Currencies

• EUR/USD The euro was set for a third weekly decline against the dollar before European Union leaders conclude a summit in Brussels today on financing needs for debt-saddled Greece.
  • The euro traded at $1.4261 as of 1:39 p.m. in Tokyo from $1.4256 in New York yesterday.


• USD/JPY The dollar was poised for its first weekly gain versus the yen in more than a month before U.S. data forecast to show orders for durable and capital goods rose in May.
  • The dollar bought 80.50 yen from 80.51 yen, poised for a 0.6 percent climb this week.


• GBP/USD The pound strengthened against the dollar today after yesterday's continuous drop where we saw it trade as low as $1.59375.
  • Sterling was trading today around $1.60123 at 7:00 a.m. London time.

Commodities

• Gold tumbled yesterday after a surprise release of U.S. strategic crude oil reserves fed into investor expectations of lower inflation amid slower economic growth. It was increasing again in early trading hours.
  • Immediate-delivery gold was little changed at $1,521.85 an ounce at 10:10 a.m. in Singapore after gaining as much as 0.4 percent to $1,526.72 earlier.
  • The August-delivery contract climbed as much as 0.4 percent to $1,526.50 in New York yesterday.

• Oil rose in New York, reversing yesterday's plunge, on concerns that stockpile releases by consuming nations may limit the ability to respond to supply disruptions in future.
  • Oil stockpiles among the 28 member-countries of the IEA declined by 340,000 barrels a day during the first quarter of this year, the International Energy Agency said in its monthly Oil Market Report on June 16. It agreed to release 60 million barrels to buyers starting next week.
  • Crude for August delivery climbed as much as $1.32 to $92.34 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $92.19 at 1:29 p.m. Singapore time.

Equities

• U.S. stocks declined as concern grew that Europe's debt crisis will hurt banks and an increase in jobless claims added to signs the economy is slowing.
  • JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) dropped at least 1.2 percent as European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the debt crisis threatens to infect banks.
  • The S&P 500 declined 0.3 percent to 1,283.50 at 4 p.m. in New York.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 59.67 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,050 today.


• European stocks sank as banks led a selloff after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke cut his growth forecast for the world's largest economy.
  • The Fed yesterday reiterated a pledge to keep interest rates near zero and said it will complete a $600 billion bond- purchase program as scheduled this month, even as Bernanke said the recovery is progressing "more slowly" than expected.
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slumped 1.7 percent.
  • Germany's DAX declined 1.8 percent and France's CAC 40 Index fell 2.2 percent.


• Asian stocks increased after oil prices tumbled, marking economic growth hopes, and concern eased Europe's debt crisis will hurt bank earnings.
  • Sony Corp. (6758), Japan's No. 1 exporter of consumer electronics, and Korea's Samsung Electronics Co., both of which receive more than 20 percent of sales from Europe, advanced at least 2 percent.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.9 percent to 131.84 as of 1:16 p.m. in Tokyo.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average advanced 0.4 percent.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 1.4 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT