Analyst For Ubs In Singapore

(Reuters) - Gold inched lower on Tuesday after failing to break above $1,600 an ounce, as investors await a European Union summit later in the week at which leaders will try to agree on action to solve the region's debt crisis. Gold made attempts to break above the key resistance level at $1,600 in the past two days but failed, and has since been drifting around $1,590 as investors remained cautious when the fate of Greece and euro zone remains in limbo. Market participants will closely watch an informal EU summit on Wednesday, during which French President Francois Hollande is expected to push for mutualised European debt, an idea that Germany has opposed. Equities extended gains, partly riding on optimism about fresh action at the Wednesday meeting, but some analysts were less ...

Gold prices edged back towards $1,560 an ounce in Europe on Tuesday after a positive reading of German growth lifted the euro versus the dollar, and as physical buyers stepped in to take advantage of the metal's fall to 4-1/2 month lows. Gold remains vulnerable to more losses, however, as worries over the euro zone's future simmer in the background, keeping the single currency under pressure. Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,557.80 an ounce at 05:24 a.m. EDT (0924 GMT), while U.S. gold futures for June delivery were down $3.50 an ounce at $1,557.50. Gold earlier hit its lowest since December 30 at $1,547.99 an ounce and is down more than 6 percent in May so far, on track for its worst monthly performance since December's washout, as talk that Greece could exit the euro zone spooked ...

The euro fell to a near four-month low on Monday as political uncertainty in Greece deepened, keeping alive the risk of the country exiting the euro zone while worries about slowing Chinese and global growth drove down higher-yielding currencies. Safe-haven currencies like the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen advanced as coalition talks in Greece hit an impasse on Sunday and Greece's radical leftist leader spurned an invitation from the president for a final round of talks on Monday, all but ensuring another election next month. Adding to the bearish tone, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives suffered a crushing defeat on Sunday in an election in Germany's most populous state, a result which could embolden the left opposition to step up attacks on her European austerity ...

The euro hit its lowest level in nearly four months on Monday after Greek political leaders failed in their latest efforts to form a ruling coalition, keeping investors on edge over the risk of the country exiting the euro zone. Coalition talks in Greece hit an impasse on Sunday and Greece's radical leftist leader spurned an invitation from the president for a final round of talks on Monday, all but ensuring a new election. Adding to the negative tone, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives suffered a crushing defeat on Sunday in an election in Germany's most populous state, a result which could embolden the left opposition to step up attacks on her European austerity policies. The euro seems likely to head lower in coming weeks, especially since the European Central Bank may ...

Oil fell below $112 a barrel on Friday after a weak reading of industrial growth in China sparked worries about demand growth from the world's number two oil consumer. China's industrial production in April grew at its slowest pace in nearly three years, which along with poor trade numbers on Thursday, suggest the world's No. 2 economy continues to slow down after a weak first-quarter performance. Markets were also rattled by an unexpected $2 billion trading loss at Wall Street giant JP Morgan (JPM.N), which pushed jittery investors away from risky assets. "The news out of JP Morgan last night started global markets on the weak side while Chinese numbers were not that good," said Olivier Jakob from Zug-headquartered Petromatrix. By 07.20 a.m. EDT, Brent June futures lost 88 cents to $ ...

(Reuters) - Brent crude futures dropped more than $1 a barrel on Friday as weak industrial production data in China reinforced concerns about the global economy as worries about the euro zone intensify due to the political turmoil in debt-laden Greece. China's industrial production in April grew at its slowest pace in nearly three years, which along with poor trade numbers on Thursday, suggest the world's No. 2 economy continues to slow down after a weak first-quarter performance. That made investors, who were already edgy with Greece struggling to form a coalition government that is crucial to a bailout-funded recovery, shun risky assets. "Sentiment is very weak because of the overall economic situation. There is uncertainty over Greece, uncertainty over France," said Ken Hasegawa, a ...

(Reuters) - Gold edged lower on Monday, pressured by a stronger dollar after elections in France and Greece cast doubts on whether the euro zone will be able to battle the debt crisis. The euro hit a three-month low against the dollar, and the greenback rose to a three-week high versus a basket of currencies, making dollar-priced commodities less attractive to buyers holding other currencies. Socialist Francois Hollande ousted Nicholas Sarkozy in the French presidential election and Greece's pro-bailout ruling parties suffered big losses, sending the message that the new governments might push back German-led austerity measures seen crucial to solving the bloc's debt crisis. Though sluggish U.S. jobs data on Friday to a certain extent added to hopes for more monetary stimulus, ...

Markets focus to see whether the ECB paves the way for further easing Economic Data (RU) Russia Gold & Forex Reserve w/e Apr 27th: $523.3B v $519.5B prior (IN) India Apr Markit Services PMI: 52.8 v 52.3 prior (UK) Apr Nationwide House Prices M/M: -0.2% v +0.5%e; Y/Y: -0.9% v -0.3%e (IE) Ireland Apr NCB Services PMI: 52.2 v 52.1 prior (CH) Swiss Q1 UBS Real Estate Bubble Index: 0.95 v 0.80 prior (HU) Hungary Feb Final Trade Balance: €691.2M v €690.1M prelim (TR) Turkey Apr Consumer Prices M/M: 1.5% v 1.4%e; Y/Y: 11.1% v 11.0%e; Core CPI Y/Y: 0.1% v 7.9% prior (TR) Turkey Apr Producer Prices M/M: 0.1 v 0.4% prior; Y/Y: 7.7% v 8.2% prior (BR) Brazil Apr FIPE CPI: 0.5% v 0.2% prior (UK) Apr PMI Services: 53.3 v 54.1e (HK) Hong Kong Mar Retail Sales Value Y/Y: 17.3% v 14.0%e; Retail Sales ...

Yen at 2-month highs in the wake of disappointing BOJ and sluggish US GDP Economic Data (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR PRIVATE SECTOR CREDIT M/M: 0.4% V 0.3%E; Y/Y: 3.4% V 3.2%E (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR HIA NEW HOME SALES M/M: -9.4% V +3.0% PRIOR (multi-year low) (AU) AUSTRALIA APR TD SECURITIES INFLATION M/M: 0.3% V 0.5% PRIOR; Y/Y: 1.9% V 1.8% PRIOR (NZ) NEW ZEALAND MAR BUILDING PERMITS M/M: 19.8% V 6.0%E (NZ) NEW ZEALAND APR NBNZ ACTIVITY OUTLOOK: 36.1 V 38.8 PRIOR; BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: 35.8 V 33.8 PRIOR (8-month high) (NZ) NEW ZEALAND MAR TRADE BALANCE (NZ$) 134M V 417ME (KR) SOUTH KOREA MAR INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION M/M: -3.1% V +0.2%E; Y/Y: 0.2% V 2.2%E (KR) SOUTH KOREA MAY BUSINESS SURVEY MANUFACTURING: 90 V 85 PRIOR; NON MANUFACTURING: 85 V 82 PRIOR (SI) SINGAPORE Q1 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE PRELIM: 2.1% V 2. ...