Currencies

• EUR/USD The greenback weakened against the euro before the Federal Reserve meets tomorrow on monetary policy after S&P cut the U.S. one level on Aug. 5.
  • S&P cut the U.S.'s AAA rating to AA+.
  • o The dollar declined against the 17-nation euro, to $1.4313 from $1.4282.


• USD/JPY The dollar fell for a second day versus the yen after Standard & Poor's downgrade of the U.S. added to concern the fiscal health of the world's biggest economy is slipping.
  • The U.S. currency weakened to 78.00 yen from 78.40 last week.

• GBP/USD Sterling snapped versus the dollar since Friday.
  • Sterling was trading $1.64452 around 7:30 a.m. London time after reaching $i.6475.

Commodities

• Gold climbed above $1,700 an ounce for the first time after Standard & Poor's cut the top U.S. credit rating, fueling a drop in equities and the dollar amid concern that the global economy is slowing.
  • Gold futures for December delivery jumped 3.1 percent to a record $1,702.70 an ounce on the Comex in New York and traded at $1,701.90 at 2:07 p.m. in Melbourne.

• Oil plunged in New York after the U.S. credit rating was lowered, fuelling concern that an economic slowdown in the world's biggest crude consumer will worsen and cut fuel demand.
  • Crude for September delivery fell as much as $3.33 to $83.55 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $83.58 at 3:29 p.m. Sydney time.

Equities

• U.S. stocks futures declined amid concern that a downgrade of the nation's credit rating by S&P may worsen an economic slowdown.
  • S&P 500 futures expiring in September retreated 2.5 percent to 1,168.30 at 1:43 p.m. in Tokyo.
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average futures declined 267 points, or 2.3 percent, to 11,135.


• European stocks posted their biggest weekly loss since November 2008 as concern escalated that the U.S.'s economic recovery is stalling.
  • The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged on Aug. 4 as economic growth slows and the region's debt crisis spreads to Italy and Spain.
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dropped 9.8 percent.
  • o Germany's DAX Index declined 13 percent and France's CAC 40 Index slid 11 percent.

• Asian bank fell, leading the regional benchmark index toward its lowest close in almost a year.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slumped 3 percent to 122.32 as of 1:59 p.m. in Tokyo.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average fell 2.1 percent.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped 4 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 3.7 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT