20100709 1441 Global Market News.

Asian stocks lifted by US data; euro holds gains
HONG KONG, July 9 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rallied for a second day and the euro held near two-month highs, supported on positive U.S. data and after the European Central Bank's offered upbeat view of the euro zone's recovery.
"The market has factored in worries about Europe and the possibility of a double dip in the U.S. economy, and it's now most likely found a floor," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets. 

July 8 (Bloomberg) -- Hedge-fund managers, Wall Street’s best compensated and supposedly smartest investors, are dazed and confused. Reeling from the worst second-quarter performance in a decade, hedge funds have scaled back trading as they struggle to figure out where markets are headed amid sometimes vicious crosscurrents in stock, commodities and other markets, according to brokers and managers.

Earnings optimism boosts stocks, euro
LONDON, July 8 (Reuters) - World stocks rose  while the euro hit a two-month peak against the low-yielding dollar on rising expectations the forthcoming earnings season would show strong corporate performance.
"Positive comments from State Street ... cheered investors up on the basis that we've got the second-quarter reporting season coming up and perhaps the bank situation in terms of reporting might not be as bad as feared," said Richard Hunter, head of UK equities at Hargreaves Lans.

July 8 (Bloomberg) -- Berkshire Hathaway Inc., run by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, became a victim of its own success when a brokerage analyst reduced the company’s shares to “sell” for the first time in six years. The CHART OF THE DAY compares the year-to-date performance of Berkshire’s Class A stock and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in the top panel. Both were set to 100 at the start of the year. The percentage-point gap between the shares and the index is displayed in the bottom panel.

July 8 (Bloomberg) -- Patek Philippe SA Chairman Thierry Stern said the Swiss watchmaker has bought gold futures as a defense against high gold prices that are threatening the luxury goods industry. “My major problem is, where is gold going?” Stern, who turns 40 tomorrow, said in an interview recorded by Bloomberg Television in London. “I have no idea. I see it every time going up, up, up. It’s a big threat.” Gold futures have gained almost 30 percent in New York the past year and set a record $1,266.50 an ounce on June 21. About 80 percent of Patek Philippe watches are made of precious metals such as gold and platinum, Rene Weber, an analyst at Bank Vontobel, has estimated. Stern, who succeeded his father last year, didn’t give further details of the hedging strategy.