Currencies

• EUR/USD The euro weakened before a report economists say will point to deteriorating consumer sentiment in Germany.
  • The single currency dropped to $1.4400 as of 10:19 a.m. in Tokyo from $1.4414 yesterday in New York.
  
  

• USD/JPY The U.S. currency fetched 77.03 yen from 76.98 after rising 0.4 percent yesterday.
  
  

• USD/CAD Trading patterns show the Canadian currency may decline as much as 5 percent in the next two weeks, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
  • The Canadian currency was little changed at 98.71 cents per U.S. dollar at 5 p.m. in Toronto, compared with 98.74 cents yesterday.
  
  

Commodities

• Gold fell for a third day, extending its biggest drop since February 2010, after CME Group Inc. (CME) raised futures margins for a second time this month, prompting some investors to sell the metal after its rally to an all-time high.
  • Bullion for immediate delivery dropped as much as 1.6 percent to $1,730.77 an ounce and traded at $1,732.85 at 1:15 p.m. in Singapore, reversing a 0.4 percent gain.

• Oil traded near a two-day low in New York as investors looked beyond data showing a decline in U.S. crude stockpiles and bet that faltering economic growth will temper fuel demand.
  • Crude for October delivery was at $85.24 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 0.1 percent at 2:07 p.m. Singapore time.
  • Brent oil for October settlement on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange traded at $110.32 a barrel, up 17 cents.

Equities

• US Stocks rose, extending the biggest rally for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index in a week, after reports on durable-goods orders and home prices beat economists' forecasts and banks advanced.
  • Financial stocks in the S&P 500 rose 2.8 percent, the biggest gain within 10 industries.
  • The S&P 500 rose 1.3 percent to 1,177.60 at 4 p.m. in New York.


• European stocks-index futures climbed, indicating the Stoxx Europe 600 Index may rise for a fourth day, as investors continued to weigh whether Federal Reserve policymakers meeting tomorrow will take action to help the economy..
  • Futures on the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index expiring in September added 0.6 percent to 5,227.5..

• Asian bank Asian stocks rose for a second day this week after U.S. reports on durable-goods orders and home prices beat economists' estimates, easing concern that the world's biggest economy is slowing and boosting the earnings outlook for exporters.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 1.1 percent to 120.56 as of 1:42 p.m. in Tokyo, with almost three stocks rising for each that fell.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average gained 2.2 percent.
  • Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index increased 1 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT