Currencies

• EUR/USDThe euro fell on Monday but failed to break below $1.40 on concern European leaders will be unable to agree on steps to contain the region's debt crisis at a summit this week.
  • Euro-area leaders will meet in Brussels on July 21 to discuss the "financial stability" of the region.
  • The euro traded at $1.4102 at 6:20 a.m. in London from $1.4112 in New York yesterday, when it reached $1.4014.


• USD/JPY The U.S. currency was little changed against the Yen since yesterday.
  • The dollar fetched 79.03 yen from 79.04 and was trading at 79.048 around 9:30 a.m. London time.


• GBP/USD The U.S. dollar gained against most major rivals after a poorly received round of European-bank stress tests and sovereign-debt worries at U.S. and Europe.
  • The British pound declined against the dollar and was trading at $1.60672 around 7:30 a.m. London time.

Commodities

• Gold was pushed above $1,600 a troy ounce for the first time as investors looked to the metal for safety on worries about European and U.S. governments.
  • Immediate-delivery gold was little changed at $1,603.25 an ounce at 1:03 p.m. in Singapore.
  • Gold for August delivery in New York gained 0.2 percent to $1,606.10 an ounce.

• Oil climbed in New York as signs of shrinking crude stockpiles in the U.S. and rising demand in China countered speculation that Europe's debt crisis will influence fuel consumption.
  • Crude for August delivery gained as much as 45 cents to $96.38 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $96.15 at 2:09 p.m. Sydney time.

Equities

• U.S. stocks dropped amid concern lawmakers will fail to reach a deal on the nation's debt limit two weeks before a deadline.
  • The S&P 500 lost 0.8 percent to 1,305.44, the lowest level since June 28, at 4 p.m. in New York.
  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 94.57 points, or 0.8 percent, to 12,385.16.


• European stocks slumped after results from bank stress tests helped to retain concern that the region's sovereign debt crisis is spreading.
  • The European Banking Authority said after the close of trading on July 15 that 8 out of the 90 banks had failed the stress tests.
  • The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and Germany's DAX Index each dropped 2.5 percent.
  • France's CAC 40 Index slid 2 percent.

• Asian stocks fell amid concern U.S. lawmakers will fail to reach a deal on the country's debt limit and Europe's worsening crisis will slow the global economic recovery.
  • Honda Motor Co., the automaker which receives 44 percent of its sales from North America, declined 1.6 percent in Tokyo.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.2 percent to 134.77 as of 2:30 p.m. in Tokyo
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average fell 0.7 percent.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.4 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.7 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT