Currencies

• EUR/USD The euro hit an eight-week high against the dollar on Tuesday, helping lift stocks and commodities on signs a Greek bailout agreement was near, but the rally paused after a key meeting on Greece was postponed by a day.
  • The euro at one point jumped more than 1 percent to a session high of $1.3270, hitting its highest level since December 12. After paring some gains, the euro traded near session highs, up 1 percent on the day.

• USD/JPY The yen weakened versus all of its major peers as gains in Asian shares damped demand for haven currencies and data showed that Japan's current-account surplus slid to a 15-year low in 2011.
  • The yen fell 0.5 percent to 77.14 per dollar as of 6:11 a.m. in Tokyo. It dropped 0.6 percent to 102.35 per euro, the weakest level since Dec. 22. Europe's 17-nation currency gained 0.1 percent to $1.3271 after reaching $1.3276, the most since Dec. 12.

• AUD/USD Aussie gained against the majority of its 16 major counterparts after the central bank maintained the benchmark interest rate at 4.25 percent. Predictions were expecting a cut of 4 percent.
  • The Australian dollar advanced 0.8 percent to $1.0809 after rising to $1.0823, the strongest since Aug. 2.

Commodities

• Oil Gains a Second Day on demand outlook as API says U.S. Stockpiles Drop. Oil Rose for a second day in NY after an industry report showed stockpiles shrank in the U>S>, the world's bigger crude consumer.
  • Oil for March delivery advanced 82 cents to $99.23 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded at $99.22 at 5:27 p.m. in Sydney. The contract yesterday increased $1.50 to $98.41, the highest settlement since Jan. 31. Prices are 14 percent higher than a year ago.

• Gold is trading at 1748.40 ending an up and down session. Earlier in the day gold began falling hitting the low of 1712.65. As news of a possible deal was reported in Greece the USD began to plummet and Gold did as it should do, it rose. As the dollar came down gold turned around and went up 1.4%.

Equities

• Asian stocks hit their highest level in more than five months on Wednesday and the euro hovered close to an 8-week high as investors kept hopes alive for an agreement on details of a new Greek bailout package despite further delays.
  • The Asian index has risen 13 percent this year, outpacing a 7 percent rise for Wall Street's S&P 500, but has been treading water much of this week as Greek talks dragged on.

• US stocks Stocks held steady in the green on Tuesday afternoon on growing confidence about the US job market and hope that Greece will reach a debt deal. Stocks rose as they were amid consumer credit rising more than expected.
  • The S&P 500 The utilities sector was the best performer in the S&P 500, indicating that investors are still hanging on to stocks they consider to be relatively safe.
  • The Dow Jones was up 51 points at 12,896 shortly after 3.30pm (Eastern). It hasn't closed higher since early May 2008, before the financial crisis. It had been down as many as 62 points in the first half-hour of trading.

• European (SXXP) European stocks declined for a second straight day as Greek talks on measures needed to get a second bailout continued and China said industrial-output growth is likely to slow.
  • UK`s benchmark index FTSE 100 declined 1.94 points, or 0.03%, to end at 5,890.26.
  • Germany`s benchmark index DAX decreased 10.63 points or 0.16% to settle at 6,754.20.
  • French benchmark index CAC 40 advanced 6.27 points or 0.18% to settle at 3,411.54.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT