Monday 31 March 2014

ASIAN STOCKS

Asian stocks were up slightly in a cautious start to the week on Monday, with investors holding out hopes that China would take steps to stimulate the economy.


U.S.TREASURIES

U.S. Treasuries yields rose on Friday as stocks gained, with yields of intermediate-dated notes nearing two-month highs as many analysts and traders see the debt as likely to continue to underperform longer-term bonds

U.S.STOCKS

U.S. stocks ended up on Friday but off their session highs as a late afternoon selloff in the biotechnology sector weighed on the overall market.

FTSE

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up by 0.4 percent, or 27.26 points, at 6,615.58 points.

DOLLAR

The dollar traded at 102.87 yen, not far from Friday's one-week peak of 102.98, while the euro briefly touched a one-week high of 141.74. The kiwi rose as far as 89.23 yen, a level not seen since November 2007.

YEN

The yen stayed on the defensive early on Monday, reaching a fresh six-year low on the New Zealand dollar as demand for the safe-haven currency waned amid hopes of more stimulus from China.

U.S.CRUDE

U.S. crude for May delivery edged down 22 cents to $101.45 a barrel by 0004 GMT after settling on Friday at the highest since March 7. Front-month prices are set to close the month down about 1 percent although prices gained about 3 percent in the first quarter.

BRENT CRUDE

Brent crude traded near a two-week high at above $107 a barrel on Monday as simmering tensions between Russia and the West offset a rise in oil supply from OPEC's second largest producer Iraq.

NYMEX CRUDE

NYMEX-U.S. crude holds near 3-week high above $101

OIL

Oil condensate flows from Libya's Wafa field to the western Mellitah port are still blocked, while gas exports to Italy are flowing normally, state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) said. Nigerian crude exports are set to fall to their lowest since 2009 due to a production outage for the Forcados grade.



COPPER

Copper bottomed at three and a half year lows on March 19 and has since steadily gained steam as worries eased over slowing growth and bankruptcies at commodity companies.

PLATINUM

Among other precious metals, platinum rose nearly 1 percent on Monday as labour strikes continued in top producer South Africa.

SPOT GOLD

Spot gold was up slightly by 0.2 percent to $1,295.90 an ounce by 0312 GMT, but remained not far from a six-week low of $1,285.34 hit on Friday.

GOLD

Gold traded below $1,300 an ounce on Monday, near a six-week low, and could face more pressure from weak physical demand in Asia and growing optimism about the U.S. economy.

U.S.MARKET UPDATE

U.S. stocks ended up on Friday but off their session highs as a late afternoon selloff in the biotechnology sector weighed on the overall market.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 58.83 points or 0.36 percent, to end at 16,323.06. The S&P 500 gained 8.58 points or 0.46 percent, to finish at 1,857.62. The Nasdaq Composite added 4.526 points or 0.11 percent, to close at 4,155.759.

Thursday 27 March 2014

ASIAN STOCKS

Asian markets got off to a skittish start following a late dip on Wall Street amid talk of tougher sanctions on Russia and a drop in technology stocks.

U.S.STOCKS

US stocks fell on Wednesday, led by losses in the technology and materials sectors, as geopolitical concerns rose after the United States and the European Union agreed to work together on tougher sanctions on Russia.

U.S.TREASURIES

U.S. Treasury debt prices extended gains on Wednesday after the government sold $35 billion in new five-year notes amid very strong demand from fund managers and other investors.

NIKKEI

The Nikkei share average fell 1.4 percent to 14,268.28, closing in on this month's low of 14,203.21, marked on March 17, though about half of the losses were due to the effect of many shares going ex-dividend.

EURO

The euro hit two-week low against sterling in early trade, falling to 0.8311 pound.

DOLLAR

The dollar last traded near 101.87 yen, down 0.2 percent on the day.

FTSE

The FTSE 100 index, which at one stage rose as much as 0.6 percent, ended up by just 0.41 points, flat in percentage terms, at 6,605.30 points.

