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.
Rural commodities were mixed as grains moved higher while coffee and sugar declined amid stronger US dollar. Wheat was backed up by speculation that more wheat will be used as animal feed in the US because corn prices are growing. However, the upward move was blocked as favorable weather in the US Great Plaints and in Europe is likely to
Energy commodities apart from natural gas were lower on Tuesday following the news on absence of any changes in the US monetary policy. However, US growth remains sluggish thus, from the demand side, the commodity group did not gain a fresh spree. Geopolitical tensions also eased after Western nations and Iran agreed to meet on April 13-14 to discuss Iran's
Industry metals were mixed on Tuesday amid broadly stronger US Dollar and weaker equities. Vanishing hopes for quantitative easing from both sides of the Atlantics weighted down on the base metals pack. Fed minutes indicated its unwillingness to provide additional monetary stimulus while the Bank of England and the ECB are expected to keep their policies unchanged. Copper and aluminum
Precious metals tumbled on Tuesday amid fading hopes for new rounds of quantitative easing in the world's largest economies. Fed minutes from the last meeting indicated that stronger economic recovery of the US has put officials off any easing of the current policies. Moreover, today's meetings of the Bank of England and the ECB are not likely to result in