· Asian stocks rose, with a regional equities gauge heading for the highest close in a month, after a report showed China’s economy grew 7.5 percent in the second quarter, matching economists’ estimates. · The dollar index .DXY was a touch softer at 82.915 in early trade, having slid to a two-week low of 82.418 last week. · Gold more than doubled from 2008 to a record $1,923.70 an ounce in September 2011 as the Fed cut interest rates to a record low and bought debt. Prices plunged into a bear market in April as some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value. · Last week’s rally means gold has now reversed most of the losses made after Bernanke said June 19 that the central bank may start paring the pace of bond buying this year and end the purchases around the middle of next year if the economy improves. The metal is still down 24 percent for the year. · Hedge funds raised bets on higher gold prices for a second week as comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke damped expectations for an imminent tapering of stimulus. Futures rose the most since 2011. · The U.S. needs “highly accommodative monetary policy for the foreseeable future,” Bernanke said July 10. Minutes from the Fed’s June policy meeting showed many officials wanted a stronger labor market before tapering bond purchases. · Speculators increased their net-long position by 4.1 percent to 35,691 futures and options, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data for July 9 show. Net holdings expanded even as speculators increased short bets to a record. · China’s 20-year economic boom has boosted the wealth of its 1.3 billion citizens at the fastest pace worldwide and spawned some of the biggest companies in history. Foreigners earned less than 1 percent a year investing in Chinese stocks, a sixth of what they would have made owning U.S. Treasury bills. · China’s industrial production increased 8.9 percent in June from a year earlier, today’s report showed. That’s below a median 9.1 percent advance forecast by 44 economists in a Bloomberg survey and also lags a 9.2 percent gain in May. · Among other factors, the Aussie has been under siege this year because of slack economic growth in China, the world’s second-largest economy behind the U.S. Due to China’s recent penchant for delivering disappointing economic data, a raft of global banks have revised downward their forecasts for 2013 Chinese GDP growth. · In Asian trading Monday, EUR/USD fell 0.07% to 1.3060. Last Friday, the euro came under pressure after ratings agency Fitch downgraded France from its triple-A rating, citing growing government debt levels and the weak outlook for economic growth. · West Texas Intermediate crude fluctuated near a two-day high on speculation that sustained growth in China will bolster fuel demand in the world’s second-largest oil consumer.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 09:50:24 +0000
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