Onion prices to come down after Diwali: Dikshit

New Delhi, Nov 2 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit Saturday said the onion prices in the national capital would come down after Diwali as new stocks were all set to arrive by next week.

Dikshit, who had come to power defeating the then Bharatiya Janata Party government in 1998 riding on high onion prices, said her government has spoken to the onion suppliers from various states in the country and managed to get stock of onions to tackle the crisis.

"The wholesale price of onion will be Rs.10 whereas retail price will be around Rs.45-46," she added.

Dikshit also released a three-minute short film, sung by pop singer-turned-politician Daler Mehendi, showing developments of the Congress government during her tenure of 15 years.

She said the film would be shown in every theatre of the capital and in the Congress vans that visit constituencies.

View the original article here

Global Markets - Euro on the ropes after dive in inflation

By Marc Jones

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro tumbled to a two-week low on Friday after a plunge in euro zone inflation left markets suddenly eyeing the possibility of an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank next week.

European shares saw a subdued end to what looked to be a fourth week of gains, but the combination of Thursday's surprise dive in inflation to just 0.7 percent and a revitalised dollar kept the main focus on the fragile euro.

After its biggest fall in six months in the previous session, the shared currency shed a further 0.6 percent to $1.3513, leaving it flirting with its biggest weekly drop since July last year.

"It is clear that there has been a major sentiment change on the euro," said John Hardy, head of FX strategy at Saxo bank in Copenhagen.

"The ECB's single mandate has always been on inflation so this gives Draghi and co further reason to do something at next week's meeting. We see considerable further downside, the likes of euro/dollar back into the old range, down towards $1.30."

A handful of big banks including UBS, RBS and Bank of America/Merrill Lynch revised their calls saying they now expect a rate cut next week and the pressure on the euro increased after banks made their biggest repayment of ECB crisis loans since April.

The move was also amplified as the dollar continued to kick away from a recent nine-month low, boosted by upbeat U.S. data overnight that added to the debate on future Fed stimulus.

U.S. S&P E-mini futures edged up about 0.2 percent, pointing to a slightly higher start on Wall Street, after the S&P 500 Index closed down about 0.4 percent on Thursday but still gained 4.5 percent for the month.

Stock markets across Europe were between flat and down 0.5 percent ahead of the U.S. restart, pegged back by signs of third-quarter weakness at some major European firms.

At the same time, the return of bets on an ECB rate cut saw euro zone government bonds extend this week's gains.

TAPER TALK

Markets' focus remains heavily on U.S. monetary policy and how soon the Federal Reserve will begin tapering back its $85 billion a month support programme, having delayed a move in September.

The ISM survey of manufacturing for October will give investors the latest temperature reading on the state of the U.S. economy after some upbeat PMI data on Thursday.

"If the ISM report is better than expected, it could add to revived tapering expectations, and U.S. yields and the dollar could go up and stocks could go down," said Masashi Murata, senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in Tokyo.

Not all players are convinced that this week's U.S. newsflow heralds a shift in monetary policy expectations, given the disruption caused by last month's Federal shutdown.

"The existence of noise in the October data will likely make it difficult for the Fed to gather enough evidence to start tapering in December," strategists at Barclays said in a note.

CHINA REASSURES

In Asian trading, reassuring signals on China's factory activity offered support to the region's markets, though Tokyo's Nikkei finished at a one-week low as the yen strengthened against the euro.

Among commodities, gold dropped to $1,313 an ounce leaving it at its lowest in nearly two weeks, hurt by sharp losses in the previous session from month-end profit-taking, the strong U.S. economic data and the higher dollar.

Copper got a lift from the China data, rising to $7,282 a tonne and back toward a one-week peak of $7,300 hit on Thursday. But it was not enough to help oil, with Brent falling back to $107.8 a barrel as U.S. crude slid to $95.72.

"There were reports that some of the ports in Libya were reopening and any signs that that oil is coming back online is going to hit the oil price," said Abhishek Deshpande, oil market analyst for Nataxis in London.

"There are also signs of generally lower season demand for oil at the moment as China's refineries go into maintenance."

(Additional reporting by Lisa Twaronite in Tokyo; Editing by Patrick Graham and Susan Fenton)

View the original article here

Wall Street ends higher after factory data; Dow, S&P up for week

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Friday after surprisingly strong manufacturing data overshadowed expectations that the Federal Reserve might reduce stimulus earlier than expected.

The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 rose for the week as well, their fourth straight week of gains.

Factory activity expanded around the world, several business surveys showed, with Chinese manufacturers reporting the fastest upturn in 18 months. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Friday its index of U.S. factory activity rose to 56.4 in October, its best reading since April 2011.

While the news underscored views that the Federal Reserve may be considering scaling back its stimulus sooner than some market participants have been expecting, it also gave investors surprising evidence of the manufacturing sector's strength.

The reports "confirmed that maybe the economy isn't quite as weak or rolling over" as some expected, said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia, which manages about $58 billion in assets.

The Fed on Wednesday decided to continue its stimulus program, citing economic weakness.

Boeing Co shares gained 1.9 percent to $133.03, a day after it said it would increase production of its 737 aircraft to 47 planes per month by 2017 from 38 now - a move that analysts said bodes well for the company.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> rose 69.80 points, or 0.45 percent, to end at 15,615.55. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> gained 5.10 points, or 0.29 percent, to finish at 1,761.64. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> added 2.34 points, or 0.06 percent, to close at 3,922.04.

For the week, the Dow rose 0.3 percent and the S&P 500 gained 0.1 percent, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.5 percent.

On the Nasdaq, shares of First Solar Inc jumped 17.6 percent to $59.14 after the U.S. solar panel manufacturer's results beat forecasts and the company raised its full-year profit outlook.

Among decliners, shares of Chevron Corp slid 1.6 percent to $118.01 after third-quarter revenue fell short of expectations.

American International Group Inc dropped 6.5 percent to $48.28, a day after the insurer reported earnings that slightly beat expectations. However, analysts expected better results in the insurer's consumer lines business and said it benefited from a favorable tax rate this most recent quarter.

The latest results show the mixed picture in earnings. With about 74 percent of S&P 500 companies having reported results so far, 68.5 percent have topped Wall Street's expectations, above the long-term average of 63 percent, while just 53.3 percent have topped revenue forecasts, below the 61 percent average since 2002, Thomson Reuters data showed.

Although the three major U.S. stock indexes ended Friday's session with modest gains, the market's breadth was negative.

Decliners outnumbered advancers by a ratio of 8 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, while on the Nasdaq, three stocks fell for every two that rose.

(Additional reporting by Luke Swiderski Editing by Nick Zieminski and Jan Paschal)

View the original article here

Global Markets - Euro on the ropes after dive in inflation

By Marc Jones

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro tumbled to a two-week low on Friday after a plunge in euro zone inflation left markets suddenly eyeing the possibility of an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank next week.

European shares saw a subdued end to what looked to be a fourth week of gains, but the combination of Thursday's surprise dive in inflation to just 0.7 percent and a revitalised dollar kept the main focus on the fragile euro.

After its biggest fall in six months in the previous session, the shared currency shed a further 0.6 percent to $1.3513, leaving it flirting with its biggest weekly drop since July last year.

"It is clear that there has been a major sentiment change on the euro," said John Hardy, head of FX strategy at Saxo bank in Copenhagen.

"The ECB's single mandate has always been on inflation so this gives Draghi and co further reason to do something at next week's meeting. We see considerable further downside, the likes of euro/dollar back into the old range, down towards $1.30."

A handful of big banks including UBS, RBS and Bank of America/Merrill Lynch revised their calls saying they now expect a rate cut next week and the pressure on the euro increased after banks made their biggest repayment of ECB crisis loans since April.

The move was also amplified as the dollar continued to kick away from a recent nine-month low, boosted by upbeat U.S. data overnight that added to the debate on future Fed stimulus.

U.S. S&P E-mini futures edged up about 0.2 percent, pointing to a slightly higher start on Wall Street, after the S&P 500 Index closed down about 0.4 percent on Thursday but still gained 4.5 percent for the month.

Stock markets across Europe were between flat and down 0.5 percent ahead of the U.S. restart, pegged back by signs of third-quarter weakness at some major European firms.

At the same time, the return of bets on an ECB rate cut saw euro zone government bonds extend this week's gains.

TAPER TALK

Markets' focus remains heavily on U.S. monetary policy and how soon the Federal Reserve will begin tapering back its $85 billion a month support programme, having delayed a move in September.

The ISM survey of manufacturing for October will give investors the latest temperature reading on the state of the U.S. economy after some upbeat PMI data on Thursday.

"If the ISM report is better than expected, it could add to revived tapering expectations, and U.S. yields and the dollar could go up and stocks could go down," said Masashi Murata, senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in Tokyo.

Not all players are convinced that this week's U.S. newsflow heralds a shift in monetary policy expectations, given the disruption caused by last month's Federal shutdown.

"The existence of noise in the October data will likely make it difficult for the Fed to gather enough evidence to start tapering in December," strategists at Barclays said in a note.

CHINA REASSURES

In Asian trading, reassuring signals on China's factory activity offered support to the region's markets, though Tokyo's Nikkei finished at a one-week low as the yen strengthened against the euro.

Among commodities, gold dropped to $1,313 an ounce leaving it at its lowest in nearly two weeks, hurt by sharp losses in the previous session from month-end profit-taking, the strong U.S. economic data and the higher dollar.

Copper got a lift from the China data, rising to $7,282 a tonne and back toward a one-week peak of $7,300 hit on Thursday. But it was not enough to help oil, with Brent falling back to $107.8 a barrel as U.S. crude slid to $95.72.

"There were reports that some of the ports in Libya were reopening and any signs that that oil is coming back online is going to hit the oil price," said Abhishek Deshpande, oil market analyst for Nataxis in London.

"There are also signs of generally lower season demand for oil at the moment as China's refineries go into maintenance."

(Additional reporting by Lisa Twaronite in Tokyo; Editing by Patrick Graham and Susan Fenton)

View the original article here

Asian shares sag, dollar up after upbeat U.S. data

By Lisa Twaronite

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares struggled on Friday, while the dollar pushed higher after upbeat U.S. data added to uncertainty over when the Federal Reserve will begin tapering its massive stimulus programme.

Reassuring signals on China's factory activity capped losses for equities, however.

China's manufacturing sector grew at the fastest pace in 18 months in October, with the official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rising to 51.4 last month from September's 51.1, beating economists' consensus forecast of 51.2.

A separate private report, the final HSBC/Markit PMI, came in at 50.9, up from 50.2 in September and unchanged from a preliminary flash estimate released last week.

"China is on track for a gradual growth recovery," said Hongbin Qu, HSBC's chief economist for China, in a statement accompanying the PMI.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 percent, while Japan's Nikkei stock average extended losses in the afternoon session, dropping 1.2 percent.

U.S. S&P E-mini futures edged up slightly, after the S&P 500 Index closed down about 0.4 percent but still gained 4.5 percent for the month.

Later on Friday, the U.S. ISM survey of manufacturing for October could offer investors a fresh signal on the Fed's future course.

"If the ISM report is better than expected, it could add to revived tapering expectations, and U.S. yields and the dollar could go up and stocks could go down," said Masashi Murata, senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in Tokyo.

Data on Thursday showed the pace of business activity in the U.S. Midwest jumped more than expected in October, soothing some worries about sluggish fourth-quarter growth after last month's federal government shutdown.

A decline in new jobless claims in the latest week also added to evidence that the economy weathered the shutdown. New claims fell by 10,000 to 340,000, just above the average estimate of 339,000.

Still, not all investors or economists were convinced that the latest U.S. data heralded a shift in monetary policy expectations.

"The existence of noise in the October data will likely make it difficult for the Fed to gather enough evidence to start tapering in December," strategists at Barclays wrote in a note to clients, adding that they still to expect the central bank to begin reducing its current $85 billion monthly bond purchases in March 2014.

PRESSURE ON EURO

The euro remained under pressure after plunging in the previous session as euro-zone inflation dropped to its lowest rate in nearly four years, heightening expectations that the European Central Bank will further ease its monetary policy.

The euro dropped about 0.2 percent to $1.3557, moving away from a two-year peak of $1.3833 set one week ago. On Thursday, it suffered its biggest one-day fall against the greenback in six months, tumbling 1.1 percent.

Data on Thursday showed euro-area inflation slowed to a four-year low of 0.7 percent last month, far below the ECB's target of just under 2 percent. Other data showed unemployment held at record highs in September.

The dollar index <.dxy>, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was on track for a sixth session of gains, rising about 0.1 percent to 80.296 after touching a two-week peak of 80.418 and pulling further away from a nine-month trough of 78.998 hit one week ago.

Against the Japanese currency, the dollar was about 0.4 percent lower on the day at 97.94 yen.

In commodities trading, gold steadied but was still trading close to its lowest in nearly two weeks, hurt by sharp losses in the previous session from month-end profit-taking, the strong U.S. economic data and the higher dollar.

Spot gold edged up 0.1 percent to $1,324.86 an ounce, after sliding 1.4 percent on Thursday.

Copper got a lift from the China data, rising 0.1 percent to $7,256 a tonne, moving back toward a one-week peak of $7,300 hit on Thursday.

Brent crude for December was slightly up at $109.05 a barrel, while U.S. crude also edged up to $96.46.

(Additional reporting by Natalie Thomas in Beijing; Editing by Eric Meijer & Kim Coghill)

View the original article here

Gold eases on stronger dollar after Fed statement

By Clara Denina

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold slipped to one-week lows on Thursday as the dollar gained after the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest policy outlook was deemed less dovish than some had wagered on.

The metal had gained ground over the past two weeks, hitting a five-week high on Tuesday in anticipation of the Fed's decision.

But it fell after the U.S. central bank did not sound quite as alarmed about the state of the economy as some had anticipated, although it kept its $85 billion-a-month stimulus plan intact.

"The market was expecting that in light of the government shutdown and weaker data there was going to be a supportive statement, perhaps more dovish than it has been in recent months, but it didn't move in that direction," Macquarie analyst Matthew Turner said.

Spot gold was down 0.5 percent at $1,335.36 an ounce by 1102 GMT, after falling to its lowest since October 24 at $1,330.16.

Comex gold futures slipped 1 percent to a one-week low of $1,330, while silver dropped nearly 3 percent.

The dollar hovered near a two-week high and U.S. Treasury yields stood above 2.5 percent.

Gold prices have fallen nearly 20 percent this year in the expectation of an imminent scaling back of monetary stimulus by the Fed, but a budget battle in Washington and a string of weak economic data had raised questions over whether it would begin that process this year, giving bullion a boost.

"With this event risk now behind us, the market will go back into data-watch mode," said ANZ analyst Victor Thianpiriya. "For gold, the intraday moves will continue to be driven by gyrations in the U.S. dollar."

The market will monitor U.S. weekly jobless claims at 1230 GMT and Chicago PMI numbers for October at 1345 GMT.

Bullion was also undermined by slow physical buying in Asia, especially China.

Prices on the Shanghai Gold Exchange have trended lower than global prices due to fears of a cash crunch.

Net purchases by the Chinese from Hong Kong, however, totalled 110.914 tonnes in September, compared with 110.505 tonnes in August, according to data from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department.

Spot silver was down 1.3 percent to $22.32 an ounce, well below its highest since September 20 at $23.06 hit in the previous session.

Spot platinum fell 0.8 percent at $1,458.90 an ounce. Spot palladium lost 0.3 percent at $740.72 an ounce.

(Additional reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi in Singapore; editing by Jason Neely)

View the original article here

Wall St edges up after weak inflation data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged up at the open on Tuesday after data showed a dip in producer prices last month, which should support continuing an easy monetary policy by the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 37.66 points or 0.24 percent, to 15,606.59, the S&P 500 gained 4.63 points or 0.26 percent, to 1,766.74 and the Nasdaq Composite added 14.457 points or 0.37 percent, to 3,954.585.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

View the original article here

Wall Street edges up after earnings, data

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged higher on Thursday, as investors grappled with a host of corporate earnings and muddled batch of economic data.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell less than expected as California continued to process a backlog of applications caused by computer problems.

Financial data firm Markit said its "flash," or preliminary, U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index grew at its slowest pace in a year this month and factory output contracted for the first time since late 2009. The survey was conducted partly during a 16-day U.S. government shutdown that economists expect will slow overall U.S. growth slightly in the last three months of 2013.

With a mixed bag of corporate earnings so far, any additional gains in the equity market will likely stem from expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue its stimulus measures, which have propped up the equity market and economy for much of the year.

The S&P 500 <.spx> has risen 1.5 percent since politicians in Washington ended a stalemate October 16 to avoid a debt default and end a partial government shutdown, culminating in a fresh record high on Tuesday, but the damage to the economy has led investors to expect the Fed to delay scaling back its stimulus for several months.

"With the market having hit the 1,760 level earlier this week, we should probably drift sideways for a while and consolidate," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors in New York.

"We think the direction of the market is higher but we may have gotten to 1,760 too quickly and that is why we need to consolidate a bit."

Corporate earnings continue to pour in, with 47 S&P 500 components expected to report Thursday, including Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc after the close.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 65 points or 0.42 percent, to 15,478.33, the S&P 500 gained 2.72 points or 0.16 percent, to 1,749.1 and the Nasdaq Composite added 11.438 points or 0.29 percent, to 3,918.512.

Dow component 3M Co rose 0.6 percent to $123.91 after it reported a 6 percent rise in quarterly profit with higher sales across all its businesses.

Visa Inc rose 1.6 percent to $202.03 as the top boost to the Dow after the credit card payment processor boosted its annual dividend.

Ford Motor Co rose 1.9 percent to $17.86 after the second-largest U.S. automaker boosted its full-year global earnings and margin outlook, helped by an improved forecast in Europe and better-than-expected results in the third quarter.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski)

View the original article here

Wall Street gains on Fed hopes; Amazon.com up after the bell

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks resumed their upward move on Thursday as economic data underscored views U.S. monetary stimulus will be in place for the foreseeable future and as earnings offered some upbeat news.

Shares of PulteGroup Inc jumped after the homebuilder reported results and said a slowdown in new home orders would be "short-lived." Its shares jumped 7 percent to $17.85 and were the biggest percentage gainer on the S&P 500, while shares of D.R. Horton Inc rose 2.1 percent to $19.87 and Beazer Homes Inc added 1.5 percent to $19.41.

Economic data showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell less than expected in the latest week, though analysts noted a backlog of applications in California. On Tuesday, data showed that employers added fewer jobs than expected in September.

The day's data also included a preliminary look at Markit's October Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, which grew at its slowest pace in a year while factory output contracted for the first time since late 2009.

Expectations the Fed will continue its stimulus have helped stocks all year, with the S&P 500 index up 22.8 percent so far for 2013.

The S&P 500 declined on Wednesday, ending its four-session streak of record high finishes. Last week's legislation to avoid a debt default and end a partial government shutdown gave way to a relief rally and speculation that the Federal Reserve will delay scaling back its stimulus for several months.

"You've got this underlying liquidity surge that's propping prices up, and earnings season hasn't been poor," said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 95.88 points, or 0.62 percent, at 15,509.21. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 5.69 points, or 0.33 percent, at 1,752.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 21.89 points, or 0.56 percent, at 3,928.96.

After the bell, Twitter said it intends to sell 70 million shares priced between $17 and $20 in an initial public offering that will value the company at as much as $10.9 billion.

Ford shares rose 1.4 percent to $17.76 after the automaker boosted its full-year global earnings and margin outlook, helped by an improved forecast in Europe and better-than-expected third quarter results.

Also on the rise were Apple shares , up 1.3 percent at $531.91, after investor Carl Icahn, in a public letter to Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, called on Apple to commence a $150 billion share buyback immediately.

Third-quarter earnings overall has had its disappointments, including some weak outlooks and just 53 percent of companies so far beating analysts' revenue expectations, below the long-term average of 61 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

About 68 percent of companies are beating analysts' earnings expectations, above the 63 percent long-term average.

Among the day's decliners were Dow Chemical Co , Xerox Corp , which all fell following results or outlooks.

AT&T, a Dow component, fell 1.8 percent to $34.63 while Dow Chemical lost 1 percent to $40.62. Xerox slumped 10.4 percent to $9.61 after a weak outlook.

Shares of Symantec Corp dropped 12.7 percent to $21.49 after it reported lower-than-expected second-quarter revenue and forecast current-quarter results below expectations.

Also after the bell, shares of both Amazon.com and Microsoft jumped after posting results. Amazon.com gained 7.8 percent to $358.10 after it posted a narrower quarterly loss and stronger-than-expected sales.

Shares of Microsoft rose 5.6 percent to $35.60 after its profit rose more than expected.

DuPont

shares climbed 3 percent to $63.20 after the bell. The company said it will spin off its titanium dioxide unit and related businesses.

(Editing by Nick Zieminski and Kenneth Barry)

View the original article here

Gold up 1 pct, above $1,350/oz, after U.S. jobless claims

By Frank Tang and Jan Harvey

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Gold rose 1 percent on Thursday, breaking above $1,350 an ounce for the first time in more than a month, on rekindled buying prompted by expectations the Federal Reserve will continue its monetary stimulus due to disappointing U.S. jobless claims data.

Bullion prices rallied after the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell less than expected last week.

Technical buying also lifted gold after it breached key resistance at its 50-day moving average. Also, analysts cited a two-month high in the open interest for U.S. gold futures, a liquidity gauge, for bullion's gains.

"With open interest in gold growing, it indicates new business is not just because of short covering, and that gold buyers may keep a steady course," said George Gero, vice president of RBC Capital Markets.

Spot gold rose 1 percent to $1,345.70 an ounce by 3:43 p.m. EDT (1943 GMT), having earlier hit $1,351.61, its highest since September 20.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled up $16.30 an ounce at $1,350.30, with trading volume about 20 percent below their 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data shows.

A two-week U.S. government shutdown this month increased expectations that the U.S. central bank will delay reducing the size of its $85 billion monthly bond-buying stimulus until next year, supporting gold prices.

Heavy positioning in the Comex November $1,400 call options could provide upward pressure for bullion prices.

"The $1,400 (call options) have the largest open interest by far, with almost 1.9 million ounces. This could prove a magnet for spot should we continue to rally," TD Securities precious metals trading desk said in a note.

Gold was also underpinned by a weaker U.S. dollar and by U.S. Treasury bond yields hovering near a three-month low after the weekly jobless claims data.

Positive manufacturing data from China, the world's second-largest gold consumer, also helped support gold prices on Thursday, traders said.

In research news, Goldman Sachs said it expects gold prices to fall to $1,144 an ounce in 2014, driven by improving U.S. economic data, rising real rates and the commencement of tapering of U.S. monetary stimulus.

Among other precious metals, silver was up 0.8 percent at $22.67 an ounce, while platinum also rose 1.1 percent to $1,445.75 an ounce and palladium inched down 0.1 percent to $743.47 an ounce.

Platinum group metal investors are now digesting news that a powerful mine worker union in South Africa has been granted permission by a government mediator to call a strike against Impala Platinum , the world's second largest platinum producer.

(Additional reporting by Clara Denina in London, Lewa Pardomuan in Singapore; Editing by James Jukwey, Susan Fenton, Bob Burgdorfer and Andre Grenon)

View the original article here

Asian shares try to find footing after tumble

By Dominic Lau

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares tried to steady on Thursday following a tumble sparked by concerns about China's economic outlook, and the dollar languished near a two-year low against the Swiss franc.

On Wednesday, Chinese money-market rates rose to three-month highs after the central bank failed to inject cash for a second day as regulators showed signs of concern that loose liquidity might be fuelling another round of risky credit growth.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat after shedding 0.9 percent on Wednesday to end a four-day winning streak.

Tokyo's Nikkei futures fell 0.8 percent as the yen gained ground on the dollar, indicating a softer open on Thursday after the previous session's 2 percent decline.

Investors will get further clues to the health of the world's second-largest economy with a preliminary survey on Chinese manufacturing activity data due at 0145 GMT.

"The initial reaction to the rise in China's money market rates has translated into lower U.S. Treasury yields and weaker equity markets," analysts at BNP Paribas wrote in a note.

"The pullback in risk sentiment should remain temporary as the delay to the Fed's QE tapering plans until the first quarter of 2014 makes long carry positions attractive. This implies that commodity and emerging market currencies should regain the ground lost over the past 24 hours."

Before the concerns over China checked the market bullishness, global equity markets had been rallying after the resolution of the U.S. budget impasse and on expectations the Federal Reserve would extend its cheap money stimulus into 2014.

After hitting a run of record highs, the U.S. Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.5 percent on Wednesday as shares of heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar and semiconductor companies tumbled after reporting earnings.

U.S. S&P E-mini futures were flat in early Asian trade on Thursday.

The dollar was at 0.8923 franc, just above a two-year low of 0.8908 hit on Wednesday. It was holding at 97.39 yen, near a two-week low touched in the previous session.

U.S. Treasury yields fell to three-months lows on more bets that the Fed will maintain its stimulus efforts into next year.

U.S. crude prices rose 0.2 percent to about $97 a barrel after falling to a 3-1/2 month low of $96.16 on Wednesday.

(Editing by John Mair)

View the original article here

Gold rallies to 4-week high after U.S. job data

By Marina Lopes and Clara Denina

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Gold rose over 2 percent to four-week highs on Tuesday as weak U.S. jobs figures raised expectations the Federal Reserve will continue into next year its massive stimulus program that has bolstered bullion prices.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 148,000 in September, the Labor Department said, below the 180,000 forecast in a Reuters poll, increasing worries that the world's largest economy was losing momentum even before the government shutdown this month.

"We were not even close to the 180,000 number...the main takeaway is that Fed tapering is still a long way away, probably not for this year and that's the reason why everything shot up - equities, commodities and gold in particular," Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar said.

Signs the U.S. economy lost steam even before the acrimonious budget fight could convince the Fed to hold off any decision on scaling back its bond-buying stimulus until the extent of the economic damage from the fiscal standoff is clear.

"Consensus is almost universal that the Fed is not going to tighten, probably until March," Bill O'Neill, partner of commodities investment firm LOGIC Advisors.

Buying continued after upbeat construction spending numbers for August.

Spot gold rebounded from early morning losses after the data, rising over 2 percent to as high as $1,344.46 an ounce, its highest since September 20, by late morning.

It was up 1.9 percent at $1,340.1 an ounce by 2:25 p.m. EDT (1825 GMT).

The metal broke above technical resistance at its 100-day moving average of $1,325, with the next area of resistance seen at $1,350.

U.S. gold futures for December rose $26.8, or 2 percent, to settle at $1,342.6 an ounce.

The dollar tumbled to a new eight-month low against a basket of currencies, while global stocks edged up on prospects of a longer spell of super-easy money from the Fed.

Gold has been boosted by increased central bank liquidity and a low interest rate environment over the past few years, which encourages investors to put money into non-interest-bearing assets.

Analysts said investor sentiment was likely to remain subdued, however, after a big drop in holdings in the largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF), SPDR Gold Trust, which saw outflows of 10.51 tonnes to 871.72 tonnes on Monday.

That was the biggest one-day fall in the fund's holdings since early July.

Physical demand for gold in major consumer India remained subdued ahead of the Diwali celebrations, usually considered an auspicious time to buy jewellery.

"Importers in India are still struggling to adopt the new import and re-export (80-20) regulation while the import tax hikes have already hurt smaller jewellers," VTB Capital said.

In China, premiums to spot London prices remain near lows for the year, traders said.

In other precious metals, silver mirrored gold's moves and rose 2.4 percent to $22.72 an ounce.

Spot platinum was up 1 percent at $1.447.49 an ounce and spot palladium rose 0.3 percent to $749.22 an ounce.

Switzerland's net imports of raw platinum in September fell to their lowest in four months, as exports to China hit a three-month high at 1.903 tonnes, customs data showed.

(Editing by Jason Neely, Dale Hudson, Josephine Mason, Leslie Gevirtz and Marguerita Choy)

View the original article here

Asia shares pare gains, dollar pressured after U.S. jobs data

By Lisa Twaronite

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares pared gains and the dollar plumbed a fresh two-year low against the euro on Wednesday after disappointing U.S. jobs data vanquished any expectations that the Federal Reserve will taper its stimulus before next year.

Japan's Nikkei share average dropped 1 percent as a stronger yen took a heavy toll, but earlier touched a 3-1/2 week high.

Australian shares were slightly higher after hitting five-year peaks, though they pared gains after stronger-than-expected inflation data reduced expectations for another interest rate cut.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was off its session highs but holding narrowly in positive territory, while profit-taking pushed Seoul shares off their highest level in more than 26 months.

"Slow growth in the U.S. economy is worrisome for global markets in the long term," said IM Investment & Securities analyst Kang Hyun-gee. "But in the near term, extended liquidity will work in favour of equities."

U.S. S&P 500 E-mini futures were slightly down, after the S&P 500 Index closed at a record high in New York on Tuesday.

U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by 148,000 workers in September, less than expected. While the employment gain in August was revised up, the July figure was revised down to be the weakest since June 2012.

The report suggested the economy was losing momentum even before the U.S. fiscal standoff that partially shut down the government for more than two weeks, lending credence to the central bank's decision to hold off on reducing its stimulus.

"In light of the moderate tone of the September employment report, we have pushed out our expectation for the first Fed tapering in the pace of asset purchases to March 2014 from December 2013," strategists at Barclays wrote in a note to clients.

Nine of 15 U.S. primary dealers surveyed by Reuters on Tuesday expect the Fed to begin tapering its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying programme in March.

DOLLAR UNDER PRESSURE

The dollar tumbled 0.6 percent against its Japanese counterpart to 97.55 yen, with Japanese exporters said to have sold the U.S. unit, triggering stop-loss orders at 97.70 yen.

The euro was at $1.3786, after rising as high as $1.3793 on the EBS trading platform, its strongest since November 2011.

The dollar index last stood at 79.157, after it fell to its weakest in eight months at 79.141 earlier, within sight of its 2013 low of 78.918 touched in February.

The Australian dollar was slightly lower, after jumping about a quarter of a U.S. cent after the CPI report.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes edged down to 2.494 percent, its lowest since late July, after closing U.S. trade at 2.512 percent.

On the commodities front, concerns about a near-term U.S. crude surplus helped push U.S. crude prices down about 0.5 percent to $97.86 a barrel.

Copper slipped from near one-month highs as traders booked profits after the U.S. jobs report reinforced the metal's weak fundamental outlook, falling 1.0 percent to $7,260.

Gold inched 0.1 percent lower to $1,338.54 an ounce, having risen to a four-week high after the payrolls data.

(Additional reporting by Jungmin Jang in Seoul; Editing by John Mair & Kim Coghill)

View the original article here

Gold rallies to 3-week high after U.S. job data

By Marina Lopes and Clara Denina

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Gold rose over 2 percent to three-week highs on Tuesday as weak U.S. jobs figures raised expectations the Federal Reserve will continue into next year its massive stimulus program that has bolstered bullion prices.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 148,000 in September, the Labor Department said, below the 180,000 forecast in a Reuters poll, increasing worries that the world's largest economy was losing momentum even before the government shutdown this month.

"We were not even close to the 180,000 number...the main takeaway is that Fed tapering is still a long way away, probably not for this year and that's the reason why everything shot up - equities, commodities and gold in particular," Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar said.

Signs the U.S. economy lost steam even before the acrimonious budget fight could convince the Fed to hold off any decision on scaling back its bond-buying stimulus until the extent of the economic damage from the fiscal standoff is clear.

"Consensus is almost universal that the Fed is not going to tighten, probably until March," Bill O'Neill, partner of commodities investment firm LOGIC Advisors.

Buying continued after upbeat construction spending numbers for August.

Spot gold rebounded from early morning losses after the data, rising over 2 percent to as high as $1,344.46 an ounce, its highest since September 30, by late morning.

It was up 1.9 percent at $1,340.1 an ounce by 2:25 p.m. EDT (1825 GMT).

The metal broke above technical resistance at its 100-day moving average of $1,325, with the next area of resistance seen at $1,350.

U.S. gold futures for December rose $26.8, or 2 percent, to settle at $1,342.6 an ounce.

The dollar tumbled to a new eight-month low against a basket of currencies, while global stocks edged up on prospects of a longer spell of super-easy money from the Fed.

Gold has been boosted by increased central bank liquidity and a low interest rate environment over the past few years, which encourages investors to put money into non-interest-bearing assets.

Analysts said investor sentiment was likely to remain subdued, however, after a big drop in holdings in the largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF), SPDR Gold Trust, which saw outflows of 10.51 tonnes to 871.72 tonnes on Monday.

That was the biggest one-day fall in the fund's holdings since early July.

Physical demand for gold in major consumer India remained subdued ahead of the Diwali celebrations, usually considered an auspicious time to buy jewellery.

"Importers in India are still struggling to adopt the new import and re-export (80-20) regulation while the import tax hikes have already hurt smaller jewellers," VTB Capital said.

In China, premiums to spot London prices remain near lows for the year, traders said.

In other precious metals, silver mirrored gold's moves and rose 2.4 percent to $22.72 an ounce.

Spot platinum was up 1 percent at $1.447.49 an ounce and spot palladium rose 0.3 percent to $749.22 an ounce.

Switzerland's net imports of raw platinum in September fell to their lowest in four months, as exports to China hit a three-month high at 1.903 tonnes, customs data showed.

(Editing by Jason Neely, Dale Hudson, Josephine Mason, Leslie Gevirtz and Marguerita Choy)

View the original article here

Chidambaram asks banks to go after 'big' loan defaulters

New Delhi, Oct 22 (IANS) Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Tuesday asked public sector banks to closely monitor big borrowers with loan amounts of over Rs.1 crore, who also constitute the bulk of the non-performing assets (NPA) of the lenders.

Talking to reporters after meeting heads of the public sector banks here, Chidambaram said growing cases of defaults among big borrowers were a matter of concern.

"It is a matter of concern that it is the big borrowers who are defaulting," the finance minister said.

Chidambaram said he has asked lenders to closely monitor top 30 NPA accounts in each zone of all the public sector banks.

Deteriorating asset quality, or rising NPA, is a big concern among the Indian banking sector. Gross NPAs of Indian banks are expected to reach 4.4 percent in the current financial year as compared to 3.4 percent in the previous year.

The finance minister said NPAs were rising due to difficult economic situation and the situation would improve with the pick up in growth.

Chidambaram advised banks to set up separate verticals dedicated to recover the bad loans that have been written off.

"Banks have been advised to empower or set apart an officer of senior rank, at least of general manager rank, to look at recovery, especially recovery from written-off accounts," he said.

The country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) has already set up a separate vertical for recovery of bad loans. The finance minister asked other government-run lenders to set up the dedicated entity in line with SBI.

View the original article here

Wall Street ends higher after Fed-affirming jobs report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed on Tuesday, pushing the S&P 500 to yet another record high, after weaker-than-expected job creation last month reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will hold the course on its economic stimulus into next year.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 75.78 points, or 0.49 percent, at 15,467.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 10.05 points, or 0.58 percent, at 1,754.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 9.52 points, or 0.24 percent, at 3,929.57.

(Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

View the original article here

Wall Street opens higher after payroll report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday after weaker-than-expected job creation last month raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue to stimulate the economy at the current pace.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 22.92 points, or 0.15 percent, at 15,415.12. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 3.86 points, or 0.22 percent, at 1,748.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 14.35 points, or 0.37 percent, at 3,934.40.

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

View the original article here

Dollar eases, shares rise after weak U.S. jobs data

By Herbert Lash

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar slid to a two-year low against the euro and global equity markets rose for a fifth straight session on Tuesday after weak U.S. jobs data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will keep its easy-money policy intact into 2014.

The S&P 500 index, a benchmark for U.S. stocks, closed at a record high, while U.S. Treasuries yields fell to the lowest levels in three months on the labor market report.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 148,000 in September, the Labor Department said in a report delayed by the 16-day shutdown of the federal government. The total was well below economists' estimates of 180,000 new jobs.

Data for August was revised to show more positions created than previously reported, but revisions to the July figures showed employment gains that were the weakest since June 2012.

Economists and market analysts said the tepid pace of U.S. job growth supported the decision by the Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee in September not to begin to pare its purchases of $85 billion a month in bonds.

The Fed's bond-buying, which aims to bolster the economy by keeping interest rates low, has been a major contributor to the S&P 500's 23 percent gain so far this year.

"Today's underperforming jobs number fully justifies September's cautious FOMC," said Joseph Trevisani, chief market strategist at WorldWideMarkets in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

"Dollar bulls will be discomfited but equities will find the economic logic invigorating."

Stocks rose on Wall Street, in Europe and elsewhere in the Americas after the jobs report. The euro jumped and the dollar index slipped, while government debt prices rose on both sides of the Atlantic, pushing yields lower.

Equities later pared some gains, and the technology-rich Nasdaq composite index briefly slipped into negative territory before recovering.

MSCI's all-country stock index, which tracks stocks in 45 countries, rose 0.67 percent to levels last seen in January 2008. The FTSEurofirst 300 of leading European shares rose 0.54 percent to close at 1,288.06.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average ended up 75.46 points, or 0.49 percent, at 15,467.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 10.01 points, or 0.57 percent, at 1,754.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 9.52 points, or 0.24 percent, at 3,929.57.

The euro hit a high of $1.3792 against the dollar, its strongest level since November 14, 2011. It was last at $1.3781, up 0.73 percent.

Against the yen, the dollar fell as low as 97.86 yen was last down 0.09 percent at 98.09 yen in choppy trade.

The dollar index, a basket of six major trading currencies, was down 0.57 percent.

"This really does push us into a January, February mode (for Fed tapering), and if there is a shutdown, possibly even further," said Aaron Kohli, an interest rate strategist at BNP Paribas in New York.

The deal reached by Congress last week to end the partial federal shutdown was only a temporary fix, providing funds for the government until January 15 and raising the debt ceiling until February 7, which could lead to another political impasse next year.

Benchmark 10-year notes were last up 26/32 in price to yield 2.5124 percent, the lowest since July 24.

German Bund futures hit two-week highs, closing 63 ticks higher on the day at 140.54, while yields on German 10-year government debt fell below 1.80 percent.

"This report definitely gives the Fed pause. It keeps QE alive and bonds will like it and so might stocks. This is positive for all asset prices," said Craig Dismuke, chief economic strategist with Vining Sparks in Tennessee.

Brent crude oil rose above $110 per barrel, pulling its premium above U.S. light crude to the widest in six months, after news of a deterioration in relations between the United States and key OPEC oil producer Saudi Arabia.

Brent for December rose 33 cents a barrel to settle at $109.97. U.S. crude futures slipped $1.42 to settle at $97.80 a barrel.

U.S. gold for December, the most active gold futures contract on New York's COMEX, rose $26.80, or 2 percent, to settle at $1,342.60 an ounce.

European equities set five-year highs in a broad-based rally spurred by the jobs report and corporate results that beat analysts' estimates.

Norwegian insurer Gjensidige jumped 8 percent on third-quarter earnings that beat forecasts and a surprise special dividend. UK consumer goods firm Reckitt Benckiser Group rose 5.2 percent after reporting higher revenue and saying it was reviewing options for its pharmaceuticals unit.

(Additional reporting by Marc Jones in London; Editing by Dan Grebler and Leslie Adler)

View the original article here