Daily Market Outlook

Currencies

• EUR/USD The dollar declined against most of its major peers as signs of recovery in the U.S. economy sapped demand for the relative safety of the world’s reserve currency.
  • The greenback slid 0.2 percent to $1.3345 per euro

• NZD/USD The greenback slid versus the New Zealand dollar before a government report forecast to show U.S. factory orders rebounded in February, which would follow figures yesterday that signaled an acceleration in manufacturing. Australia’s currency gained before the nation’s central bank decides on policy today in Melbourne.
  • The U.S. currency lost 0.3 percent to 82.58 cents per New Zealand dollar after dropping 0.6 percent yesterday.

• USD/JPY The yen strengthened amid speculation traders pared bets against the currency.
  • The dollar lost 0.2 percent to 81.92 yen as of 12:37 p.m. in Tokyo, and earlier touched 81.56, the weakest since March 9.

Commodities

• Oil fell after the biggest gain in six weeks as a forecast for rising inventories in the U.S., the world’s biggest crude consumer, signaled demand may be easing.
  • Oil for May delivery slid as much as 43 cents to $104.80 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $104.95 at 1:20 p.m. Sydney time.

• Gold may advance for a third day as better-than-expected U.S. economic data weakened demand for the dollar as a haven, tempering the impact of slower consumption in India, the largest buyer, as jewelers extended a strike.
  • Spot gold traded at $1,679.63 at 12:27 p.m. in Singapore, after rising as much as 0.2 percent earlier. Bullion climbed 1 percent in the past two days as the dollar fell 0.4 percent against a six-currency basket.

Equities

• Asian stocks rose for a third day as signs of strength in the world’s two biggest economies, the U.S. and China, bolstered confidence in the global recovery. Japanese shares fell as the yen’s appreciation damped the earnings outlook for the country’s exporters.
  • The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.2 percent to 127.45 as of 11:51 a.m. in Tokyo, with about the same number of stocks rising as falling. The measure gained 0.4 percent yesterday, extending its best quarterly rally since the third quarter of 2010.

• European stocks climbed the most in almost three weeks, erasing earlier losses, as reports showed manufacturing expanded more than forecast in the U.S. and China.
  • The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) advanced 1.5 percent to 267.16 at the close, the biggest gain since March 13. The measure erased losses in the final two hours of trading, after earlier dropping as much as 0.4 percent.

• U.S stocks rose, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its highest level since December 2007, on stronger-than-forecast growth in manufacturing.
  • The S&P 500 rose 0.8 percent to 1,419.04 at 4 p.m. New York time. The index on March 30 completed its biggest first-quarter rally since 1998.
  • The Dow gained 52.45 points, or 0.4 percent, to 13,264.49 yesterday.