NYMEX CRUDE

NYMEX-US crude holds above $100 on sustained draw at Cushing

U.S.CRUDE

while U.S. crude CLc1, known as West Texas Intermediate or WTI, rose $1.07 to settle at $100.26 a barrel.

BRENT CRUDE

Brent for May delivery posted a 4-cent gain to settle at $107.03 a barrel,

OIL

Oil stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub, the delivery point for U.S. crude futures fell 1.33 million barrels to 28.48 million barrels.

LME COPPER

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had climbed by 0.3 percent to $6,533.25 a tonne by 0108 GMT, paring losses from the previous session.

COPPER

London copper firmed on Thursday, underpinned by hopes of stimulus steps in China, but investors remained alert for further signs of stress in China's bond or property markets that could flag a drop in demand for copper.

PLATINUM

Platinum fell 0.8 percent to $1,401.50 an ounce.

SILVER

Among other precious metals, silver was down 0.9 percent to $19.74 an ounce

U.S.GOLD

U.S. COMEX gold futures for April delivery settled down $8 an ounce at $1,303.40, with trading volume about 10 percent above its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed.

SPDR GOLD

SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 1.80 tonnes to 816.97 tonnes on Wednesday.

SPOT GOLD

Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,305.60 an ounce by 0016 GMT. The metal hit $1,298.29 in the previous session - its lowest since Feb. 13.

GOLD

Gold moved up slightly on Thursday, stepping away from a six-week low as the metal's safe-haven appeal was boosted by weaker equities.

U.S.MARKET UPDATE

US stocks fell on Wednesday, led by losses in the technology and materials sectors, as geopolitical concerns rose after the United States and the European Union agreed to work together on tougher sanctions on Russia.
The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 98.89 points, or 0.60 percent, to end at 16,268.99. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 13.06 points, or 0.70 percent, to finish at 1,852.56. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 60.69 points, or 1.43 percent, to close at 4,173.58.

Tuesday 25 March 2014

ASIAN STOCKS

Asian shares were in a defensive mode on Tuesday after Wall Street fell overnight, though still-vague hopes of a new stimulus plan in China could improve investor sentiment.

U.S.STOCKS

U.S. stocks fell on Monday, with some of the market's recent best performers like technology and biotech shares leading the way down. Concerns that the crisis in Ukraine could escalate gave investors a reason to drop some of the market's biggest trading favourites.

U.S.TREASURIES

The U.S. Treasuries yield curve flattened on Monday, with long-dated debt prices gaining while intermediate-dated debt prices pared losses, before the U.S. government sells $96 billion in new debt to investors nervous that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates sooner than expected.

U.S.DOLLAR

The U.S. dollar nursed broad losses early on Tuesday, having come under pressure late in New York as investors bought the euro and drove the Australian dollar to its highest this year.

FTSE

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index ended 0.6 percent lower at 6,520.39 points, falling for nine of the past 12 trading sessions. It has lost more than 4 percent this month.

NIKKEI

The benchmark Nikkei shed 0.2 percent to 14,442.88, trading below its 200-day moving average of 14,509.71. It soared 1.8 percent on Monday.

U.S.CRUDE

U.S. crude oil rose 14 cents to settle at $99.60 a barrel.

BRENT CRUDE

Brent crude for May fell 11 cents to settle at $106.81 a barrel. The oil benchmark fell for a fourth straight week last week.

LME COPPER

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was steady at $6,475 a tonne by 0121 GMT after closing the previous session little changed.

COPPER

London copper was treading water on Tuesday, with hopes of economic stimulus by Beijing providing a floor for prices after a survey showed that growth in the country's factories slowed for a fifth month in March.

PLATINUM

Platinum was down 0.5 percent at $1,424.25 an ounce

SILVER

Silver fell 1.6 percent at $19.93 an ounce, dragged down by gold's sharp losses.

U.S.GOLD

U.S. gold was at $1,314.20 an ounce, up $3.00.

SPDR GOLD

SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.55 percent to 821.47 tonnes on Monday from 816.97 tonnes on Friday.