Currencies

• EUR/USD The euro retreated from a three-week high versus the dollar before Germany is forecast to say its economy expanded at a third of the pace of the previous quarter.
  • The euro fell to $1.4416 as of 6:45 a.m. in London from $1.4445 in New York yesterday.


• USD/JPY The dollar was little changed against the Japanese currency.
  • It was trading at 76.830 yen around 7:30 a.m. London time.

• GBP/USD The pound strengthened against the dollar yesterday but retreated as of today's early trading hours.
  • The pound was trading at $1.63430 around 7:30 a.m. London time after reaching $1.64090 on Monday.

Commodities

• Gold finished higher yesterday and continued to rise at today's early trading hours as a weaker dollar mitigated selling pressure triggered by stronger risk appetite.
  • Immediate-delivery bullion, which hit a record $1,814.95 on Aug. 11, was little changed at $1,765.10 at 12:03 p.m. in Singapore.
  • December-delivery gold gained for a second day on the Comex in New York, rising as much as 0.8 percent to $1,772.70.

• Oil dropped from the highest in almost two weeks in New York as investors bet that signs of a slowing global economy indicate fuel demand will weaken.
  • Crude for September delivery fell as much as 71 cents to $87.17 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $87.26 at 1:48 p.m. Singapore time.

Equities

• U.S. stocks rose as $21.5 billion in takeovers and valuations near the cheapest level in two years helped the Standard & Poor's 500 Index extend its best three-day rally since 2009.
  • The S&P 500 added 2.2 percent to 1,204.49 at 4 p.m. in New York.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 213.88 points, or 1.9 percent, to 11,482.90.


• European stocks closed modestly higher yesterday, as investors took the opportunity to snap up some bargains following last week's volatility.
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed 0.6% higher at 5350.58.
  • Germany's DAX ended up 0.4% at 6022.24 and France's CAC-40 increased 0.8% to 3239.06.

• Asian bank advanced for a second day as Google Inc.'s largest acquisition boosted technology shares.
  • Samsung Electronics Co. surged 4.5 percent in Seoul after Google, the biggest maker of smartphone software, agreed to buy Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5 percent to 125.03 as of 2:13 p.m. in Tokyo.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average swung between a gain of 0.7 percent and a loss of 0.2 percent.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed for a third day, rising 0.4 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT