Equities

• Thursday, stocks in Asia increased on speculation the recent decline in equities amid worries over China's tightening policies may have been overdone
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific advanced 1.4% to 131.65 in Tokyo, with more than three times as many stocks rising as falling
  • Nikkei rose 2.1%, with exporters rising as Ireland also signalled talks with international institutions over its debt problems. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.3%
• Stocks in Europe rose Wednesday as Ireland started working on a possible aid package to help the region's troubled banks
  • The EU and IMF will go through Irish banks' books tomorrow to determine whether a 750 billion-euro rescue fund will be required
  • Stoxx 600 rose 0.5% to 267.31 in London close after tumbling 2.3% the day before
• The majority of US stocks increased as Target' earnings on unit credit card growth increased by over 20% and as speculation that Ireland will receive aid offset concern that technology spending is slowing
  • S&P 500, gained slightly to 1,178.59 at 4 p.m. in New York, after earlier rising 0.3%. DJIA declined 15.62, or 0.1%, to 11,007.88
  • Five stocks advanced for every four that fell on US exchanges
• The Russian and ruble denominated Micex Index reported combined earnings of 178 rubles a share ($5.70) during the past year, the most since at least 2003. The figure was 29% above the average expectation of analysts
   

Bonds

• Treasuries continued Wednesday's decline as analysts said reports today will show that the US leading economic indicators and Philadelphia-area manufacturing have improved
• The Greek 10 year spread with Germany added 5 basis points to 905 yesterday amid speculation Greece will fail to meet the agreed terms of the 110bln euro bailout
• Japan's bonds declined as equities gained and demand fell at a 1.1 trillion-yen sale of 20-year debt today
   

Commodities

• Oil rose in overnight trading after US crude inventories unexpectedly dropped
  • Crude for December delivery advanced as much as $1.12, or 1.4%, to $81.56 a barrel, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange
• Gold climbed Thursday on increased investment demand and signs that global sales remain robust, led by India
  • Global gold demand rose 12% in Q3, led by a 36% jump in jewellery buying from India, the world's largest buyer, the World Gold Council said yesterday
  • Immediate-delivery gold gained as much as 1.1% to $1,351.20 an ounce and traded at $1,349.60 at 1:48 p.m. in Tokyo
     

Currencies

• The euro gained Thursday against the dollar and the yen amid optimism a bailout for Ireland will prevent contagion across EU debt markets
  • EU and IMF officials travelled to Dublin to discuss a possible aid package for Ireland's banking sector while Spain prepared to sell bonds
  • The euro climbed to $1.3603 as of 6:35 a.m. in London from $1.3529 yesterday in New York. The euro rose 0.5% to 113.15 yen
• Thursday, the Dollar Index declined before a report that economists said will show US jobless claims rose last week
  • According to JP Morgan, the dollar may fall below 75 yen next year as it becomes the world's "weakest currency" amid the Fed's second round QE
• Thursday, the Taiwan dollar rose before a government report that economists said will show the nation's economy expanded 8.34% in the Q3 YoY
  • The Taiwan dollar strengthened 1.4% to NT$30.372 against the US dollar. The currency climbed to NT$30.015 on Nov. 12, the strongest since March 2008
• Thursday, New Zealand's currency rose for a second day after a government report showed producer prices climbed last quarter more than twice as fast as economists had forecasted
  • The so-called kiwi rose 0.6% to 77.45 US cents, and gained 0.5% to 64.42 yen
     

Sources: Bloomberg, FT, WSJ