A Quick Glance at News (28/06/2012)

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans, one of the U.S. central bank's strongest advocates for further monetary policy easing, Top Federal Reserve officials differed on whether the U.S. central bank needs to be more aggressive in spurring economic growth, indicating another round of easing is far from certain.

Euro-area finance ministers set the stage for today’s gathering in Brussels of the European Union’s 27 chiefs, approving Cyprus’s bailout and detailing how they would aid Spanish banks. Consensus breaks down on safeguarding governments in Spain and Italy, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejecting calls to do more to cut their borrowing costs.

Merkel is increasingly isolated as French President Francois Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and Spanish Premier Mariano Rajoy unite to push for quicker action to ease the crisis that emerged in Greece in late 2009.

Asian stocks rose a second day and oil climbed after bigger-than-expected gains in Japanese retail sales and U.S. housing boosted confidence in global growth. The dollar fell before a European summit on the debt crisis.

China’s benchmark stock index slid for a seventh day, the longest stretch of losses in 13 months, as concern the nation’s economic slowdown is curbing earnings growth overshadowed an improving outlook for exports to the U.S.

Gold edged up on Thursday after the euro showed some resilience ahead of a European Union summit, which is unlikely to deliver new measures to tackle the region's debt crisis and may prompt investors to turn to the safety of the U.S. dollar

Brent crude advanced a fourth day in London as a strike by Norwegian energy workers over pensions halted 15 percent of the country’s oil output. Futures climbed as much as 0.6 percent after closing at the highest price in a week yesterday. U.S. home sales and durable- goods orders beat forecasts in May, as a European Union ban on Iranian oil takes effect, central banks act to protect growth and on speculation OPEC will curb some of its excess supply.

Rupee, euro crisis hits gold demand in India, Weaker local currencies are weighing on gold demand from India, the world's largest consumer of the precious metal, and Indonesia, another leading Asian buyer, as traders also favour cash on concerns over deterioration in the euro zone crisis.

Japan’s retail sales rose more than forecast in May, a sign that consumer spending will help sustain a rebound in the world’s third-largest economy.

Treasuries extended a monthly loss on concern yields that are within 20 basis points of the record low will curb demand when the U.S. sells $29 billion of seven- year notes today

India may spend 300 billion rupees ($5.3 billion) tripling the length of its expressway network to ease traffic jams that are slowing trade, wasting fuel and sapping economic growth.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged to restore confidence in Asia’s third-largest economy as he resumed control of the finance ministry after growth slowed to the weakest in almost a decade and the rupee slumped.

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) will make it easier for developers to add social features to games for the Kindle Fire tablet, a person with knowledge of the matter said, working to narrow Apple (AAPL) Inc.’s lead in the market for tablets.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) plans an overhaul of iTunes that would mark one of the largest changes to the world’s biggest music store since its 2003 debut, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Google Inc will sell its first tablet from mid-July for $199, hoping to replicate its Smartphone success in a hotly contested market now dominated by Amazon.com Inc's Kindle Fire and Apple Inc's iPad.

Google Inc expects to roll out a consumer version of its electronic eyewear that can live-stream images and audio and perform computing tasks in less than two years, though it stopped short of putting a price tag on the "smart" glasses.

Asad Khan
Financial Analyst  (CFB)
050-8774861
asad@cfb.ae