Lot Of Complacency In The Market

Gold prices fell on Wednesday, unwinding the previous day's advance to a two-week peak, after data showing weaker-than-expected U.S. manufactured goods orders and cautious comments from an ECB official spurred a flurry of selling. Bullion lost ground with base metals, crude oil, equities and the euro after the report showing a moderate, though disappointing, gain in February U.S. durable goods orders ignited selling. "There's some dollar strength, it's also a risk-off kind of a day. We're seeing a lot of commodities down and stocks are down," said Rick Bensignor, chief market strategist at Merlin Securities in New York. Spot gold was down 1.3 percent at $1,658.30 an ounce by 2:50 p.m. EDT (1850 GMT), after hitting its lowest since March 23 at $1,654.50 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for ...

(Reuters) - Asian shares hit their highest level in more than five months on Wednesday and the euro hovered close to an 8-week high as investors kept hopes alive for an agreement on details of a new Greek bailout package despite further delays. Financial spreadbetters expected Britain's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC-40 to open about 0.2-0.3 percent higher. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan, after a slow start, rose 0.9 percent to its highest in more than five months. The rise followed solid U.S. stocks overnight, which saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average touch its highest in 3 years and nine months, underlined by improved sentiment on recent above-forecast economic figures. The Asian index has risen 13 percent this year, outpacing a 7 percent rise ...

FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK at 0800 GMT (EDT +0400) USD Japan’s Finance Minister Azumi spoke but, unlike yesterday, did not mention EURJPY specifically. Intervention was still on his mind though. He said it would be hard for Japan to emulate the Swiss approach and defend a particular line in the sand, noting that the supply of yen in global markets is vast. This is the first time this idea has been so firmly rejected. He warned though that Japan stood ready to take firm steps against speculative FX moves. In Europe, the IIF is expected to resume debt talks with Greece today for a satisfactory conclusion on PSI involvement. The closer to the relevant deadlines the parties involved get, the bigger the risk of a large selloff if talks ultimately fail. Greece has already been talking openly about ...

(Reuters) - The euro is likely to post further losses in the coming week after it dropped on Friday to its lowest against the U.S. dollar in nearly 17 months and tumbled to an 11-year low versus the yen following a downgrade in credit ratings of nine euro zone countries. As widely expected, Standard and Poor's said it has downgraded the credit ratings of euro zone countries led by France, Spain, Italy and Austria. S&P, however, left Germany's triple A rating unchanged, with a stable outlook. Speculation about the downgrade roiled the currency market earlier in the session, and the actual ratings news provoked little market reaction. But analysts said the more serious blow to the euro's cause was the breakdown in talks between Greece and its creditor banks to slash the country's huge ...

(Reuters) - The euro on Friday dropped to its lowest against the U.S. dollar in nearly 17 months and tumbled to an 11-year low versus the yen, pressured by talk of a downgrade in the credit ratings of several euro zone countries later in the session. A senior euro zone government source said Standard & Poor's is set to downgrade the ratings of euro zone countries, but not Germany's. This was later confirmed by French Finance Minister Francois Baroin, who said France and other euro zone countries have been warned that it would be downgraded by S&P. The euro plunged to a low of $1.26240, its weakest level since late August 2010, on trading platform EBS. It last traded at $1.26641, down 1.3 percent on the day. The euro was on track for its third straight weekly loss, based on EBS data. The ...

The Weekly Bottom Line : 11/11/2011 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK United States This week markets laid siege to Italian sovereign debt, driving yields on 10-year bonds to levels not seen since the country adopted the common currency a decade ago. The longer such rates are sustained, the greater the risk that Italy becomes insolvent, and is forced into a messy default. Two things must happen for the crisis to be contained. First, investors must regain confidence in Italy's ability to make good on future debt obligations. Second, the European Central Bank (ECB) must act in a more aggressive role as lender of last resort. Stateside, the deficit reduction committee is nearing its November 23rd deadline for coming up with $1.2 trillion dollars in fiscal savings over the next decade. ...

Economic Data Analysis Fears of US Slowdown Overdone The ISM and nonfarm payroll reports for May will provide an important steer for markets this week. We expect above-consensus outturns to help redress some of the recent concerns about the US growth outlook. Euro area peripheral tensions remain acute, but we believe are overdone. With Germany opposed to a debt 'reprofiling' in Greece, an easing in tensions may soon clear the path for a recovery in risk sentiment. Forward looking indicators dominate the UK calendar with the latest PMIs and Lloyds Business Barometer watched for their implications for Q2/Q3 GDP. US non-farm payrolls (May): The recent patch of soft US activity data has raised the significance of Friday's report, as payroll employment is an important coincident ...

Wall Street fell more than 1 percent on Monday as sovereign debt fears on both sides of the Atlantic and China's monetary tightening hurt the outlook for global economic growth. However, equities ended off their lows as some analysts said the sell-off was overdone, though the decline was still the largest in a month. Standard & Poor's revised its outlook on the United States credit rating downward to "negative" on a poor U.S. budget outlook, while China took additional measures to curb liquidity. Meanwhile, financial markets are increasingly convinced that Greece will have to renegotiate the terms of its public debt, though Greek officials denied that some form of rescheduling was imminent. Four stocks fell for every one that rose on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq. In ...

U.S. stock indexes fell more than 1 percent in heavy volume on Monday after Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit outlook of the United States, adding to worries about the global economy after China moved to curb liquidity. Investors also focused on Greece, where financial markets are increasingly convinced the country will have to renegotiate the terms of its public debt. Greek officials denied that some form of debt rescheduling was imminent. The CBOE Volatility Index .VIX rose 11.2 percent, after earlier climbing as much as 24.5 percent, its largest daily percentage jump since February 22. It closed on Friday at its lowest since July 2007. S&P downgraded its outlook on the United States credit rating to negative, saying it believes there's a risk U.S. policymakers may not reach ...