Crude oil, copper and the Australian dollar declined and Asian stockswere little changed as signs of a strengthening U.S. economy were countered by concern that Europe may enter a recession.
Oil retreated 0.5 percent to $101.74 a barrel and copper for three-month delivery fell 0.8 percent to $7,675 a metric ton, while the Australian dollar weakened against 15 of its 16 major counterparts. TheMSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) was at 116.22 as of 11:15 a.m. inTokyo. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.2 percent after the U.S. equity benchmark closed at five- month high. The euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.2753.
Confidence among American small businesses rose for a fourth month and U.S. employers took on more workers in November, according to economic reports released yesterday. Data later today may show Germany’s economic growth slowed last year and Spanish industrial production shrank by the most since 2009.
“There are more positive signs, particularly on employment and consumer” spending in the U.S., said Stephen Halmarick, Sydney-based head of investment markets research at Colonial First State Global Asset Management, which oversees about $150 billion. “The outlook in the U.S. is for modest growth this year, and that’s better than Europe. Expectations are Europe will be in a recession.”
Bond Sales
Spain will auction as much as 5 billion euros ($6.4 billion) of bonds due 2015 and 2016 tomorrow, while Italy is scheduled to sell 12 billion euros of bills.
S&P 500 futures expiring in March fell to 1,283.60 and Nasdaq 100 Index futures slid 0.4 percent. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the world’s largest software maker, said industrywide sales of personal computers will probably be lower than analysts projected in the fourth quarter because supply was hurt by flooding in Thailand.
The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) was little changed after surging 6.4 percent in the past three days. Inflation may have exceeded the benchmark one-year deposit rate for the 23rd straight month in December, when consumer prices probably rose 4 percent, according to the median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey. The data is due for release tomorrow.
(source: Bloomberg)
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11/01/2012 10:55:25 AM | 