Asian stocks
fell, with the regional index heading for its third drop in five days, as
Spain’s credit rating was cut and economic reports in the U.S and Europe added
to concern the global economy is slowing.
The euro was capped in Asia on
Thursday after two days of gains on short covering as market players looked to
Italy’s bond auction later in the day amid concerns external support may become
necessary for the euro zone’s third-largest economy.
The European debt
crisis deepened as the credit ratings of Spain and Cyprus were downgraded
by Moody’s Investors Service.
Gold futures extended gains
in electronic trading Thursday, putting the metal on track for a five-session winning streak, helped
by expectations of fresh monetary policy stimulus.
Brent crude held above $97 on Thursday,
trading in a narrow range with investors reluctant to take positions ahead of
the outcome of a meeting of producer group OPEC and Greek elections.
Japan's lower house is set to
pass a bill on Friday to provide government guarantees on insurance for
Iranian crude cargoes, making it the first of Iran's big Asian buyers to find a
way to keep the oil flowing in the face of tough new EU sanctions.
Credit Suisse reduced its
estimate to 7.7 percent from 8 percent, while Deutsche Bank lowered its
forecast to 7.9 percent from 8.2 percent, according to e-mailed research notes
received today. The predictions indicate the weakest growth since 1999 and
compare with a 9.2 percent expansion last year.
The People’s Bank of China
raised the daily fixing by 0.13 percent, the most since June 7,
to 6.3191 per dollar today. That is 0.8 percent stronger than yesterday’s
closing spot price and almost the same as the reference rate at the end of last
week. Moody’s Investors Service cut Spain’s credit rating by three steps
yesterday and lowered Cyprus’s bond rating to Ba3 from Ba1, ahead of Greece’s
elections on June 17.
US Sells 10-Year Treasuries at
Record Low Yield — The U.S. government attracted strong demand at its 10-year
debt offering Wednesday, despite paying a new record-low auction yield of
1.622%. That rate is by far the lowest yield ever paid at an auction of this
maturity, and was actually less that the going market rate at the time of the
sale. The previous record was set at last month's auction, at a 1.855% yield.
Losses in U.S. government
securities were limited before data forecast to show U.S. consumer prices fell,
providing the Federal
Reserve room to take further steps to spur the economy. The gap
in yields between 10-year notes and Treasury Inflation Protected Securities,
which represents traders’ expectations for inflation over the life of the debt,
was 2.1 percentage points, down from 2012 high of 2.45 percentage points in
March.
Apple fails to
fend off mobile tracking lawsuit. Apple Inc must defend against a
lawsuit accusing it of letting advertisers secretly track the activity of
millions of mobile device users, a federal judge ruled, but Google Inc and
several other defendants were dismissed from the case.
Nokia announced 10,000 job cuts.
Microsoft
Corp. (MSFT) is in discussions to acquire Yammer Inc., operator
of a social network for businesses, said two people familiar with the matter.
Microsoft may pay more than $1 billion, and a deal may be reached as soon as
tomorrow, said one person, who declined to be identified because the
negotiations are private
Asad Khan
Financial Analyst (CFB)
050-8774861
asad@cfb.ae
Financial Analyst (CFB)
050-8774861
asad@cfb.ae
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