Equities

• Asian stocks gained Wednesday as commodity producers gained after copper climbed to a record, crude oil rose and US retail sales increased last week adding to speculation that the global economy is picking momentum
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific index rose 0.1% to 134.94 as of 4:37 p.m. in Tokyo, with about the same number of stocks rising and falling
• US stocks rose after Adobe Systems Inc’s forecast beat analysts’ estimates
  • Adobe rallied 6% to $30.93. Q1 profit will beat analysts’ estimates as profit will be 54 cents to 59 cents a share in the period ending in February opposed to the 51 cents estimated by analysts
  • The DJIA climbed 55.03 points, or 0.5%, to 11,533.16
• Chinese stocks fell, led by producers of consumer staples and banks, after the government raised fuel prices and worries over lenders’ profitability mounted as the government increases tightening measures
  • The Shanghai index fell 26.22, or 0.9%, to 2,877.90 at the 3 p.m. close

Bonds

• Treasuries declined Wednesday before US reports today that economists said will show home sales and gross domestic product increased
  • Benchmark 10-year yields rose three basis points to 3.33% early morning in London
• Tuesday, Portuguese and Irish bonds fell and German government debt gained after Moody’s said it may cut Portugal’s credit rating
  • The Portuguese 10-year bond yield rose five basis points to 6.75% at 4:05 p.m. in London

Commodities

• Wednesday, crude increased as signs of US economic recovery boosted speculation that fuel demand will increase
  • Crude oil for February delivery rose as much as 45 cents to $90.27 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $90.24 at 4:14 p.m. Singapore time
• Gold gained after the IMF said that it had finished a program of sales of the metal aiming to boost the Fund’s financing
  • Immediate-delivery gold advanced as much as 0.4 percent to $1,391.02 an ounce and traded at $1,389.25 at 2:53 p.m. in Singapore