Currencies

• EUR/USD The euro weakened against the majority of its most-traded counterparts after German and French leaders rejected the issuance of bonds by the European currency region to contain its sovereign-debt crisis.
  • The euro declined 0.3 percent to $1.4407 at 5 p.m. in New York, from $1.4445 yesterday.


• USD/JPY The dollar kept a steady fall against the Japanese currency after reaching 76.920 yesterday.
  • It was trading at 76.682 yen around 7:30 a.m. London time.

• GBP/USD The pound strengthened against the dollar yesterday and continues to rise after a drop in the early trading hours.
  • The pound was trading at $1.64394 around 7:30 a.m. London time after touching $1.64120 earlier.

Commodities

• Gold ended at a record high yesterday and may continue to climb today as slowing growth in the European Union sent investors looking for an alternate store of wealth.
  • Immediate-delivery metal, which reached an all-time high of $1,814.95 an ounce on Aug. 11, traded little changed at $1,782.95 at 11:32 a.m. in Singapore.
  • The December-delivery contract gained as much as 0.3 percent to $1,790.80 on the Comex in New York.

• Oil climbs in New York as U.S. Fuel Supply drop counters economic concern
  • The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute said U.S. gasoline stockpiles fell last week to the lowest since June 2009.
  • Oil climbed 0.5 percent to $87.11 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 1:07 p.m. Sydney time

Equities

• U.S. stocks fell as German and French leaders proposed a financial-transaction tax and rejected selling euro bonds to halt a debt crisis threatening economic growth.
  • The S&P 500 fell 1 percent to 1,192.76 at 4 p.m. in New York.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 76.97 points, or 0.7 percent, to 11,405.93 yesterday.


• European stocks closed slightly lower on Tuesday, as Fitch Ratings's confirmation of its triple-A credit rating on the U.S. helped equities pare most losses that followed disappointing growth data from Germany and the rest of the euro zone.
  • German second-quarter GDP came in well below expectations, up 0.1% quarter on quarter versus expectations of a 0.5% rise.
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 inched up 0.1% at 5357.63.
  • Germany's DAX fell 0.5% to 5994.90 and France's CAC-40 closed down 0.3% at 3230.90.

• Asian bank rose as companies reported improved earnings and a report showed Australian wages grew at a faster pace, boosting the earnings outlook for banks and retailers.
  • China Coal Energy Co. jumped 8.8 percent in Hong Kong after reporting higher earnings.
  • Australian banks and retailers gained after the report showed wages advanced at a faster pace in the second quarter.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.4 percent to 125.31 as of 2:49 p.m. in Tokyo.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.5 percent today.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1.2 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT