25-04-13

South Korean economy grew this first quarter despite tensions with their neighbour to the north. North Korea has been asked by the South to consider reopening the Gaeseong Industrial Zone which has been closed since earlier this month. Stocks in Asia were up overall with the Japanese companies benefiting from the weakening JPY. China has cut oil product prices with petrol and diesel dropping by around 400 Yaun (US$64) a metric ton. USD/JPY was trading at 99.27 with a high of 99.55 and a low of 98.99 so far.

The NIKKEI closed at 13926.10 up 82.62 or 0.60%

The UK will release GDP figures this morning. Spanish unemployment figures hit a record high of 27.2% with 6.2 million out of work. Italy has a new Prime Minister in 46 year old, Enrico Letta, a member of the Democratic Party has been given the responsibility to form a new Government. EUR/USD was trading at 1.3047 with a high of 1.3061 and a low of 1.3010 so far.

The FTSE100 closed at 6445.63 up 13.87 points or 0.22% and the DAX closed at 7764.33 up just 5.30 or 0.07%

The US has seen demand for durable goods drop by 5.7%, double what the economists expected, is bad news for factories which make these items. The Fed meets this week and is expected to continue bond buying. CABLE was trading at 1.5296 with a high of 1.5334 and a low of 1.5264 so far but we awai the UK GDP figures to see if this will change.

The DOW closed at 14676.30 down 43.16 points or minus 0.29%

Have a nice day.