Financial News - US & Far East
Stocks Off on Mixed Data
USD drop on growth concern
Oil higher
Japan CPI falls as expected
Asian stocks rose
Today's Main Events
USD Michigan Confidence
American Timezone:
Stocks Off on Mixed Data
U.S. stocks veered erratically Thursday on a mix of economic data, record oil prices, corporate earnings and fretting about the economy, with the Dow industrials recovering late in the day after falling more than 100 points earlier on.
USD drop on growth concern
USD fell a third straight day against EUR as an unexpected drop in U.S. orders for durable goods and higher than forecast initial jobless claims signalled economic growth may weaken.
Investors pushed the U.S. currency to within 0.1 cent of its record low as the statistics fueled bets the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by at least a quarter percentage point at their meeting next week.
Oil higher on supply drop
The oil price rose above USD 90 to a record the day after the US supply figures showed an unexpected drop in US stocpiles.
New US sanctions against Iran, warnings of a Turkish assault on Kurdish militants in Iraq and a falling USD also pushed the price higher.
Far East Timezone:
Japan CPI falls as expected
Japanese core consumer prices fell from a year earlier in September, as expected, marking the eighth straight month of decline and doing little to change expectations that the Bank of Japan's monetary policy will be on hold for now.
The government said on Friday it would not include the new, cheaper mobile phone fees that could have trimmed 0.3 percentage point or more from core CPI.
After the latest CPI and output data, swap contracts on the overnight call rate are pricing in less than a 20 % chance of a BOJ rate rise by the end of this year, little changed from the level before the data.
Oil tops USD 91 on supply worries, Middle East tensions
Oil prices extended gains to a new all-time high of USD 91.10 a barrel in early electronic trade on Friday, bolstered by supply concerns during the northern Hemisphere winter and growing political tensions in Middle East.
NYMEX crude for December delivery, which rose to a record high of USD 91.10 barrel, was up 31 cents at USD 90.77. U.S. crude settled up USD 3.36 to USD 90.46 a barrel on Thursday after striking a record USD 90.60.
London Brent crude also hit a new record high of USD 88.01 a barrel.
Earnings, oil help lift Asian stocks to another high
Asian stocks hit an all-time high on Friday as upbeat earnings from the likes of Sony Corp lifted investor sentiment, while a rally in oil prices to a record high above USD 91 a barrel boosted energy shares.
Swept up by the surge in U.S. crude, gold rose to USD 773 an ounce, its best level in 28 years
BECAUSE YOU CAN READ THIS, THANK A TEACHER. BECAUSE IT'S IN ENGLISH, THANK A SOLDIER.
