Currencies

• EUR/USD The euro declined as European leaders said Greece will vote next month to determine whether it will stay in the 17-nation currency.
  • French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Greece won't receive a "single cent" in aid without holding to the terms of its bailout agreement.
  • The euro declined 0.2 percent to $1.3714 at 1:32 p.m. in Singapore from $1.3747 yesterday in New York.

• USD/JPY The dollar weakened against most of its major counterparts after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke kept the door open to doing more to prop up the U.S. economy if necessary, damping demand for the currency.
  • The U.S. currency depreciated 0.4 percent to 78.05 yen.

• USD/CAD Canada's dollar rose from the lowest level in almost two weeks on increased demand for riskier assets after the Federal Reserve acknowledged U.S. economic growth "strengthened somewhat" in the third quarter.
  • Canada's currency climbed for the first time in four days, appreciating 0.7 percent to C$1.0136 per U.S. dollar at 5 p.m. in Toronto yesterday and was trading at C$1.02038 around 7 a.m. London time this morning.

Commodities

• Gold futures rose as a weaker dollar and the Federal Reserve's steady view on its easy-credit policies fueled demand for the precious metal as an alternative asset.
  • The contract for November delivery climbed $17.70, or 1%, to settle at $1,728.70 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

• Oil fell on speculation that Greece's referendum on a bailout agreement threatens to intensify the European debt crisis and derail the region's economy.
  • Crude for December delivery fell as much as $1.37 to $91.14 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $91.78 at 12:12 p.m. in Singapore.

Equities

• US Stock advanced as the Federal Reserve said economic growth strengthened and it is prepared to take action if needed to safeguard the recovery.
  • The S&P 500 increased 1.6 percent to 1,237.90 as of 4 p.m. New York time.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 178.08 points, or 1.5 percent, to 11,836.04 today


• European Stocks rose as U.S. companies hired more workers than forecast and Federal Reserve policy makers raised their assessment of the economy in a statement at the close of trading.
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 1.2 percent.
  • France's CAC 40 advanced 1.4 percent and Germany's DAX Index gained 2.3 percent.

• Asian stocks declined as European leaders withheld aid to Greece after the country said it will hold a referendum on a bailout package.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index slipped 1.6 percent to 411.52 as of 1:55 p.m. in Hong Kong.
  • Japanese markets were closed today for a holiday.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (HSI) dropped 1.9 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4 percent

Sources: Bloomberg, FT