Asian shares flat, still on track for winning week

TOKYO - Asian shares flatlined on Friday but remained on track for a weekly gain, while crude oil prices pulled away from this week's 10-month lows.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was nearly unchanged on the day, and was up 0.4 percent for the week.

Japan's Nikkei stock index added 0.1 percent, on track to log a rise of 1 percent for a week in which it touched its highest levels since August 2015.

"The actual macro situation in Japan is pretty good," said Ed Rogers, head of Rogers Investment Advisors in Tokyo, who noted the country's streak of five quarters of positive gross domestic product numbers.

He said the dollar remained bolstered against the yen by the Federal Reserve's move to hike interest rates last week and leave the door open for further monetary tightening later in the year.

"We're not seeing global inflation, but we think the Fed will continue to move. That stone's rolling down the hill," Rogers said.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index was at 7,814.01 around midday.

Longer-term, that will support the dollar and underpin Japanese shares, he added.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was down 0.1 percent at 97.488 , but up 0.3 percent for the week.

The euro was up slightly on the day at $1.1158 but was down 0.3 percent for the week, while the dollar was steady against the yen at 111.33, up 0.4 percent for the week.

"We're getting close to the end of the month, and fundamentals aside, there will be people selling dollars, so it will be easy for the yen to strengthen next week," said Mitsuo Imaizumi, Tokyo-based chief foreign exchange strategist for Daiwa Securities.

"We also need to keep an eye on the healthcare debate in Washington, because political turmoil tends to undermine the dollar," he said.

U.S. Senate Republicans offered a bill on Thursday to overhaul Obamacare, the next phase in the party's long war against the 2010 law enacted by then-President Barack Obama, though it remained unclear if the bill has enough support to pass the Senate.

On Wall Street overnight, U.S. shares put in a mixed performance, though the S&P healthcare index rose 1 percent and hit its fifth consecutive record close following the release of the Senate Republicans' bill.

U.S. economic data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose slightly last week, but remained at levels consistent with a tight labour market. Home prices also increased in April more than expected.

The Mexican peso added 0.2 percent after soaring 1 percent on Thursday as Mexico's central bank board raised interest rates, saying it wanted to anchor inflation expectations and take into account last week's move by the U.S. Federal Reserve to hike borrowing costs.

Crude oil futures pulled further away from this week's lows, though market sentiment remained fragile amid a global crude glut that has persisted despite OPEC-led output cuts.

Brent crude was up 0.3 percent at $45.36 a barrel. U.S. crude futures also rose 0.3 percent to $42.86 a barrel.

Spot gold edged up 0.2 percent to $1,251.35 an ounce, moving away from a five-week low touched earlier this week.

(Reporting by Lisa Twaronite; Editing by Eric Meijer and Richard Borsuk)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Asian shares, dollar, ride high as Clinton looks more likely to win election

SINGAPORE - Asian shares rose in early Asian trade on Tuesday ahead of the U.S. presidential election, with investor sentiment buoyed by improving prospects for Democrat Hillary Clinton to win.

The Mexican peso, which has moved in opposite step to perceived chances of Republican Donald Trump winning the election, retained its strong gains from Monday, while the dollar also held steady.

Boosting Clinton's chances of winning, and markets globally, was the FBI's statement on Sunday standing by its July finding that Clinton was not guilty of criminal wrongdoing in her use of a private email server. That came after the Bureau announced on Oct. 28 it was reviewing additional emails relating to the server while Clinton was secretary of state, sending markets around the world tumbling.

Clinton is seen by investors as offering greater certainty and stability, and, until last week's stumble, had been seen as the likely victor in Tuesday's presidential vote.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 percent.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.3 percent, aided both by the positive sentiment and a weaker yen.

The MSCI World index added 0.1 percent, building on Monday's 1.6 percent surge, its biggest single-day jump in almost 19 weeks.

"As markets head into the U.S. election, a final recalibration of risk is in train," Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, wrote in a note. "Asia-Pacific markets were the first to adjust to the political shift, and may trade more modestly today after roaring back to life yesterday."

Overnight, Wall Street shares soared between 2.1 and 2.4 percent, recording their biggest one-day percentage gain since March 1, with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average recovering all their losses from the previous week.

While polls last week showed Trump closing in on Clinton's lead, at least five major polls on Monday showed Clinton still ahead.

The dollar, which recorded its biggest one-day increase against the yen in almost four months on Monday, extended that gain to climb 0.1 percent to 104.43 yen on Tuesday.

The U.S. currency was little changed versus the Mexican peso at 18.5665, after dropping 2.3 percent on Monday, its biggest one-day drop in six weeks.

The Mexican currency is seen as a proxy for bets on the U.S. election because Mexico is considered most vulnerable to Trump's trade policies as 80 percent of its exports go to the United States.

The euro was steady at $1.10425 on Tuesday, after sliding 0.9 percent on Monday.

Crude oil futures, which rose on the revival of risk appetite on Monday, retained their gains.

U.S. crude CLc1 was flat at $44.87 a barrel, after advancing 1.9 percent on Monday, but concerns about the stronger dollar and doubts over OPEC's planned production cuts still weighed on sentiment.

Gold, which plunged 1.7 percent as demand for the safe haven ebbed, was flat at $1,281.65 an ounce early on Tuesday.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

U.S. dollar strengthens as election seen swinging toward Clinton

NEW YORK - The dollar rose on Monday after the FBI decided that U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will not face criminal charges, which was seen as a boost to her chances of winning Tuesday's contest with Republican rival Donald Trump.

The greenback gained 0.77 percent against a basket of currencies after getting hammered last week when FBI Director James Comey said the agency was looking at another large batch of Clinton emails, strengthening chances of a Trump victory, an outcome that was seen as likely to send shock waves through markets.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said late Sunday it stood by its earlier finding that no criminal charges were warranted against Clinton for her email practices. The announcement sent the dollar surging against the yen and the euro, and offered relief to the Mexican peso.

"It's all the election. It's all the Comey letter," said Joseph Trevisani, chief market strategist at Worldwide Markets in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, referring to the currency moves.

"Markets want continuity and essentially they want what they have priced in and both point towards Clinton. That's why markets are reacting to anything that boosts Clinton's chances by taking back some of the selloff from the past week or so."

Some analysts treated the election outcome with caution after the British vote to leave the European Union in June took markets by surprise and sent them into disarray.

"Brexit was a hard lesson for many, and it's still in the recent memory," Oanda senior market analyst Craig Erlam said.

Erlam added the dollar's recovery might be muted by speculation that Clinton is not out of the woods yet.

"It's hard to know what damage the reopening of the investigation did to Clinton's chances," he said.

Owing to Trump's stance on immigration, foreign policy and trade, the Mexican peso has taken a heavy hit, down at one point in September by as much as 17 percent against the dollar since he won the Republican nomination in July.

Boosted by the FBI's most recent decision, the peso gained as much as 2.5 percent to hit a 12-day high of 18.55 per dollar.

The dollar was up 1.3 percent at 104.50 yen. It declined to 102.550 against the safe-haven Japanese currency last week as polls showed a tightening U.S. presidential race.

The euro fell 0.7 percent against the dollar to $1.1056. Sterling also slipped against the dollar, falling 0.9 percent to $1.2408.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Stocks, dollar, Mexico peso jump after FBI clears Clinton

TOKYO - US stocks jumped and the US dollar and the Mexican peso soared early on Monday after the FBI said it stood by its earlier recommendation that no criminal charges were warranted against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The news boosted US S&P 500 Index futures 1.2 percent, a gain that is likely to snap the nine-day losing streak in the U.S. stock index - its longest in more than 35 years.

Investors had been unnerved by signs of a tightening presidential race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, whose stance on foreign policy, trade and immigration has rippled through financial markets.

Clinton is seen as a candidate of the status quo and her policies are viewed as more predictable than her Republican rival, a political novice.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 percent as Australian shares gained 0.7 percent. Japan's Nikkei looks set to gain 1.5 percent based on Chicago-traded futures.

The FBI said on Sunday it stood by its earlier finding that no criminal charges were warranted against Clinton for using a private email server for government work, lifting a cloud over her presidential campaign two days before the US election.

FBI Director James Comey made the announcement in a letter to Congress, saying the agency had worked "around the clock" to complete its review of newly discovered emails and found no reason to change its July finding.

The review of the emails had rattled financial markets and so the latest news triggered a relief rally.

In the currency market, the dollar rose as much as 1.4 percent against the yen and last stood at 103.96 yen, up 0.8 percent from late US levels while the euro dropped 0.5 percent to $1.1089.

The biggest winner was the Mexican peso, which has acted as something of a bellwether of sentiment as Trump's proposed policies are considered to be deeply negative for the country.

The peso 19.03 rose 2.2 percent to 18.61 to the dollar, hitting its highest level since Oct 26.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Global markets: Mexican peso rises after Trump-Clinton debate, pound falls

LONDON - Sterling fell again on Monday, after largely recovering from Friday's "flash crash", while the Mexican peso and US stock futures rose as investors saw less chance of Republican nominee Donald Trump winning next month's presidential election.

The pound dropped half a percent against a dollar boosted by expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in December even after slightly weaker than expected jobs data on Friday.

The UK currency last stood at $1.2402, down 0.2 percent. Its trade-weighted index fell 0.7 percent to its lowest since early 2009.

"I guess that we have to prepare for further weakness," said Hans Redeker, head of G10 currency strategy at Morgan Stanley in London.

In early Asian trade on Friday, it fell 20 percent to a three-decade low of $1.1491 in minutes as a fall on investor concerns over Britain's impending exit from the European Union snowballed as automated computer trades were triggered.

Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.1 percent but outperformed other major European stocks as the internationally-focused companies on the index gain on overseas revenues and competitiveness when the pound fall.

The more domestically-focused FTSE 250 index was down 0.2 percent and British 10-year government bond yields rose 1.3 basis points to 0.992 percent.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.4 percent. One of the leading decliners was Deutsche Bank, down nearly 3 percent after Chief Executive John Cryan failed to secure a speedy deal with the US Department of Justice at the weekend over the misselling of mortgage-backed securities.

For Reuters' new Live Markets blog on European and UK stock markets see reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url=http://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?pageId=livemarkets

Another notable mover on currency markets was the Mexican peso, which at one point was up 2 percent at 18.91 to the dollar as Trump's chances of winning the White House seemed diminished after the second pre-election debate with Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton.

Trump has vowed to build a wall on the border with Mexico and renegotiate or scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) if he is elected, making the peso somewhat of a barometer of his chances. The Mexican currency was last up 1.9 percent at 18.96 per dollar.

A CNN/ORC snap poll of debate watchers found that 57 percent thought Clinton won the encounter, versus 34 percent for Trump.

US stocks index futures were up about 0.2 percent, suggesting Wall Street will open higher. US stock markets are open on Monday, though the bond market is closed for the Columbus Day holiday.

Earlier, Asian shares eked out minor gains. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1 percent. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.

Chinese shares racked up their biggest gains in two months as investors returned from a week-long holiday and caught up with gains on global markets.

YUAN

China's yuan, however, hit a six-year low against the dollar before recovering. The People's Bank of China set the weakest fix for currency since September 2010 and in the spot market fell as low as 6.7051, also its lowest since September 2010.

It last traded at 6.7025, down just 0.03 percent on the day.

Oil prices fell, with investors skeptical an agreement among members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut output would have a major impact.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, was down 18 cents at $51.73 a barrel.

"A meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC producers (namely Russia) will add to oil headlines this week. Don't expect a firm agreement from Russia, but headlines about cooperation are likely," Morgan Stanley said.

Gold last traded at $1,263 an ounce, up 0.6 percent, lifted by demand from returning Chinese investors.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com