Currencies

• EUR/USD The U.S. dollar weakened against the euro as positive economic data from across the pond offset worries about debt problems in Europe's so-called peripheral countries.
  • EUR/USD moved up from 1.4328 to 1.4414 before steadying.


• USD/JPY and the JPY crosses traded higher in Asia, moving away from lows seen on Monday.
  • USD/JPY rose early on speculation that Japan's trade surplus would be much less than expected.
  • From 82.53, USD/JPY rallied to the 82.80-90 level, capped for a time by some Japanese exporter sales, before breaking back above 83.00 later.


• GBP/USD The pound rose against the dollar for a second day before the Bank of England publishes the minutes of its last policy meeting.
  • The pound gained 0.2 percent to $1.6348 as of 7:16 a.m. in London.

Commodities

• Gold extended its record-breaking rally to top $1,500 an ounce after the dollar weakened on mounting debt in the U.S. and Europe, prompting some investors to seek bullion as a store of value.
  • Standard & Poor's cut the outlook on its AAA rating for the U.S. to "negative" from "stable" two days ago, and yields on Greece's two-year notes exceeded 20 percent, the highest since at least 1998.
  • Gold for immediate delivery climbed as much as 0.3 percent to $1,500.43 an ounce before trading at $1,498.95 an ounce at 12:39 p.m. in Singapore.
  • Bullion for June delivery in New York rose 0.4 percent to $1,500.90 an ounce.

• Oil increased for second day in New York as signs of an improving economy in the U.S., the world's biggest consumer of crude, stoked speculation demand for fuel may increase.
  • Futures for June delivery gained as much as 0.9 percent.
  • Crude oil for June delivery rose as much as 92 cents to $109.20 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $109.11 at 12:49 p.m. Singapore time.
  • The May contract, which expired yesterday, gained $1.03 to settle at $108.15

Equities

• U.S. stocks rose, as benchmark indexes rebounded from the worst declines in a month, after housing starts increased and earnings beat estimates at companies from Johnson & Johnson to Steel Dynamics Inc.
  • Johnson & Johnson, the second- biggest seller of health products, rallied 3.7 percent, the most in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Steel Dynamics added 5.7 percent as its profit also beat projections.
  • The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.6 percent to 1,312.62 at 4 p.m. in New York.
  • The Dow average advanced 65.16 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,266.75 yesterday.


• European stocks rose, rebounding from the biggest drop in a month and national benchmark indexes rose in all of the 18 western European markets.
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid rose 0.5 percent to 5,896.87.
  • Germany's DAX Index gained 0.2 percent to 7,039.31.
  • France's CAC 40 Index added 0.7 percent to 3,908.58.


• Asian stocks rose as U.S. housing starts gained and earnings beat estimates at companies including Johnson & Johnson, signaling the world's biggest economy is recovering.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 1.8 percent to 9,606.82.
  • Hong ong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.9 percent to 23,752.12 while China's Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index climbed 0.3 percent to 3,007.80.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT