Currencies

• EUR/USD The euro may decline to a one-month low against the dollar after dropping below two levels of major support yesterday, Forecast Pte said.
  • The MACD for the euro was 0.0104 today, below the so-called signal line of 0.0125. The signal line provides buy and sell signals.
  • The euro traded at $1.4231 as of 9:33 a.m. in Tokyo after falling to $1.4158 yesterday.


• USD/JPY The yen rose against dollar for a fourth day amid concern Europe's debt crisis is worsening and after Standard & Poor's changed its credit outlook on the U.S. to negative.
  • S&P yesterday put the U.S. government on notice that it risks losing its AAA rating unless policy makers agree on a plan by 2013 to reduce budget deficits and the national debt.
  • The yen rose to 82.45 versus the dollar from 82.66 yesterday, when it touched 82.19.


• GBP/USD After trading at a 1.6166-1.6329 range on Monday, the pair opened in Asia at 1.6265.
  • Cable was confined to a 1.6260-74 range for the first few hours, only breaking lower when Asian bourses were all down over 1%.

Commodities

• Gold declined, halting its advance to $1,500 an ounce, on speculation some investors are selling their holdings after bullion rose to a record for a third day on Standard & Poor's downgrade of the U.S. credit outlook.
  • Immediate-delivery bullion weakened 0.4 percent to $1,490.03 an ounce at 11:28 a.m. in Singapore, after touching an all-time high of $1,497.90 an ounce yesterday.
  • Gold for June delivery in New York fell 0.1 percent to $1,490.80 an ounce after reaching a record $1,498.60 yesterday.

• Oil fell for a second day in New York as signs of a worsening economic outlook in the U.S. and Europe stoked speculation fuel demand may weaken.
  • Futures dropped as much as 0.6 percent, extending yesterday's 2.3 percent decline, after Standard & Poor's Ratings Service cut the U.S. long-term credit outlook, fueling concern a recovery in the global economy may slow.
  • Crude oil for May delivery slid as much as 61 cents to $106.51 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $106.57 at 12:38 p.m. Singapore time.

Equities

• U.S. stocks slumped, sending benchmark indexes to their biggest declines in a month, after Standard & Poor's Ratings Service cut the nation's long-term credit outlook to negative.
  • The S&P 500 declined 1.1 percent to 1,305.14 at 4 p.m. in New York.
  • The Dow average tumbled 140.24 points, or 1.1 percent, to 12,201.59.


• European stocks dropped the most in three weeks as Standard & Poor's Ratings Service revised its credit outlook for the U.S. to negative and speculation escalated that Greece needs to restructure its debt
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid 2.1 percent to 5,870.08.
  • Germany's DAX Index slid 2.1 percent to 7,026.85.
  • France's CAC 40 Index sank 2.4 percent to 3,881.24.


• Asian stocks fell after Standard & Poor's Ratings Service cut the U.S. long-term credit outlook, fueling concern that a recovery in the global economy may slow.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.2 percent to 9,438.09.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.3 percent to 23,528.53 while China's Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index fell 1.9 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT