Was Boosted Overnight

Yen gains after BOJ stands pat; World Bank cuts China outlook, April lending looks weak; EUR falls on Papademos "grexit" mention Economic Data (JP) BANK OF JAPAN (BOJ) LEAVES TARGET RATE RANGE UNCHANGED BETWEEN 0.0% TO 0.10% (AS EXPECTED); Keeps economic assessment unchanged; Maintains asset purchase fund at ¥70T (JP) JAPAN APR MERCHANDISE TRADE BALANCE TOTAL: -¥520B V -¥471BE; ADJUSTED: -¥480B V -¥617BE (US) NORTH AMERICA SEMI EQUIPMENT INDUSTRY APR SALES BOOK TO BILL RATIO: 1.10 V 1.13 PRIOR (3RD CONSECUTIVE MONTH ABOVE PARITY, 1st decline in 7 months) (AU) AUSTRALIA APR DEWR INTERNET SKILLED VACANCIES M/M: -0.8% V -0.5% PRIOR (4-month low) (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR WESTPAC LEADING INDEX M/M: 0.4% V 0.0% PRIOR (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR CONFERENCE BOARD LEADING INDEX M/M: +0.2% V 0.0% PRIOR (SG) ...

(Reuters) - Markets extended gains in Asia on Tuesday with investors hunting for bargains in shares beaten down to 2012 lows late last week, as hopes grew that Europe could agree on fresh action to tackle its debt crisis while promoting growth. A Chinese media report saying Beijing will accelerate infrastructure investments to combat slowing growth lifted Hong Kong and Chinese shares by 1.2 percent .HSI and 0.6 percent .SSEC respectively. European shares looked likely to extend gains, with financial spreadbetters predicting that major European markets .FTSE .FCHI .GDAXI would open as much as 1.0 percent higher. U.S. stock futures were up 0.1 percent. .EU .L .N MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS climbed 1.4 percent, having recovered on Monday from a ...

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 ...

Sunrise Market Commentary - Fixed Income Weak US payrolls push core bonds higher again - On Friday, it was weaker US payrolls that helped core bonds eke out more gains, but non-core bonds held up quite well. Spreads even narrowed in the intra-EMU bond markets. We fear that this won't be the case today, as French and Greek election results inject uncertainty into markets. - Currencies: Euro testing key support levels - On Friday, trading in the major euro cross rate was rather calm, but the pressure remained to the downside. The US payrolls were unable to change this pattern. This morning, EUR/USD is testing the key 1.2974 support while EUR/GBP is trading south of the 0.8068 level. A sustained break below these levels would raise a red alert for the single currency. The ...

(Reuters) - Asian shares rose on Thursday, retaining positive momentum as the Federal Reserve reassured markets it would keep its very accommodative stance to support growth, while optimism grew over strong quarterly corporate earnings. Investor confidence was also boosted by a rally in Apple Inc shares as it reported quarterly profits nearly doubling on the back of soaring iPhone sales in China, lifting tech-heavy Asian markets such as Taiwan and South Korea earlier in the day. There was skepticism Asian markets would climb as much as their global counterparts did overnight, however, as concerns remain over European banks, with Spain's Santander reporting its first-quarter results later in the session. European shares were likely to start mixed, with financial spreadbetters predicting ...

Forex Morning Briefing : BoJ keeps policy unchanged; Bernanke weighs on USD What’s new: Forex: Yen extends gains as BOJ stays on hold; Bernanke’s comments weigh on USD Global Markets: Asian shares slide as Chinese imports fell sharply Japan: Bank of Japan keeps rates, asset purchases on hold China: China posts unexpected trade surplus, but imports declined sharply United States: Fed Chairman Bernanke says US far from complete recovery Rates in Asia and Indices: EUR/USD 1.3089 - 1.3145 -0.06 % USD/CHF 0.9146 - 0.9178 -0.02 % GBP/USD 1.5875 - 1.5931 -0.09 % USD/JPY 81.26 - 81.87 +0.19 % EUR/CHF 1.20137 - 1.20261 +0.02 % EUR/JPY 106.43 - 107.47 +0.26 % Dow Jones 12903.78 - 13057.72 -0.99 % Nasdaq 2722.77 - 2751.44 -0.81 % S&P 500 1378.24 - ...

FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK at 0800 GMT (EDT +0400) WORLD The absence of fresh economic data releases overnight did nothing to address lingering investor uncertainty over the sustainability of the global recovery. This made for generally range-bound FX trading conditions, although optimism was momentarily boosted when USDCNY fixed at a new all-time-low of 6.2891. US President Obama and China‘s President Hu are due to meet in Seoul on Monday. The Japanese government nominated Ryutaro Kono as a new member of the BoJ Policy Board to replace one of two policymakers whose terms end in early April. Our economists note that Kono has hawkish tendencies and his endorsement by parliament – which is a prerequisite for his appointment to the board – is therefore not a foregone conclusion. Former RBA board ...

FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK at 0800 GMT (EDT +0400) USD The Australian dollar managed to steady itself overnight after Tuesday’s scare about China’s appetite for iron ore, but the currency could not fully recover lost ground. Tuesday’s comments from an Australian miner appeared to provide anecdotal evidence of a Chinese slowdown and we can expect AUD to show extreme sensitivity to any further remarks of this nature. China is after all Australia’s largest export market, and iron ore Australia’s single-biggest export. Any doubts raised about both factors simultaneously risk triggering a double-dose of downside each time. Crucially though, we doubt any selloff will last long unless miners react by shelving mine development and expansion plans in anticipation of weaker commodity prices. This has not ...

Morning Briefing : S&P500 above 1400 for the first time since 2008; Will the positive mood continue? What's new: Asia: Mixed session in Asia, awaiting direction from the US. Europe: General positive session. Sweden and UK slightly lower. US: Another positive session for stocks. USD sent lower. Gold: Boosted by the sell-off in the USD. Range-bound overnight. Forex rates in Asia and Indices: EURUSD: 1.3067 – 1.3100. USDCHF: 0.9217 – 0.9242. GBPUSD: 1.5694 - 1.5726. EURJPY: 109.01 – 109.39. USDJPY: 83.27– 83.62. DowJones: 13’252.76 +0.44% NASDAQ: 3'056.37 +0.51% S & P 500: 1'402.60 +0.60% Nikkei: 10’129.83 +0.06% Shanghai: 2'404.74 +1.3% Gold: $ 1'656.60 Crude Oil: $ 105.42 Comments: Yesterday, the market was pretty indecisive throughout the European session and it seemed like liquidity ...