Currencies

• EUR/USD The euro declined from near the strongest in a month against the dollar as traders speculated European leaders will struggle to meet a deadline for this month on a plan to stem the region's debt crisis.
  • The euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.3856 as of 6:32 a.m. in London from $1.3882 in New York on Oct. 14, when it completed a 3.8 percent weekly advance, the biggest since March 2009.
  
  

• USD/JPY yen traded at 77.16 per dollar from 77.22 in New York.
  
  

• AUD/USD The Australian dollar weakened before the Reserve Bank of Australia releases tomorrow minutes of its meeting on Oct. 4 when Governor Glenn Stevens signaled there's more scope to cut interest rates if necessary.
  • Australia's dollar declined 0.3 percent to $1.0313 at 4:16 p.m. in Sydney after surging 5.9 percent last week.

Commodities

• Gold biggest slump in three years means traders and analysts are now the most bullish in three months, speculating that Europe's debt crisis, slowing growth and a bear market in equities will drive demand for bullion.
  • Gold slumped as much as 20 percent since reaching a record $1,923.70 an ounce on Sept. 6 as investors sold the metal to cover losses in other markets.

• Oil extended gains from the highest close in almost a month after European leaders pledged to deliver a plan to keep their debt crisis from leading to recession and sapping demand for fuel.
  • Crude for November delivery gained as much as 91 cents to $87.71 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $87.06 at 1:44 p.m. Singapore time.
  • Brent oil for December settlement climbed 2 cents to $112.25 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Front-month futures rose 7.8 percent last week

Equities

• US Stocks rose, driving the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to the largest weekly gain since July 2009, amid optimism over corporate earnings and steps by European leaders to support the region's banks.
  • Apple Inc. (AAPL) closed at a record high and Google Inc. completed a nine-day streak of gains.
  • The S&P 500 climbed 6 percent this week to 1,224.58, the highest level since Aug. 3.


• European stocks rose for a third week, their longest winning streak since April, on speculation that policy makers will increase efforts to contain the debt crisis as company earnings and U.S. retail sales beat estimates.
  • The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 2.8 percent to 238.51 this past week.

• Asian stocks rose, extending the biggest weekly gain since March on the region's benchmark index, after Group of 20 finance chiefs meeting in Paris endorsed parts of a plan to contain Europe's debt crisis.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 1.4 percent and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 1.7 percent.
  • South Korea's Kospi Index increased 1.2 percent.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 1.5 percent while Shanghai's Composite Index added 0.2 percent..

Sources: Bloomberg, FT