By Claudia Carpenter and Lynn Thomasson - Apr 17, 2012 9:34 PM GMT+0700
Stocks and commodities advanced after Spain sold more debt than targeted and the International Monetary Fund increased its forecasts for global economic growth. The pound climbed as U.K. inflation unexpectedly accelerated.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 1 percent at 10:33 a.m. in New York and the Stoxx Europe (SXXP) 600 Index advanced 1.6 percent. The yield on the Spanish 10-year bond fell 17 basis points to 5.90 percent, with the similar-maturity Italian yield 10 basis points lower. Ten-year Treasury yields increased two basis points to 2.00 percent. The pound strengthened against 12 of its 16 most-traded peers after U.K. consumer prices rose 3.5 percent in March, the first increase in six months.
A Spanish national flag flies above the headquarters of the Madrid Stock Exchange in Madrid. Photographer: Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg
April 17 (Bloomberg) -- David Bloom, global head of currency strategy at HSBC Holdings Plc, talks about the euro, dollar, Norwegian krone, yen and Australian dollar. He speaks with Mark Barton Bloomberg Television's "On the Move." (Source: Bloomberg)
April 17 (Bloomberg) -- Dominic Schnider, global head of commodity research at UBS AG's wealth management unit, discusses the outlook for commodity prices and demand. He speaks from Singapore with Owen Thomas on Bloomberg Television's "Countdown." (Source: Bloomberg)
April 16 (Bloomberg) -- Jeremy Stretch, head of currency strategy at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, discusses the outlook for the Chinese economy and yuan, the European firewall and his forecast for the euro. He speaks with Caroline Hyde on Bloomberg Television's "First Look." (Source: Bloomberg)
April 17 (Bloomberg) -- Matthew McLennan, portfolio manager at First Eagle Funds, talks about his investment strategy. He speaks with Erik Schatzker on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)
The IMF increased its outlook for global growth in 2012 to 3.5 percent from 3.3 percent and lifted its forecast for the U.S. expansion to 2.1 percent from 1.8 percent. Spain sold 12- month and 18-month bills a day after yields on its 10-year bonds reached the highest level this year. German’s ZEW survey of investor confidence unexpectedly rose to a two-year high.
“Today is a decent day in building investor confidence,” said Kit Juckes, head of foreign exchange at Societe Generale SA in London. “Better data out of Germany and decent support for Spain’s bill auction have at least stopped the rot for now.”
Oil Discovery
The S&P 500 climbed for the first time in three days, with energy and technology shares leading gains in nine of the 10 main industries. Apple Inc. climbed 2.4 percent, rebounding from a five-day, 8.8 percent tumble. Coca-Cola Co. rose 2.5 percent after profit topped estimates, helped by demand in North America.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. swung between gains and losses after reporting earnings that beat estimates and boosting its dividend by 31 percent, while posting revenue from trading bonds, currencies and commodities that lagged behind Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co..
The Stoxx 600 extended its rebound from four straight weeks of losses. Banco Santander SA, Spain’s biggest lender, and London-based Barclays Plc rose more than 2 percent to help lead banking shares to the biggest advance among 19 industries. Afren Plc soared 7.3 percent after reporting a “significant” oil discovery in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Repsol YPF SA, Spain’s largest oil company, dropped 6.6 percent after the Argentine government took control of one of its units. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner seized control of YPF, replacing Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Eskenazi with Planning Minister Julio De Vido.
Euro Weakens
The euro weakened against 12 of 16 major peers, while gaining 0.3 percent against the yen. The shared currency was little changed versus the dollar at $1.3130.
The yield premium investors demand to hold Spanish 10-year government debt instead of benchmark German bunds declined 20 basis points to 416 basis points, or 4.16 percentage points, after yesterday reaching the highest level since November. Spain sold 3.18 billion euros of bills, compared with a maximum target of 3 billion euros.
Germany’s ZEW Center for European Economic Research’s index of investor and analyst expectations, which aims to predict economic developments six months in advance, increased to 23.4 from 22.3 in March. Economists forecast a drop to 19, according to the median of 39 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.
Japan said it will provide $60 billion to the International Monetary Fund’s effort to expand its resources and shield the global economy against any deepening of Europe’s debt crisis. Finance Minister Jun Azumi made the commitment while speaking to reporters in Tokyo today before semiannual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington April 20-22.
Commodities Gain
The S&P GSCI index of raw materials rose 0.8 percent, halting a two-day drop, as oil, aluminum and nickel gained at least 1.7 percent to lead an advance in 20 of 24 commodities.
The MSCI Emerging Markets was little changed. Taiwan’s TAIEX dropped 1.9 percent. China’s inbound investment fell for a fifth month, the government said. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.9 percent.
The Sensex (SENSEX) index of Indian shares rose 1.2 percent on a higher-than-forecast benchmark interest rate cut. The Reserve Bank of India cut the repurchase rate by 0.5 percentage points to 8 percent, as predicted by three of 25 economists in a Bloomberg survey.
To contact the reporters on this story: Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net; Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael P. Regan at mregan12@bloomberg.net
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment