Investors are finding themselves with a new kind of balancing act -- one in which they have to juggle with three major regions posing three significantly different circumstances.
Europe's bank stress testing, the focus of much of the past week's market focus, is but one ball in the air.
The Singapore dollar is somewhat weaker than its medium-term equilibrium level but is likely to appreciate as the domestic economy expands, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday.
In its annual review of Singapore's economy, the IMF said the modest and gradual rise of the Singapore dollar SGD= appears consistent with internal and external stability.
Britain's economic recovery raced ahead from April to June as the biggest jump in construction in half a century and a surge in services propelled growth at its fastest pace in four years.
Gross domestic product jumped 1.1 percent in the second quarter, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. That was almost twice the rate analysts expected and nearly four times the pace of growth in the first quarter.
Another strong data release boosted the euro on Friday when the German Ifo index came in above forecasts, but analysts said there were downside risks for the currency, even if bank stress test results were benign.
Ifo said the German Business Climate Index for July was 106.2, beating a consensus for 101.6 and pushing the euro to a session high versus the dollar of $1.2967 EUR=.
The euro hit the day's high against the dollar and bund futures erased gains on Friday after a surprisingly strong reading of German business confidence.
Germany's Ifo institute said its business climate index rose to 106.2 in July, much higher than forecasts for 101.6. The business expectations index came in at 105.5 versus expectations for 101.6.
The yen's current levels seem too high, a senior Cabinet Office official said on Friday, expressing worries over the impact a strong yen could have on Japan's fragile economy.
The economy is moving toward a standstill, although views are divided on whether it has stalled, Keisuke Tsumura, a parliamentary secretary at the Cabinet Office, told reporters.
The euro steadied against the dollar on Friday, retaining gains made the previous day on strong euro zone data and U.S. corporate earnings, as investors awaited European bank stress test results due later in the day.
The AUD has opened up over USD0.8900 this morning after a surprisingly strong night offshore last night.
After looking vulnerable to more downside in Asia yesterday the Aussie dollar found intraday support at 0.8735 going on to reverse its trajectory and rally during the European time-zone to retest what had been strong resistance around 0.8750.
The euro rose more than 1 percent against the dollar on Thursday after data on the U.S. housing market and the euro zone manufacturing and services sectors revived investors' appetite for risk.
The yen erased most early gains versus the dollar and dropped sharply against other currencies as U.S. stocks rallied, helping improve sentiment a day after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke painted a gloomy outlook for the U.S. economy.
Hungary's prime minister signaled on Thursday that he would not renew a safety net with the IMF and would row back on a commitment to cut the budget deficit to European Union-prescribed levels next year.
Global stocks rose on Thursday and the euro strengthened, backed by upbeat corporate results, better-than-expected U.S. housing data, and an improvement in European manufacturing and services activity.
Expectations before the release of European banks' stress test results appeared to show an easing of concerns as the region's bank stocks ranked among the best performers.
Dollar funding costs eased for the seventh consecutive day on Thursday and the U.S. commercial paper market grew for a second straight week.
For the week ended July 21, the size of the U.S. commercial paper market, a vital source of short-term funding for corporate day-to-day operations, rose by $2.4 billion to $1.100 trillion outstanding from $1.097 trillion the previous week, Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday.
The euro rallied more than 1 percent against the dollar on Thursday after U.S. housing data and better-than-expected euro zone manufacturing and services activity revived appetite for risk.
The yen surrendered early gains versus the dollar and dropped sharply against other currencies as U.S. stocks gained, helping improve sentiment a day after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke painted a gloomy outlook for the U.S. economy.
The Bank of Canada cut its growth forecasts for each quarter of 2010, warning global economic uncertainty and cooling domestic consumption will dampen the recovery.
Noting that the global economic recovery was proceeding but is not yet self-sustaining, the central bank cut its second-quarter annualized growth forecast to 3 percent from 3.8 percent in estimates released on Thursday.
Dubai World DBWLD.UL warned that lenders, aside from the government's own support fund, would face a significantly worse deal if its debt plan fails and it is forced to seek liquidation, according to the debt restructuring plan outlined to bankers on Thursday.
Hungary hopes to reduce its budget deficit below the EU's 3 percent ceiling in the future but seeks equal treatment with other member states on a time frame to achieve that target, the prime minister said. Hungary by the end of the year will bring its deficit to 3.8 percent (of GDP) as it has agreed to, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a news conference on Thursday.
Hungary's prime minister signalled on Thursday he would not renew a safety net with the IMF and would row back on a commitment to cut the budget deficit to European Union-prescribed levels next year.
In the latest of a series of comments that have confounded markets, Viktor Orban said Hungary would meet this year's budget target under the International Monetary Fund-backed deal but the IMF safety net would end in October and the matter of negotiating a new one was insignificant.
Dollar funding costs eased on Thursday with the three-month interbank rate falling below 0.5 percent for the first time in two months and gains in Euro dollar futures implying further declines in the near term.
The owners of Danish cleaning firm ISS have revived plans for a multi-billion euro flotation, asking banks to pitch for roles helping to list or sell the company, three people familiar with the matter said.
The owners -- Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Swedish private equity fund EQT Partners -- are seeking to start a dual-track process toward an initial public offering (IPO) or sale later this year, the sources said.
The U.S. dollar fell broadly on Thursday as better-than-forecast European economic data boosted equities and spurred appetite for risk, with a drop in U.S. lending rates putting additional pressure on the currency.
The dollar fell close to a seven-month low against the yen on Thursday on downbeat comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, while better-than- forecast euro zone data buoyed the euro.
Bernanke said the U.S. economic outlook was unusually uncertain and that the Fed was ready to ease monetary policy further if necessary, sending the two-year U.S. Treasury yield to a record low and diminishing the allure of the dollar versus the yen.
With the results of stress tests on 91 European banks looming, financial institutions have been coming up with their own scenarios of what to expect.
How financial markets react to the results may well depend on the expectations currently being reached by analysts.
A increase in labour disputes between management and workers in China, mostly at foreign-owned factories in the southeast, has raised questions about the country's future as a low-cost manufacturing centre.
The hammer is a bottom reversal pattern that comes after a wave of selling, meaning that is it indicating that downward momentum is coming to an end. The long lower shadow and the close of near the upper end of the session's highs indicates that there was a sharp sell off during the session but prices bounced back closing near its highs. The session closing near its high is important so the hammer should have either a miniscule or no upper shadow.
Hungary will negotiate with the European Union about next year's budget but will also continue talks with other international organisations including the IMF, the prime minister's spokesman said on Thursday.
When it comes to planning next year's budget we will have to negotiate with the EU so with everybody in the right time, Peter Szijjarto told public television M1, reiterating comments made by Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Berlin on Wednesday.
China is expected to maintain strong growth in the rest of this year and there is no need for a second stimulus, government economists said in remarks published on Thursday.
The State Information Center, a think tank under the National Development and Reform Commission, forecast economic growth of 9.5 percent this year, which would be close to the average for the past 30 years and reflect China's reasonable growth potential, the official China Securities Journal reported.
Japan warned on Thursday it wants to avoid excessive rises in the yen, as the currency hovers near a seven-month high against the dollar on worries about the U.S. economic outlook.
We have been saying that we want to avoid excessive rises in the yen, Deputy Finance Minister Motohisa Ikeda told reporters, when asked about the yen's recent strengthening.
The Obama administration may report somewhat better fiscal news when it delivers its mid-session budget review later this week, but the United States still faces a massive deficit and rising debt.
Higher corporate taxes and Wall Street's quick repayment of a taxpayer bailout could see the projected 2010 U.S. budget deficit fall a bit when the review is released on Friday.
The dollar slid towards a recent seven-month low versus the yen on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke expressed concern about the U.S. economy but steered clear of hinting about further easing as some had hoped.
The euro, which lost sharply after his comments sparked outflows from stocks and other risk assets, held steady at lower levels ahead of Europe's bank stress test results on Friday.
