If Europe Worsens

Fundamental Analysis EUR "The euro zone is being buffeted by major headwinds." - Howard Archer, chief European economist at IHS Global Insight European manufacturing and services industries contracted in May. A composite index based on a survey of purchasing managers in manufacturing and services sectors declined to 45.9 from 46.7 in April, said the Markit Economics on Thursday. USD "It looks more and more like businesses are hesitating to invest in the face of worsening uncertainties in the and global economy." - Pierre Ellis, a senior economist at Decision Economics The number of Americans claiming for unemployment benefits declined slightly by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 370,000 in the week ended May 19 from the week before, said the Department of Labor on Thursday. GBP " ...

(Reuters) - Oil fell on Wednesday on growing hopes of a deal between Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog, which eased fears of oil supply disruption, while concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone and a slowing Chinese economy weighed on demand. The U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency expects to sign a deal with Iran soon to unblock investigations into suspected work on nuclear bombs in the oil-producing country. This improved the prospects for talks with Tehran to stop a drift towards conflict. Brent crude fell $1.39 to $107.02 per barrel. U.S. July crude fell $1.08 to $90.77. Brent crude oil has fallen from a peak of $128.40 at the start of May and is down 12.9 percent this quarter, its biggest such drop since the fourth quarter of 2008. Analysts said they believe there ...

MORNING BRIEFING: Investors driven by rumors as they wait for concrete solutions What’s new: Equity: Asian and US equities down on fears of a Greek euro exit JPY: Fitch downgrade Japan’s long term rating to “A+” with a negative outlook Forex: USD/JPY lower after BoJ stated it would keep its interest rate unchanged and made no changes to its QE. Forex: EUR/USD was sold-off in the US session after some rumors of a Greece’s contingency plan Rates in Asia and Indices: EUR/USD 1.2645 1.2689 -0.03 % USD/CHF 0.9466 0.9498 -0.02 % GBP/USD 1.5743 1.5772 -0.01 % USD/JPY 79.45 80.08 0.50 % EUR/CHF 1.2009 1.20135 0.02 % EUR/JPY 100.61 101.48 0.54 % Dow Jones 12447.33 12575.96 -0.01 % Nasdaq 2524.11 ...

Euro zone data released today showed that euro area growth stalled in the first quarter, amid the undergoing political uncertainty and fiscal woes. The GDP advanced reading for the first quarter showed a flat reading, following the 0.2% drop in the last quarter of 2011. On the year, the reading also came flat compared to the prior 0.3% drop. In fact, the reading beat expectations of seeing 0.3% contraction on the quarterly basis, probably boosted by the better-than-expected advance in the German reading which recorded 0.5% expansion. In France, the growth path stalled in the first quarter from a revised of 0.1% which was 0.2% initially. Although there is improvement in the region`s largest economy, yet it seems that Germany is moving solely as other euro area nations are ...

Brent crude futures fell towards $111 a barrel on Tuesday as Greece's political and economic turmoil deepened and worries that the debt-laden country could leave the euro zone sparked a sell-off in dollar-denominated commodities. Brent prices slid for a fourth consecutive day, hammered by fears of a slowdown in the global economy with European data due on Tuesday expected to show the region slipping back into a second recession in just three years. China's decision to loosen monetary policy over the weekend also fed fears that the global economy is suffering as the crisis worsens, causing investors to flee from riskier assets and weighing on copper, gold and the euro. Brent crude slipped 49 cents to $111.08 a barrel by 0452 GMT after sliding to $110.04 on Monday, its lowest intraday ...

Gold eased on Monday after elections in France and Greece at the weekend reflected strong anti-austerity feeling and raised concerns over the euro zone's ability to battle its debt crisis, knocking the euro to a three-month low versus the dollar. Greek voters in particular rejected the austerity-for-aid policies that have shielded the country from bankruptcy and a euro exit, dealing a serious blow to the euro zone's fragile political consensus on debt. Assets seen as higher risk, like stocks and commodities, came under pressure along with the euro. European stocks slumped to 4-1/2 month lows, Brent crude oil fell to its lowest since January, and safe-haven German Bund futures hit record highs. Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,639.60 an ounce at 0942 GMT, having earlier dropped as ...

Cautious markets ahead of US payrolls and weekend elections in Europe; RBA cuts GDP and CPI estimates Economic Data (AU) RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA (RBA) STATEMENT OF MONETARY POLICY: WILL ADJUST CASH RATES AS NEEDED TO FOSTER GROWTH AND LOW INFLATION (CN) CHINA APR HSBC SERVICES PMI: 54.1 V 53.3 PRIOR (HK) HONG KONG APR PURCHASING MANAGERS INDEX (PMI): 50.3 V 52.0 PRIOR (PH) PHILIPPINES APR CPI M/M: 0.8% V 0.4%E; Y/Y: 3.0% V 2.6%E Markets Snapshot (as of 04:30GMT) Nikkei225 closed S&P/ASX -0.7% Kospi -0.4% Taiwan Taiex +0.5% Singapore Straits Times Index -0.2% Shanghai Composite +0.1% Hang Seng -0.7% Jun S&P Futures unchanged at 1,385 June gold +0.1% at $1,635/oz June Crude +0.1% at $102.64 Overview/Top Headlines Markets remained cautious ahead of event risk in the US and ...

Worries intensified in markets, putting pressure on the euro, after today's data showed that Spain's first quarter GDP preliminary reading showed 0.3% contraction, in line with the advanced reading. Although the reading came better than forecasts of 0.4% contraction, it raised concerns as the Spanish economy falls into recession which coincides with banking problems and rise in Spanish bond yield which raised speculations Spain will ask for an international bailout. Spanish unemployment skyrocketed to 24.4%, marking the highest level since 18 years, on the back of the sharp austerity adopted by the government to trim budget shortfall to target, according to a report released last week. The main focus to remain on Spain this week after last week's downgrade from S&P; Spanish government ...

Another week is starting with mounting tensions in markets ahead as uncertainty prevails amid recession concerns, financial woes and political conflict in the euro area. This week, investors will continue to focus on the latest developments in the European debt crisis on hopes to find any signs of recovery. Regarding fundamentals, the spotlight will be on the euro area's main sectors, manufacturing and services, to track their development with the beginning of the second quarter. The final readings of PMI manufacturing and services are expected to remain unrevised, where last week the manufacturing sector showed a widening contraction to 46.0 in April from 47.7 and services also showed a contraction of 47.9 from 49.2 in March. Accordingly, PMI composite slipped to 47.4 from a prior of ...