20110620 1010 Global Market Related News.

 DJIA chart reading : correction range bound downside biased.

Hang Seng chart reading : downside biased with possible pullback correction

Asia Stocks Gain, Snapping Seven Weeks of Losses, as Australian Banks Rise (Source: Bloomberg)
Asian stocks rose, snapping seven straight weeks of decline, as Australian banks, seen by some investors as a refuge amid Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, advanced, and Japanese automakers rallied.

Asian Stocks Rise on Optimism Europe to Force Greek Austerity (Source: Bloomberg)
Asian stocks rose, snapping seven straight weeks of decline, on optimism the European Union will force Greece to deliver on debt-reduction commitments. Australian banks, seen by some investors as a refuge amid Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, advanced.

U.S. Leading Indicators Rise in Sign Growth May Pick Up by End of the Year (Source: Bloomberg)
The index of U.S. leading indicators rose more than forecast in May after declining for the first time in almost a year, a sign economic growth may pick up by the end of 2011. The Conference Board’s gauge of the outlook for the next three to six months rose 0.8 percent after a revised 0.4 percent drop in April, the New York-based research group said today. Another report showed consumer sentiment dropped more than forecast in June.

U.S. Stocks Rise, Averting Longest S&P 500 Index Losing Streak Since 2001 (Source: Bloomberg)
U.S. stocks rose for the first time in seven weeks, preventing the longest losing streaks for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average since 2001, as concern about the American economy ebbed even as the Greek debt crisis deepened. Home Depot Inc. (HD), McDonald’s Corp. and Microsoft Corp. advanced more than 2.4 percent this week to lead gains in the Dow after reports on jobless claims, retail sales and housing beat economist estimates. VF Corp. (VFC) jumped 12 percent after agreeing to buy Timberland Co. (TBL), while J.C. Penney Co. surged 15 percent after hiring an Apple Inc. vice president as its chief executive officer. Owens-Illinois Inc. (OI) fell 13 percent, the most in the S&P 500, after cutting its profit-margin forecast.

Home Sales Probably Dropped to Year’s Low: U.S. Economy Preview (Source: Bloomberg)
Home sales probably dropped in May to the lowest level of the year, while orders placed with factories climbed, showing housing remains a soft spot as other parts of the U.S. economy recover, economists said before reports this week. Purchases of new and existing houses decreased 4.8 percent to a 5.11 million annual rate last month, the weakest since November, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Another report may show bookings for goods made to last at least three years increased after falling in April by the most in six months.

China Home Prices Cool on Government Curbs (Source: Bloomberg)
China’s effort to cool home prices is damping the market for existing homes, with prices in May falling from the previous month in 23 of 70 cities measured.

Japanese Stocks Advance on Optimism Greece Will Meet EU Budget Cut Demands (Source: Bloomberg)
Japanese stocks rose for the first time in three days on expectation Greece will meet demands by European governments to cut its debt and after a report signaled U.S. economic growth may pick up by the end of this year.

Banks Holding Record $1.45 Trillion to Buy Treasuries as Savings Top Loans (Source: Bloomberg)
Japan’s biggest bond investors see increasing parallels between the nation’s government debt market and Treasuries, indicating that historically low yields in the U.S. have room to fall.

Europe Fails to Agree on Greek Aid Payout (Source: Bloomberg)
European governments failed to agree on releasing a loan payout to spare Greece from default, ramping up pressure on Prime Minister George Papandreou to first deliver budget cuts in the face of domestic opposition.

EU Finance Ministers May Approve Only Half of Next Greek Aid Installment (Source: Bloomberg)
Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders raised the prospect of finance ministers reaching a deal on payment of only half of the 12 billion-euro ($17.2 billion) next installment to Greece. “I’m only saying that financing has to be released by the International Monetary Fund and the European Union,” Reynders told reporters in Luxembourg today. “That’s the short-term. We will in any case try to release the necessary funds for the short-term, which should happen with a financing of a bit less than 6 billion euros in the beginning of July.’’

Europe May Withhold Half of Greek Payment (Source: Bloomberg)
European governments weighed withholding half of Greece’s next 12 billion-euro ($17.2 billion) aid payment, seeking to keep the country solvent while maintaining pressure on the government to slash the debt that pitched the euro area into crisis. Euro-area finance ministers may authorize only a 6 billion- euro loan to tide Greece through bond redemptions in July, while further aid hinges on Greek budget cuts, Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders said.

Greek Default Would Spell ‘Havoc’ for Banks (Source: Bloomberg)
A year after European officials bailed out Greece, investors say the region’s banks haven’t raised sufficient capital or cut loans enough to withstand the contagion that may follow a default. While European lenders reduced their risk tied to Greece by 30 percent to $136.3 billion last year by not renewing loans, writing down the value of debt and shifting it off their books, they still have almost $2 trillion linked to Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy, figures from the Bank for International Settlements show, leaving them vulnerable if the crisis spreads.