Currencies

• EUR/USD Europe's common currency was 0.7 percent from a nine-week low against the dollar before a report forecast to show the region's industrial orders fell in March.
  • The currency traded at $1.4059 from $1.4048 yesterday.


• USD/JPY The U.S. dollar on Tuesday declined against the Japanese currency.
  • The dollar bought ¥81.82, easing down from ¥81.92 late Monday.


• GBP/USD The pound slumped against the dollar as falling stock markets boosted demand for safer assets.
  • The pound declined as much as 0.9 percent to $1.6096 as of 4:48 p.m. in London yesterday.

Commodities

• Gold futures pushed higher in electronic trading on Tuesday, as the dollar weakened and helped support buying in the metal.
  • Gold for June delivery added $2.50 or 0.2%, to $1,517.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange during Asian trading hours.
  • Silver for July delivery improved by 36 cents or 1.0% to $35.27 an ounce.

• Oil gained in New York, trimming the biggest loss in more than a week, as speculation that Libyan supply cuts will reduce OPEC's spare production capacity countered concern Europe's debt crisis is spreading.
  • Futures climbed as much as 0.7 percent, reversing earlier declines, after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley increased their oil price forecasts as conflict in Libya prolongs the loss of output.
  • Crude for July delivery rose as much as 71 cents to $98.41 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $98.29 at 1:10 p.m. Singapore time

Equities

• U.S. stocks Investor concerns have eroded gains in U.S. markets, where share prices have remained supported by healthy corporate earnings.
  • The S&P 500 lost 1.19 percent to 1,317.37.
  • The worries in other parts of the globe were enough to send the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 130.78 points, or 1.05%, to 12381.26 on Monday.


• European stock U.K. and Irish stocks sank, dragging the benchmark FTSE 100 Index to its lowest level in two months, as raw-material shares fell amid lower metal prices and Ryanair Holdings Plc said it will cut capacity due to higher costs.
  • The Mining companies Rio Tinto Group and BHP Billiton Ltd. fell more than 2 percent.
  • Ryanair, Europe's largest discount carrier, tumbled 5.3 percent
  • The FTSE 100 dropped 112.60, or 1.9 percent, to 5,835.89 at the 4:30 p.m. close in London.
  • Germany's DAX dropped 2.0% and France's CAC 40 Index sank2.1%.


• Asian stocks swung between gains and losses after reports signaled that economic growth in the U.S. and Europe is slowing.
  • Nippon Yusen K.K., Japan's biggest shipping line by sales, climbed 2.8 percent in Tokyo and Chubu Electric Power Co., a Japanese utility, rose 2.4 percent after saying it expects to boost electric power supply.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed at 131.72 as of 12:50 p.m. in Tokyo.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 0.2 percent.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was little changed, rising 0.05 percent

Sources: Bloomberg, FT