Currencies

• EUR/USD The euro fell sharply yesterday, after a deal to avert a downgrade and default on U.S. government obligations boosted the dollar and shifted attention back to the euro zone's festering debt issues.
  • It traded at $1.42372 around 7:30 a.m. London time after reaching $1.4186 on Monday.


• USD/JPY The yen fell against most of its major peers after gains to the edge of a record against the dollar fuelled speculation Japan will intervene in currency markets.
  • It dropped to 77.40 per dollar from 77.21 after reaching 76.30 yesterday.

• GBP/USD The British pound had a big drop on Monday but started increasing since the early trading hours.
  • Sterling was trading $1.63040 around 7:00 a.m. London time, after falling to $1.6237 yesterday

Commodities

• Gold advanced towards a record as concern that global economic growth may be slowing, spurring demand for wealth protection.
  • Immediate-delivery gold gained 0.3 percent to $1,623.65 at 1:16 p.m. in Singapore.
  • Gold for December delivery in New York rose 0.3 percent to $1,626 an ounce.

• Oil traded near the lowest in more than a month as weak U.S. manufacturing data reignited concerns about slowing growth for the world's largest oil consumer.
  • Crude for September delivery traded at $94.82 a barrel, down 7 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 2:11 p.m. in Sydney today.

Equities

• U.S. stocks slumped as slower- than-forecast growth in manufacturing erased a rally triggered by speculation that lawmakers will raise the debt ceiling.
  • The S&P 500 lost 0.4 percent to 1,286.94 at 4 p.m. in New York.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 10.75 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,132.49 yesterday.


• European stocks dropped as falling Spanish and Italian bonds showed the debt crisis is spreading and U.S. manufacturing trailed forecasts.
  • Banks, insurers and technology companies led the decline in the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index.
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index decreased 0.7 percent.
  • Germany's DAX Index (DAX) fell 2.86 percent, while France's CAC 40 Index (CAC) dropped 2.31 percent.

• Asian bank also fell after a report showed a slower growth in U.S. manufacturing.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 1.6 percent, the most since July 12, to 136.78 as of 12:54 p.m. in Tokyo.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average slid 1.3 percent.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.7 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT