Currencies

• EUR/USD Moody's Investors Service cut Portugal's credit rating to below investment grade on concern the southern European country will need to follow Greece in seeking a second international bailout.
  • The euro fell 0.8 percent to $1.4429 at 5 p.m. yesterday in New York but it increased today and was trading at $1.4454 per euro as of 6:17 a.m. in London.


• USD/JPY The dollar weakened against most of its major counterparts on speculation the U.S. jobless rate will remain elevated, delaying any tightening in monetary policy by the Federal Reserve.
  • The greenback dropped to 80.87 yen from 81.07 yen.


• GBP/USD Sterling increased from yesterday's drop after reaching $1.59902.
  • It was trading at $1.60914 around 7:30 a.m. London time.

Commodities

• Gold futures reclaimed $1,500 a troy ounce as investors viewed last week's losses as an opportunity to buy, with global economic worries continuing to underpin demand for the metals.
  • August-delivery futures gained as much as 0.3 percent to $1,516.90 an ounce on the Comex in New York before trading little changed at $1,513.40 at 10:35 a.m. in Singapore.
  • Immediate-delivery gold dropped 0.2 percent to $1,513.20.

• Oil rose for a second day in New York on speculation crude inventories declined for a fifth week in the U.S., indicating fuel demand may be climbing in the world's biggest consumer of the commodity.
  • Crude for August delivery rose as much as 59 cents to $97.48 a barrel, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $97.45 at 12:25 p.m. Singapore time.

Equities

• U.S. stocks fell as a Moody's Investors Service downgrade of Portuguese debt renewed concern the economy will slow and offset gains by energy producers.
  • Bank of America Corp. (BAC), the biggest U.S. lender, and General Electric Co. (GE) lost 0.8 percent.
  • The S&P 500 slumped 0.1 percent to 1,337.88 at 4 p.m. in New York.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 12.90 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,569.87 yesterday.


• European stocks were little changed ending Tuesday, as a possible Chinese interest-rate hike and Friday's U.S. jobs report kept investors largely on the sidelines.
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose 0.1 percent.
  • France's CAC 40 Index decreased 0.6 percent and Germany's DAX Index retreated 0.1 percent.

• Asian stocks rose as Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. jumped in Seoul after a takeover bid collapsed.
  • Hyundai Heavy, a shipbuilder, jumped 6.4 percent after saying it won't bid for control of Hynix Semiconductor Inc.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.3 percent to 137.29 as of 1:39 p.m. in Tokyo after falling 0.1 percent.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average advanced 0.2 percent.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (HSI) declined 0.4 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT