Currencies

• EUR/USD The euro fell against the dollar in Asia on Wednesday due to pessimism that a conference between Germany, France and Greece later in the day will ease concerns over sovereign debt problems.
  • The shared currency fetched $1.3611 from $1.3678.
  
  

• USD/JPY The dollar held a two-day slide against Japan's currency before reports that may show U.S. retail sales growth moderated in August, adding to signs of a slowing recovery.
  • The dollar was trading at 76.873 yen around 7 a.m. London time from 76.96.
  
  

• GBP/USD The pound continued to fall against the dollar yesterday although it looked as if it could become a safe haven.
  • The U.K. currency traded at $1.5745 around 7:30 a.m. London time.

Commodities

• Gold advanced for a second day as concern about Europe's sovereign-debt crisis spurred demand for the metal as a haven investment.
  • Immediate-delivery gold rose as much as 0.6 percent to $1,844.98 an ounce and traded at $1,836.85 at 12:04 p.m. in Singapore.
  • December-delivery bullion gained as much as 1 percent to $1,848.20 an ounce in New York before trading at $1,840.30.

• Oil fell from a six-week high as investors speculated that gains this week were exaggerated amid concern that Europe's debt crisis and the slowing U.S. economic recovery will urge fuel demand.
  • Crude for October delivery dropped as much as $1.60 to $88.61 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $88.74 at 3:52 p.m. Sydney time.

Equities

• US Stocks advanced led by the industrial and technology sectors, as Europe's sovereign-debt crisis kept the advance in check.
  • General Electric led the blue chips higher, rising 40 cents or 2.7%, to $15.41 while Intel gained 48 cents, or 2.4%, to 20.76
  • The S&P 500 increased 0.9 percent to 1,172.87 at 4 p.m. in New York.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 44.73 points, or 0.4 percent, to 11,105.85 yesterday.


• European stocks rose for the first time in three days as banking shares and carmakers advanced.
  • Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) and Daimler AG (DAI) led gains in European carmakers, both increasing more than 2 percent.
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index (UKX) advanced 0.9 percent.
  • Germany's DAX Index jumped 1.9 percent and France's CAC 40 Index rallied 1.4 percent.

• Asian stocks fell after the Chinese premier said economies "must put their own houses in order" and not rely on bailouts from China.
  • Chinese Premier Wen signaled developed nations should cut deficits and create jobs rather than relying on China to bail out the world economy.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1.7 percent to 116.25 as of 2 p.m. in Tokyo.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average slid 1 percent.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.3 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.5 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT