|
 Global stocks, however, touched a fresh record high thanks to
renewed strength in Asian markets, while Brent oil surged to its
highest this year after figures showed a fall in U.S. production.
Investors also fretted about the deepening crisis in Greece. Credit
rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Greece and there appeared
to be no thaw in the icy rift between Athens and its creditors that
would unlock bailout funds and bring the country back from the brink
of default.
In early trade Germany's 10-year yield was down almost a basis point
at a new low of 0.087 percent <DE10YT=TWEB>. The yields on all
German government debt out to January 2024 were negative.
Other notable levels included France's 30-year yield falling further
below 1 percent and the yield on two-year Portuguese bonds flirting
with going below zero.
"We see no end in sight to any of these trends," said Ciaran
O'Hagan, rates strategist at Societe Generale in Paris.
Borrowing costs in peripheral euro zone bond markets like Spain and
Italy rose, however, as the prospect of Greece and the euro zone
reaching agreement appeared to fade.
This also fed into European stocks, encouraging investors to take
profit on the previous day's ECB-fuelled rally to fresh historic
highs.
The EuroFirst300 index of Europe's leading 300 shares <.FTEU3> was
down a quarter of one percent at 1,645 points, Germany's DAX was 0.8
percent lower at 12,136 points <.GDAXI>, while France's CAC40
<.FCHI> and Britain's FTSE100 <.FTSE> were both down a quarter of
one percent.
Earlier in Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> touched a seven-year high and closed
up 1.1 percent. South Korean, Australian, Chinese and Malaysian
stocks gained, pushing the MSCI global index to a new high of 438.99
points <.MIWD00000PUS>.
Japan's Nikkei <.N225> lost 0.1 percent, and U.S. futures pointed to
a slightly weaker open on Wall Street as investors pause for breath
after shares posted sizable gains on Wednesday on several strong
corporate earnings results.
OIL JUMPS
Lackluster economic indicators have been mostly kind to risk assets
this week, with Wednesday's weak Chinese data further boosting
expectations of monetary stimulus by Beijing while soft U.S. data
has helped by dampening prospects of an early rate hike by the
Federal Reserve.
In currencies, the biggest mover on Thursday was the Aussie, lifted
to a three-week high as stronger-than-expected Australian employment
numbers reduced the odds of an interest rate cut in the next few
months.
[to top of second column]
|
The Australian dollar was up 0.8 percent at $0.7745 <AUD=D4>.
[ECONAU]
The euro was 0.5 percent lower at $1.0630 <EUR=>, weighed down by
ECB President Mario Draghi's commitment on Wednesday to seeing the
central bank fulfill its bond-buying program. This quashed
speculation in some quarters that the program's success could lead
to an early "taper".
"From the perspective of the euro we have one clear conclusion: the
message from Draghi is that nothing has changed and that we are only
at the very start of the QE easing that is coming," said Derek
Halpenny, senior currency strategist at BTMU in London.
The U.S. dollar, which neared 121 yen at the start of the week, was
up 0.2 percent against the yen at 119.33 yen <JPY=> after slipping
to 118.79 overnight.
The market will look to U.S. housing data later in the day for
further dollar incentives.
A surge in crude oil also supported commodity currencies such as the
Canadian dollar <CAD=>. Crude rallied overnight after government
data showed oil inventories in the United States rose less than
expected last week. [O/R]
Brent crude <LCOc1> rose as much as 5 percent overnight to a high of
$63.10 a barrel, its highest since December last year. It was last
trading at $62.60.
U.S. crude <CLc1> was at $56.00 a barrel after jumping nearly 6
percent on Wednesday.
(Editing by Susan Fenton; To read Reuters Global Investing Blog
click on http://blogs.reuters.com/globalinvesting; for the
MacroScope Blog click on http://blogs.reuters.com/macroscope; for
Hedge Fund Blog Hub click on http://blogs.reuters.com/hedgehub)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
