Currencies

• EUR/USD The euro dropped to a seven-week low against the dollar on growing concerns that Italy and Spain's debt markets could echo the fate of already bailed-out euro-zone countries.
  • It reached $1.3932 from $1.4029 yesterday, and was trading at $1.39580 around 7 a.m. London time.


• USD/JPY The dollar weakened further against the yen, to continue yesterday's decline.
  • It slipped to ¥80.11, compared with ¥80.28 late Monday and was trading at ¥79.89 around 7:30 a.m. London time.


• GBP/USD The greenback showed additional gains against the British pound.
  • The dollar rose against the British pound, which bought $1.5864 compared with $1.5901 late Monday.

Commodities

• Gold climbed to a two-week high, topping $1,550 an ounce, on demand for a store of value amid escalating concerns that Europe's sovereign-debt woes will widen.
  • Gold futures for August delivery rose $7.60, or 0.5 percent, to settle at $1,549.20 at 1:40 p.m. on the Comex in New York.
  • Spot gold was trading at 1548.04 around 7:30 a.m. London time.

• Oil declined for a third day in New York as investors bet that Europe's spreading debt crisis will limit demand for raw materials before a report likely to show rising U.S. fuel stockpiles.
  • Crude for August delivery fell as much as 82 cents to $94.33 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $94.44 at 1:41 p.m. Sydney time.

Equities

• U.S. stocksslid as concern grew Europe's debt crisis will spread and American lawmakers failed to agree on cutting the deficit.
  • JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) fell more than 3.2 percent.
  • The S&P 500 retreated 1.8 percent to 1,319.49 at 4 p.m. in New York.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 151.44 points, or 1.2 percent, to 12,505.76 yesterday.


• European stocks tumbled the most in seven weeks as contagion from Greece's debt crisis threatened to spread to the bigger economies of Italy and Spain.
  • UniCredit Spa (UCG) and Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP) lost more than 6 percent and Germany's Commerzbank AG (CBK) sank to a two- year low.
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 1 percent.
  • Germany's DAX lost 2.3 percent and France's CAC 40 Index tumbled 2.71 percent.

• Asian stocks fell after U.S. lawmakers failed to agree on cutting the deficit and concern increased that Greece's debt crisis may widen to other nations.
  • Sony Corp. (6758) retreated 2.9 percent in Tokyo and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's biggest publicly traded bank, declined 2.4 percent.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 1.8 percent to 134.40 as of 12:54 p.m. in Tokyo.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average declined 1.4 percent.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 2 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.3 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT