Currencies

• EUR/USD The U.S. dollar gave back a bit of ground in Asian trading on Friday ahead of the release of key U.S. jobs data later in the global trading day.
  • The euro traded up 0.2751% at $1.4567 on Friday, from $1.4524 in late North American trading on Thursday.


• USD/JPY The yen fell from a seven-week high on speculation Japan will intervene to control recent gains that may hurt the overseas competitiveness of the nation's exporters.
  • The yen dropped to 80.42 per dollar as of 1:21 p.m. in Tokyo from 80.07 in New York yesterday, when it reached 79.57.


• GBP/USD The pound rose against the euro after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet signaled interest-rate increases may be later than expected, narrowing the yield advantage over sterling assets.
  • Britain's currency appreciated as much as 1.2 percent to 88.85 pence per euro, as of 4:52 p.m. in London.

Commodities

• Gold is set for a big drop, as an increase in margin requirements and slump in commodities from copper to oil prompted investors to sell precious metals.
  • Immediate-delivery for gold gained 0.8 percent to $1,485.60 an ounce, limiting this week's drop to 5 percent.

• Oil climbed from the lowest in almost two months in New York, trimming the biggest weekly decline in a year, on speculation a drop below $100 a barrel was exaggerated.
  • Crude for June delivery gained as much as $1.15 to $100.95 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract was at $100.29 at 1:45 p.m. Singapore time.

Equities

• U.S.stocks tumbled, sending the Standard & Poor's 500 Index down for a fourth straight day, as shares of energy and raw-material companies slumped following the biggest plunge in commodities in almost two years.
  • Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. slid at least 2.5 percent as metal prices sank and oil fell below $100 a barrel for the first time since March 17.
  • The S&P 500 retreated 0.9 percent to 1,335.10 at 4 p.m. in New York.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 139.41 points, or 1.1 percent, to 12,584.17 yesterday


• European stocks fell for a third day as bank earnings disappointed, commodities plunged and a jump in U.S. jobless-benefit claims fueled concern that the recovery of the world's largest economy may falter.
  • Lloyds Banking Group Plc slumped the most in almost a year after reporting a quarterly loss while Societe Generale SA, France's second-largest bank by market value, dropped 5 percent as profit missed analyst estimates.
  • The U.K. FTSE 100 slid 1.1 percent to 5,919.98.
  • France's CAC declined 1 percent to 4,004.87 and Germany's DAX was little changed to 7,376.96.


• Asian stocks declined, with the regional benchmark index erasing gains for the year, as rising jobless claims and declining consumer confidence in the U.S. stoked concern that the recovery in world's biggest economy is weakening.
  • Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest carmaker, slipped 2.4 percent and Canon Inc., a camera maker that gets more than 80 percent of its revenue overseas, sank 2.8 percent.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average sank 1.7 percent as the market resumed trading after a three-day holiday.
  • China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2 percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.6 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT