Cold Weather In Europe

(Reuters) - A damaging global dry spell is wilting wheat crops in Kansas, threatening exports from Russia and slowing sowing in Australia, serving a timely reminder to hedge funds that a new era of surplus grain is far from assured. In their biggest surge since 1996, Chicago wheat prices jumped by more than 17 percent last week and reached a nearly 9-month high of more than $7 a bushel on Monday, a rally stoked by short-covering among big speculators -- a group that had amassed a near-record short position betting on falling prices. By Tuesday, six days of buying subsided as analysts said the immediate weather-induced panic yielded to a more considered view: conditions are not as dire - at least not yet - as they were in 2010, when world trade in wheat was sharply curtailed as growing ...

Sunrise Market Commentary - Fixed Income: Global core bonds profit from euro debt crisis - Concerns about Greece and Spain underpinned the ongoing rally of global core bonds. The German 10-year yield fell below 1.50%. Intra-EMU yield spreads versus Germany widened substantially. Today, the eco calendar is enticing. If no euro debt crisis news acts as a circuit breaker, the eco data may for once drive the price action. - Currencies: Speculation on Grexit continues to hammer the euro. - At the start of the new trading week, the Greek crisis remained the key factor for currency trading. With no visibility on the outcome of the EMU crisis, the easiest way for the euro is south. EUR/USD set a new correction low. EUR/GBP dropped below the 0.8000. This morning, strong German ...

Sunrise Market Commentary - Fixed Income: Largely uneventful session for core bonds - Core bonds had an insignificant, technical and sentiment-driven session that left bond yields slightly higher in the close. Overnight, negative headline news on JP Morgan and Greece triggered a moderately strong opening of the Bund. Europe will be in the focus today with the publication of the Spanish banking plan and the EU spring forecasts. - Currencies: EUR/GBP testing 80.00 barrier, as BoE stops printing press - On Thursday, sentiment on risk turned slightly less negative, even without progress in the Greek debt/election crisis. Nevertheless, the decline in EUR/USD slowed. EUR/GBP reached a minor low just below 0.8000 as the BoE halted its program of asset purchases. For now, we see no ...

(Reuters) - Germany's manufacturing sector unexpectedly shrank at the fastest pace in nearly three years in April, denting hopes it can drive growth in the euro zone and casting a shadow over upbeat business sentiment surveys. Markit's manufacturing Purchasing Mangers Index (PMI) fell sharply to 46.3 from March's 48.4, according to a flash estimate released on Monday, well below the 50 mark which would sign al growth in activity. It marked the fastest rate of contraction since July 2009 in the sector, which has been hit by a decline in some exports as the debt crisis in the euro zone has choked demand from key trading partners. Reports are that sales to southern Europe are particularly weak, so there is some evidence of troubles in the periphery (of the euro zone) spilling over to the ...

Gold prices rose on Thursday as its fall to a near three-month low the previous day tempted some buyers back, but gains were capped by a rise in the dollar and fading hopes for more U.S. monetary stimulus. Spot gold was up 0.6 percent at $1,628.34 an ounce at 1420 GMT. It briefly broke back above $1,630 an ounce as a drop in jobless claims pulled the dollar from its highs and stocks from their lows, but was unable to sustain the move. Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said a countermove after the sharp price fall of recent days was to be expected, but said he expects prices to trade lower, possibly below $1,600 an ounce, after the current correction has run its course. "Gold is highly correlated to equities and commodities at the moment and as long as the equity markets and the ...

The Weekly Bottom Line HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK United States Equity markets reacted with some disappointment on Wednesday after Fed Chairman Bernanke omitted any explicit mention to potential further long-term asset purchases in his semi-annual testimony before Congress. Progress on the second Greek bail-out and the outcome of the second ECB 3-year refinancing operation had a positive impact on European sovereign bonds, particularly on Italian and Spanish bonds, which saw their 10-year yields dip below 5%. However, Portuguese sovereign bond yields rose once again this week and everything seems to indicate the country may also require a second bail-out. Canada There were few major Canadian data releases for markets to digest this week. This, combined with little headline ...

Greece will once again be the single biggest risk factor overshadowing financial markets in the coming week, but investors are also on the alert for signs of recovery in Europe to support the strong rally in riskier assets seen this year. The big numbers to watch will be the purchasing managers' surveys for Germany and euro zone and the German Ifo business climate index, while U.S. data on the housing market is seen as key to confirming the recovery in that giant economy. But a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the market as the battle to secure a deal to provide Greece with a second bailout and avoid a disorderly sovereign debt default when bond repayments come due on March 20 rages on. "The markets will still be on tenterhooks until a final agreement is in place, not just the agreement ...

(Reuters) - Oil prices held steady on Tuesday as better-than-expected German economic data and a successful Italian bond auction eased fears about European demand, while worries about supply disruption due to Middle East tensions continued to underpin the market. Brent crude futures rose 11 cents to $118.04 a barrel at 1137 GMT. U.S. crude was up 47 cents to $101.38 a barrel. Analysts and traders said good newsflow out of Europe had helped the euro rally against the dollar and lifted risk assets as investor sentiment about European demand growth had improved. "We had some successful bond auctions out of Italy, and the German data was better than expected," said Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets. "That has taken the sting out of the Moody's downgrades." The German ZEW survey, ...

(Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Tuesday after ratings agency Moody's downgraded six countries in Europe prompting renewed investor concerns about demand in the region, but prices were underpinned by fears of supply disruption in the Middle East. Brent crude futures were down 53 cents to $117.40 a barrel at 0908 GMT. U.S. crude was stronger, up 4 cents to $100.95 a barrel, narrowing the difference between the two grades to less than $17 a barrel. Brent retreated as investors reassessed the prospects for demand growth in Europe after Moody's warned that it might cut the top ratings of France, Britain and Austria by assigning their triple A debt ratings a negative outlook. It also downgraded Italy, Spain and Portugal, citing uncertainty over the prospects for fiscal and economic reform ...