Currencies

• EUR/USD The euro was 0.3 percent from an almost four-week high before European Commission President Jose Barroso speaks in Brussels after calling yesterday for a "coordinated approach" to recapitalize the region's banks.
  • Barroso yesterday called for a reinforcement of crisis-hit banks, the payout of a sixth loan to Greece and a faster start for a permanent rescue fund to stem Europe's debt crisis.
  • The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.3799 as of 6:25 a.m. London time from the close in New York yesterday.
  
  

• USD/JPY The dollar slipped against the Yen starting the early trading hours of Thursday
  • The greenback bought 77.04 yen, from ¥77.31 in late trading on Wednesday.
  
  

• USD/CAD Canada's dollar gained the most in more than two months versus its U.S. counterpart as optimism that European officials will agree a plan to recapitalize the region's banks sparked advances in higher-yielding assets.
  • The Canadian currency advanced 1.2 percent to C$1.0172 per U.S. dollar at 5 p.m. in Toronto

Commodities

• Gold advances yesterday and may continue to rise as speculation that Slovakia will approve Europe's enhanced bailout fund strengthened the euro, increasing the appeal of the metal priced in dollars.
  • Bullion for immediate delivery traded little changed at $1,676.80 an ounce at 1:05 p.m. in Singapore.

• Oil dropped after signs of weakening gasoline use in the U.S. and slowing Chinese exports stoked speculation that demand may weaken in the world's largest consumers of crude.
  • A report from the American Petroleum Institute indicated U.S. gasoline demand fell the most in more than five years.
  • Crude for November delivery dropped as much as 93 cents to $84.64 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $85.01 at 4 p.m. Sydney time.

Equities

• Most US Stocks rose as European leaders provided a road map to tame the debt crisis and the Federal Reserve said it discussed further asset purchases.
  • The S&P 500 advanced 1 percent to 1,207.25 at 4 p.m. New York time.
  • The Dow climbed 102.55 points, or 0.9 percent, to 11,518.85.


• European stocks climbed as the European Commission's Olli Rehn said the debt crisis can be resolved, outweighing earnings from Alcoa Inc. (AA) that missed estimates.
  • Alcoa, the first company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to report earnings this quarter, posted profit that trailed estimates.
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.9 percent.
  • Germany's DAX advanced 2.2 percent and France's CAC 40 increased 2.4 percent.

• Asian stocks rose as European leaders edged closer to a plan for taming the debt crisis.
  • Bank of China Ltd. (3988) climbed 8.9 percent in Hong Kong after China's state-run investment arm said it began buying shares of the four biggest national banks.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.2 percent to 117.66 as of 12:29 p.m. in Tokyo.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 1.2 percent.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1.7 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.6 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT