Currencies

• EUR/USD The dollar fell for a sixth day on Thursday as stocks rose and prompted currency traders to shift out of perceived safe assets and into riskier ones.
  • The euro increased 0.09% and traded as high as $1.4881.


• USD/JPY Falling US Treasury yields following weaker than expected US GDP and jobless claims data, forced the pair to stay under pressure during US session.
  • The USD/JPY could only manage a 81.48/65 range during the morning session.


• GBP/USD The greenback dipped to a 21-month low before lackluster U.S. data on weekly jobless claims and first-quarter economic growth.
  • The British pound advanced 0.13% to $1.6637 from $1.6635.

Commodities

• Gold is set for its biggest monthly advance since November 2009 as a weakening dollar and accelerating inflation prompted investors to buy precious metals as a store of value.
  • The U.S. economy slowed more than forecast in the first quarter as government spending declined by the most since 1983 and household purchases cooled.
  • Immediate-delivery gold was little changed at $1,534.72 an ounce at 10:25 a.m. in Singapore after touching a record $1,540.85 an ounce earlier.
  • Bullion for June delivery in New York rose 0.2 percent to $1,534.80 an ounce.

• Oil dropped from a 31-month high in New York on signs the U.S. economy is slowing, signaling fuel demand in the world's biggest crude-consuming nation may falter.
  • Crude for June delivery fell as much as 48 cents to $112.38 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was at $112.49 at 1:02 p.m. Sydney time.

Equities

• U.S.stocks shifted in and out of positive territory after data showing the rate of growth in the US economy had slowed during the first three months of 2011.
  • The S&P 500 added 0.3 percent to 1,360.48.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6 percent, to 12,763.31.


• European stocks rose for a sixth day, extending an eight-week high, as Deutsche Bank AG's earnings beat estimates and the Federal Reserve pledged to keep rates low for an "extended period".
  • Deutsche Bank surged the most in almost a year as Germany's biggest bank reported a 17 percent increase in first-quarter profit.
  • U.K's FTSE 100 added less than 0.1 percent to 6,069.90.
  • Germany's DAX gained 1 percent to 7,475.22 and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.9 percent to 4,104.90.


• Asian stocks fell, with a regional benchmark index dropping for the first time in three days, as U.S. economic growth and South Korean industrial production slowed, sparking concern company earnings may falter.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index sank 0.8 percent to 504.03 at 1:30 p.m. in Hong Kong.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose about 1.6 percent to 9,849.74.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.5 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index was little changed.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT