Currencies

• EUR/USD The euro headed for the first weekly drop in four versus the dollar amid dimming prospects the European Central Bank will accelerate interest-rate increases this year.
  • The euro has lost 0.9 percent this week and traded at $1.4498 as of 6:29 a.m. in London from $1.4510 in New York yesterday.


• USD/JPY The dollar got some support against the yen from rising U.S. Treasury yields. Treasurys fell on Thursday, meaning yields went higher.
  • Against the yen, the dollar bought ¥80.10, down from ¥80.35 late Thursday.


• GBP/USD Bank of England kept its key lending interest rate at a record low 0.5% yesterday.
  • The British pound edged down to $1.6365 from $1.6368 late Thursday and was trading at $1.6306 around 7 a.m. London time.

Commodities

• Gold futures settled slightly higher, while silver and other precious metals climbed after the European Central Bank kept interests rate unchanged.
  • The European Central Bank on Thursday left the interest rate at 1.25% for a second straight month
  • Immediate-delivery bullion was little changed at $1,543.35 an ounce at 12:41 p.m. Seoul time.
  • Futures for August delivery were also little changed at $1,544.30 an ounce on the Comex in New York.

• Oil traded near the highest this month in New York, heading for the biggest weekly gain in four weeks, after the U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed and OPEC's secretary-general said the group's production quota system has been weakened.
  • Crude for July delivery was at $101.87 a barrel, down 6 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 2:03 p.m. Sydney time.

Equities

• U.S. advanced as the trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed amid record exports and consumer confidence improved.
  • The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.7 percent to 1,289 at 4 p.m. in New York.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 75.42 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,124.36 yesterday.


• European stock rebounded after six days of losses pushed valuations to near the cheapest in two years, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed and traders pared bets on the pace of interest-rate increases.
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose 0.8 percent.
  • France's CAC 40 climbed 1.1 percent and Germany's DAX advanced 1.4 percent.


• Asian stocks dropped on concern the region's central banks will keep raising interest rates to tame inflation even amid signs the global economic recovery may be faltering.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.2 percent 132.36 as of 1:55 p.m. in Tokyo.
  • The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.9 percent to 9,547.66 as of 12:36 p.m. in Tokyo.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.2% percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT