Currencies

• EUR/USD The U.S. dollar turned up against the euro yesterday and this continued, less aggressively, in the early trading hours of Thursday.
  • The euro was trading $1.43695 around 7:30 a.m. London time after reaching $1.43540 earlier.
  
  

• USD/JPY The Yen reached its lowest level against the greenback as a Chinese manufacturing index rose in line with forecasts and Asian stocks rose ignoring demand for safer assets.
  • China's Purchasing Managers' Index for manufacturing rose to 50.9 in August, from July's 29-month low of 50.7.
  • The yen was trading at 76.84 at 6:12 a.m. in London from 76.66 yesterday in New York.
  
  

• GBP/USD The pound decreased against the dollar from yesterday's close.
  • The British currency was trading at $1.62407 around 7:30 a.m. London time.
  
  

Commodities

• Gold decreased from yesterday as gain in stocks trimmed investor demand for haven investments amid speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve may step up measures to stimulate growth.
  • Immediate-delivery gold traded little changed at $1,824.60 an ounce at 11:38 a.m. Singapore time.

• Oil rose in New York after signs of manufacturing growth in China and the U.S. signaled speculation that fuel demand will increase in the world's two biggest crude consumers.
  • Crude supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for West Texas Intermediate oil, dropped a fifth week.
  • Oil for October delivery gained as much as 44 cents to $89.25 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $89.04 at 1:26 p.m. Sydney time.

Equities

• US Stocks rose as speculation the economy will keep expanding.
  • Ford Motor Co. (F) and Alcoa Inc. gained at least 2.3 percent.
  • The S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent to 1,218.89 at 4 p.m. in New York, after climbing 1.5 percent earlier.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 53.58 points, or 0.5 percent, to 11,613.53 yesterday.


• European stocks ended August on an optimistic note amid hopes that the Federal Reserve will take another shot at stoking the U.S. economy.
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index rose 2.4% to 5394.53.
  • France's CAC 40 Index rose 3.1% to 3256.76 while Germany's DAX Index climbed 2.5% to 5784.85.

• Asian stocks climbed after manufacturing in China and the U.S. expanded, boosting the outlook for exporters and machinery makers.
  • Komatsu Ltd. (6301), Japan's largest maker of construction machinery, jumped 3.9 percent.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1.1 percent to 126.31 as of 1:30 p.m. in Tokyo.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average rose 1.4 percent.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index increased 1.5 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT