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Reuters: Asian shares rose on Monday as euro zone banking jitters faded, but investors remained cautious ahead of corporate earnings and a raft of global economic events, including testimony from the head of the Federal Reserve.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.4%, with Seoul putting on 0.3%. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.4% after several sessions of losses.
Singapore’s main index went flat after the city-state reported a surprise 0.8% annualised contraction in economic activity for the second quarter, led by a steep drop in manufacturing.
European markets had calmed on Friday as investors decided that losses associated with the founding family of Banco Espirito Santo were unlikely to disrupt Portugal’s financial system or revive broader worries about the bloc’s weaker economies.
The S&P 500 EMini contract was trading up 0.1% on Monday, after the cash index ended with similar gains on Friday. The Dow closed up 0.17%, while the Nasdaq added 0.44%.
Attention will be on shares in Citigroup, which sources said would announce on Monday a deal to pay $ 7 billion to resolve a US government investigation into shoddy mortgage-backed securities.
Many of the major US banks report earnings this week, along with big tech names including Intel Corp, Yahoo Inc, eBay Inc and Google Inc.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s two-day appearance in the US Congress from Tuesday will dominate global markets, which want above all to know how long rates might stay near zero once the central bank ends its asset-buying program.
The futures market rallied sharply last week as investors again pushed out the likely timing of a rate hike into the second half of 2015.
Data from the US this week includes retail sales, industrial production and several housing indicators.
In Asia, China reports gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter on Wednesday, along with other data including retail sales for June.
Analysts estimate the Chinese economy grew 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year, aided by modest government stimulus measures, and anything less would likely unsettle markets.
The Bank of Japan concludes a two-day meeting on Tuesday and might have to trim its growth forecasts in the wake of disappointing second-quarter data, though it is expected to keep policy steady.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will speak at the European Parliament later on Monday while the EU 28 Summit on Wednesday will see Jean Claude Juncker confirmed as EC President.
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and his deputy Andrew Bailey face questions from the British parliament on Tuesday, while jobs figures the day after will influence the outlook for interest rates. Currency markets were quiet on Monday with the dollar index steady around 80.210, a level it has gravitated towards since recovering from a two-month low of 79.740 on July 1. The euro bought $ 1.3602, having stuck to a tight range around $ 1.3600 for over a week now.
Against the yen, the greenback fetched 101.34, holding off a seven-week trough of 101.06 plumbed last Thursday. The euro was near 137.89 yen, recovering from last week’s fall to a five-month low of 137.50.
Gold dipped to $ 1,3348.99 an ounce, and away from a 3-1/2 month high of $ 1,345 reached last week. Prices for the safe haven metal had been supported in part by the intensified fighting in Gaza.
Yet oil markets seem to have become less concerned that the violence in the Middle East would affect fuel supply in any major way, pulling prices lower over the last few weeks.
On Monday, Brent crude oil had bounced 23 cents to $ 106.88 a barrel and up from a three month-trough of $ 106.27. US crude added 3 cents to $ 100.86 per barrel.
Gold eases but still near four-month high on safe-haven bids
Reuters: Gold ticked lower on Monday as Asian share markets gained strength, but the metal stayed close to a four-month high hit last week on safe-haven demand from escalating tensions in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Spot gold fell 0.2% to $1,334.89 an ounce by 0301 GMT after posting its sixth straight weekly gain last week.
The metal had hit $ 1,345, its highest since March, on Thursday after worries about the financial stability of Portugal’s largest listed bank Banco Espirito Santo hammered equities and stoked fears of an European banking crisis.
“The Portugal fears have subsided as markets don’t think it is going to be another widespread crisis,” said one trader in Tokyo.
“However, the safe-haven demand for gold is still there due to the tensions in the Middle East. Portugal was only one reason for safe-haven bids, the geopolitical situation has not changed,” the trader said.
Israel appeared to hold off on a threatened escalation of its week-old Gaza Strip barrage on Monday despite balking at Western calls for a ceasefire with an equally defiant Hamas.
On Sunday, the Israeli military had warned residents of the northern border town of Beit Lahiya to leave or risk their lives when, after nightfall, it planned to intensify air strikes against suspected Palestinian rocket sites among civilian homes.
Elsewhere, Russia threatened Ukraine on Sunday with “irreversible consequences” after a man was killed by a shell fired across the border from Ukraine, an incident Moscow described in warlike terms as aggression that must be met with a response.
Gold is seen as an alternative investment to riskier assets at times of geopolitical and financial uncertainties.
Data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed that hedge funds and money managers increased their bullish bets on gold and silver futures and options in the week to July 8, underscoring the metal’s safe-haven appeal.
For this week, markets are eyeing Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s congressional testimony for clues about the US economy and the timing of expected US central bank interest rate hikes.
Investors are also eyeing physical buying in Asia, which has been subdued due to the recent price gains.
“There isn’t much demand from India, China or anywhere in Southeast Asia for the last few weeks,” said a dealer in Singapore. “Unless prices drop sharply in a short period of time, I don’t think we can expect any price support from the physical markets.”
