Currencies

• EUR/USD The euro rose versus the dollar after French and German leaders pledged to deliver a plan in three weeks to recapitalize banks and reiterated their intention to keep Greece in the euro.
  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe's leaders will do "everything necessary" to ensure banks have enough capital to weather the region's debt crisis.
  • The euro climbed 0.8 percent to $1.3479.
  
  

• USD/JPY The Japanese yen ticked higher, with Japanese financial markets closed for Sports Day today.
  • The dollar slipped to ¥76.75 from ¥76.90 at the end of the previous week.
  
  

• AUD/USD The Australian dollar rose against the greenback after a report showed U.S. payrolls increased in September by more than economists forecast, boosting demand for higher-yielding assets.
  • U.S. payrolls increased by 103,000 in September after a 57,000 gain in August, the Labor Department said on Oct. 7.
  • Australia's dollar rose to 98.36 U.S. cents at 4:53 p.m. in Sydney from 97.68 cents in New York last week, when it advanced 1.1 percent.

Commodities

• Gold fell on Friday as a pair of credit-rating downgrades drew investors' focus back to Europe's debt crisis, erasing the economic optimism that had boosted precious metals earlier in the day. However it rebounded on Monday's early trading session after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Sunday they've reached an agreement to recapitalize beleaguered European banks.
  • Spot gold was trading at 1652.85 around 7:30 a.m. London time before dropping to 1626.15 on Friday.

• Oil climbed as investors bet that fuel demand may increase after a pledge by Europe to contain its sovereign-debt crisis and signs of an economic recovery in the U.S.
  • U.S. employers added more workers in September than forecast, a report showed Oct. 7.
  • Crude for November delivery advanced as much as 99 cents to $83.97 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $83.47 at 2:21 p.m. in Sydney.

Equities

• US Stocks futures gained after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said European leaders will do "everything necessary" to ensure that banks have adequate capital.
  • S&P 500 futures expiring in December advanced 1.2 percent to 1,168.70 at 2:15 p.m. Tokyo time.
  • Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 1.1 percent to 11,184.


• European stocks advanced as central banks eased lending, investors speculated that policy makers will act to support the region's debt crisis and U.S. jobs data spurred optimism the world's largest economy will avoid a recession.
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 3.4 percent.
  • Germany's DAX increased 3.2 percent and France's CAC 40 rallied 3.8 percent.

• Asian stocks swung between gains and losses as the heads of Europe's two biggest economies pledged to support banks amid a debt crisis that threatens global growth.
  • Shares of Chinese companies fell on speculation the country will maintain tighter monetary policy.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index gained 0.3 percent to 383.41 as of 12:58 p.m. in Hong Kong.
  • The Hang Seng Index (HSI) dropped 0.5 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT