GLOBAL MARKETS-Greek debt hopes buoy shares, data next in line
TOKYO, March 9 (Reuters) - Asian shares rose on Friday, with Tokyo hitting a seven-month high, on signs Greece had successfully closed its bond swap offer for private creditors, although caution ahead of the release of U.S. employment data could check momentum.
"News about Greece is generally positive and is expected to underpin the euro in the near-term, while expectations the European Central Bank wouldn't lower interest rates also will spur buy back in the euro," said Yuji Saito, director of the foreign exchange division at Credit Agricole Bank in Tokyo.
China’s Inflation Eases to Slowest in 20 Months, Giving Room for Stimulus (Source: Bloomberg)
China’s inflation eased to the slowest pace in 20 months in February, giving policy makers more room to stimulate the world's second-biggest economy as investment and export growth weaken. Consumer prices rose 3.2 percent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website today. That was less than a median estimate of 3.4 percent in a Bloomberg News survey of 35 economists and January's 4.5 percent rate. Data in the first two months of the year are distorted by the timing of a weeklong Chinese holiday. Moderating inflation pressures may give the ruling Communist Party more room to keep boosting wages and to ease price controls on resources such as energy and water. The government this year may also cut required reserves for banks and the benchmark interest rate, according to Patrick Bennett, a strategist at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Hong Kong.
“With inflation continuing to trend downwards, it leaves policy makers with fewer obstacles to relax economic policies,” Helen Qiao, Hong Kong-based chief China economist at Morgan Stanley, said before the release.
Asian Stocks, Copper Rise on Greece Debt, China Inflation (Source: Bloomberg)
Asian stocks rose, paring the first weekly drop in three months, while copper and the South Korean won gained as a majority of eligible Greek bondholders agreed to a debt restructuring and Chinese inflation slowed. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) added 0.5 percent as of 10:42 a.m. in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 1 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost 0.2 percent before data that may show a smaller gain in U.S. jobs. The won strengthened 0.2 percent, climbing against all 16 major counterparts. Copper futures in London gained 0.5 percent. Greece’s government got about 85 percent of bondholders to swap their holdings of the country’s debt for new securities in the biggest restructuring in history, a banking official said. China’s inflation slowed to 3.2 percent in February, the slowest pace in almost two years, the statistics bureau reported. U.S. employers probably added 210,000 jobs in February, economist forecasts show.
“People have got ammunition to be a bit more upbeat about investment markets,” said Angus Gluskie, who manages more than $350 million at White Funds Management in Sydney. “What we are likely to see today and overnight is a reminder for people that the Greek risk, at least for the moment, has been taken off the table and economic data is all heading in the right direction.”
COMMODITIES-Weak dollar boosts oil, metals; soy rallies
NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - Oil and metals prices rose for a second straight day on Thursday on inflationary pressure from a weaker dollar, while soybeans hit five-month highs, helped by robust export sales of the oilseed.
Economic optimism from the expected conclusion of Greece's bond deal boosted financial markets across the board, with the euro gaining its most against the dollar in two weeks.
Beware the tight OECD oil stocks fallacy
--Robert Campbell is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own--
NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - There are plenty of good reasons to expect continued strength in oil prices but the claim, advanced by some bulls, that oil inventories in the developed world are dangerously low is not one of them and hardly stands up to scrutiny.
To be sure it is factually correct that oil inventories in the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are at least 50 million barrels below their average level of the last five years.
OIL-Oil gains a second day on Greek deal, Iran
NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - Crude oil futures rose for a second day on Thursday as investors cheered progress on Greece's bond swap deal, which moved the beleaguered country nearer to unlocking funds it needs to avoid default.
"Worries of a debt default by Greece eased and market focus is returning to those factors that led oil futures to hit recent highs," said Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut.
NATURAL GAS-Supply drives US natgas futures to near 10-year low
NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures fell to near 10-year lows on Thursday after a government report showed a smaller-than-expected decline in weekly inventories.
"Weather is a lot milder than last year, so prices are drifting lower to find more coal-to-gas switching," said Anthony Yuen, strategist at Citigroup in New York.
EURO COAL-Prices stable, EDP awards at API2 discount
LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - Prompt physical coal prices were unchanged on Thursday despite a rise in oil prices as it stabilised just below $100 a tonne, a level which has drawn out a few more buyers.
"There's definitely some stockpiling, people playing the contango going on but it's limited by the space available. At $95 it makes sense for some people," one major European trader said.
No comments:
Post a Comment