23.08.13

Asian shares gained ground for the first time in three days, as the JPY weakened. Bank of Japan Governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, will attend a three day annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Data from China show that over USD70 billion of foreign investment has poured into the country. Although Chinese growth figures have been revised down recently, the country still seems an attractive investment choice with the foreign investment up over 7% on the same period last year. The USD/JPY was trading at 98.91 with a high of 99.13 and a low of 98.65 so far.

The NIKKEI closed at 13660.50 up 295.38 or 2.21%

German figures released today show a 0.5% increase in GDP for the year. Good news ahead of the elections and one less thing for Chancellor Merkel to worry about, after news that Greece would likely need a third bailout. Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, made remarks which have led to some voters and commentators saying that the Chancellor has been avoiding the issue when she said that the Greek issue could not be dealt with until mid-2014. EUR/USD was trading at 1.3338 with a high of 1.3367 and a low of 1.3334 so far.

The FTSE100 closed at 6423.40 down 23.47 or minus 0.36% while the DAX closed at 8368.11 down 29.78 or minus 0.35%

Following jobless claims figures yesterday which show 336k applications for benefits filed, the four week moving average fell to a level not seen since November 2007. This possibly hints that the US economy is on track to improve further in the latter half of the year, and Dallas Federal Reserve President, Richard Fisher, said that he thinks the economy is strong enough for the tapering process to begin. New Home Sales figures are released later today. NATURAL GAS prices rose yesterday following lower than expected inventory levels. NGAS gapped up from 3.505 to 3.535 on the figures yesterday, and is now trading at 3.541.

The DOW closed at 14963.70 up 66.19 or 0.44%

Have a nice day.