese benchmark 10-year notes dropped 3 basis points reaching 1.045% while 20-year borrowing costs declined 2.5 basis points attaining 1.775%. Takeshi Minami, Norinchukin Research Institute's chief economist expects a further increase in demand for Japan's notes.
According to economists surveyed by Bloomberg Russia's inflation rate in November could turn out to be the lowest in 14 months. Analysts estimate inflation rate to be at around 7% which would be the slowest consumer price increase since 2010. Economists associate the drop in country's inflation with lack of cash in economy and slower appreciation of food prices.
According to Statistics Finland, country's economy added 0.9% in third quarter compared to 0.1% growth in second quarter. On yearly basis GDP has gained 2.7% as consumers keep increasing spending. Finland's GDP is surging at nearly four times the velocity of average growth in Eurozone. To compare, even Germany's GDP added only 0.5% in third quarter.
On December 9 European officials will come together for another summit aimed at tackling debt crisis. The main focus of this seminar will be discussing revision of European Union treaties. A key idea is to create a fiscal alliance that would adjust inconsistencies because currently EU has a shared currency and common monetary policy without any instruments to guarantee that members are financially healthy.
Canadian dollar is becoming another safe haven for forex traders amid European debt woe and US uncertainty with deficit cuts and political gridlock. Loonie who underperformed most of its major counterparts in until August, has recovered and outpaced all except Japanse yen and US dollar. Canada which is AAA rated may be the only country among G-10 that increases benchmark interest rates next year.
On Monday trade Australian dollar erased gains as investors expect the Reserve bank to cut benchmark interest rate at its policy meeting due tomorrow. New Zealand dollar declined after China reported its service index deteriorated. Aussie depreciated against its US peer from $1.0271 to $1.0213 while Kiwi gave up 0.1% reaching $0.7764. AUS/USD currently is trading at $1.0238 while NZD/USD is trading at $0.7791.
General Motors Co., large auto-producer, plans to recall 993 vehicles in China because of problems with gas tanks, announced China's quality control agency. In extreme cases, the gas tanks may leak causing a safety risk. The vehicles 869 Chevrolet Captiva cars and 124 Opel Antara manufactured between August 26 and September 15 are going to be recalled, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision.
Peru declared emergency state in the North region where protests against new gold mine project occurred, according to Ollanta Humala, Peru's President. The measure is planned to last for 60 days with security forces restoring normal operating of the public services. Demonstrators protest against US firm's Newmont development of gold mine worth $4.8bn as the project can ruin water supplies in the region.
Trade development patterns have to be based on the promotion of balanced trade by stabilizing growth, said Wang Qishan, Vice Premier. The country has to increase import, stabilize exports and accelerate technological innovation integrated in the industries even despite bleak global economic outlook, he added.
Shares of retailers in India decreased essentially after the government started to discuss opening of the Indian retail market for overseas supermarket chains. Pantaloon Retail India, the largest retailer in the country, lost 11%. Smaller retailers like Shopper's Stop and Trent also experienced a decline of 9% and 4% respectively. However, the government paused opening up the retail market just before passing it as the