Singapore: Gold hit an 11-month high on Friday in its fifth day of gains as stimulus measures from major central banks continued to increase its appeal as an inflation hedge, while investors awaited more trading direction from key US jobs data due later in the day. The European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged on Thursday and said it was ready to buy government bonds of debt-laden nations, triggering a rally in the euro and pushing gold closer to $1,800 - a level that has not been breached since November, 2011.
And gold is likely to gain further as other central banks, including that of China, are expected to ease policy following similar moves by the ECB, Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan to help stalled growth, analysts and traders said. Monetary easing drives investors who fear depreciation of their currencies and future inflation to gold.
"There doesn't seem to be anything else they can do besides pumping more money into the economy," said Ronald Leung, a dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong. "Dollar weakness, more easing, as well as the tension in the Middle East, will all benefit gold." The dollar index wallowed near a two-week low, making commodities priced in the greenback cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Rising tensions in the Middle East as Turkey stepped up retaliatory artillery strikes on a Syrian border town on Thursday also supported gold's safe-haven appeal. But Leung noted that much of the buying has
10:46 AM, Oct 05, 2012
New York: Reflecting the uncertain economic conditions in the world's largest economy, as many as eight US banks on an average are going out of business every month. A whopping 64 American banks have closed down so far this year, translating into an average of eight closures every month, according to official data. This month alone has seen the shutting down of three banks, after 13 entities went belly up...
10:40 AM, Aug 14, 2011
New York: Shell-shocked stock investors will search next week for calm to return to markets after the worst three weeks for stocks in 2 1/2 years. With the blow from the August 5 US credit rating downgrade behind them, investors will focus on the outlook for the US economy as well as signs that European policymakers may be able to contain the euro zone debt crisis. Widespread investor panic put...
09:44 AM, Aug 13, 2011
Singapore: Asian stocks edged up on Friday, as investors hunted for value after an intense week of volatility, though the festering European financial crisis may mean that havens like gold and the Swiss franc may still draw buyers. Wall Street rose 4 per cent overnight on high trading volume, with relatively low valuations and short-term oversold conditions attracting buyers, though a slide in US stock futures in early Asian trade...
07:57 AM, Aug 12, 2011
Sydney: Asian equity markets were sharply down early on Tuesday as investors fearing a possible global economic slowdown continued to flee stocks. Oil fell below $ 78 per barrel, toppling to its lowest price of the year on concerns that a slowing global economy could crimp demand for fuel. Japan's Nikkei 225 index plunged 4.4 per cent to 8,694.31 in the morning session, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index plummeted...
07:09 AM, Aug 09, 2011
New Delhi: Gold surged to record high by adding Rs 536 to Rs 25,978 per 10 grams in futures trading on Monday on buying by speculators, driven by a strong overseas trend, where investors sought safe haven following downgrading of the US credit rating. The rising of gold to an all-time high of over $ 1,700 an ounce in the Asian region as equity markets tumbled worldwide, will encourage investors...
12:36 PM, Aug 08, 2011
Sydney: Credit rating agency Standard and Poor's sought to assure global investors on Monday that its historic downgrade of the US credit rating would have no immediate impact on sovereign borrowers in the Asia-Pacific. But the agency, which incurred Washington's wrath at the weekend by cutting its AAA rating by a notch to AA+, said a fresh global financial crisis could hurt some Asian sovereigns harder this time around. "If...
08:26 AM, Aug 08, 2011
Washington: President Barack Obama's former economic advisor on Saturday warned of a new recession plaguing the American economy, even as he attacked the S&P's track record, which has downgraded country's credit rating from AAA to AA+. "S&P's track record has been terrible, and as we have seen this weekend, its a arithmetic is worse. So, there's nothing good to say about what they've done," Lawrence Summers, the former economic advisor...
07:40 AM, Aug 08, 2011
New Delhi: All major Asian markets opened weak on Monday in the first trading session after the US lost its top-notch credit rating, as the debt crisis in America and Europe took a toll on the investor sentiment across the world. South Korean shares opened 1.40 per cent lower in Seoul, even as the bourses there contemplated measures to counter any major plunge. Japan stocks were also down over 1.3...
07:09 AM, Aug 08, 2011
Singapore: Commodities, except gold, will likely fall when markets open on Monday due to a US ratings downgrade and a worsening debt crisis in Europe but panic shall be avoided. Bullion should benefit from renewed risk-aversion while outlook for demand for oil, base metals and grains deteriorates. Strong economic growth in China, the world's top copper consumer, number 2 oil user and major buyer of grains, as well as tight...
07:03 AM, Aug 08, 2011
Washington: The policymakers from across the world engaged themselves in emergency huddles on Sunday to discuss the twin-trouble of an unprecedented downgrade in the US' credit-worthiness and the debt crisis in Eurozone. The two issues have been the major reasons for the meltdown in global markets last week, when more than $ 2.5 trillion was wiped off from investors' wealth, and the policy-makers were seen debating over ways to avoid...
05:17 PM, Aug 07, 2011
New Delhi: As one of the 15-largest foreign creditors to the US, India's exposure to the United States' ballooning debts is estimated at $41 billion, higher than the money America owes to countries like France and Australia. The overall national debt of the US is moving nearer to $15 trillion, out of which it owes over $4.5 trillion to foreign countries holding the US government debt securities. While China is...
02:41 PM, Aug 07, 2011
Washington: The Obama administration attacked the credibility of the analysis underlying Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade the United States' top credit rating on Friday, saying it had found a $2 trillion error. S&P was forced to remove the number from its analysis after Treasury officials discovered that the rating agency's estimates of the government's discretionary spending was $2 trillion too high, sources familiar with the discussions said. There was...
01:27 PM, Aug 06, 2011
Shanghai: China on Saturday condemned the "short-sighted" political wrangling in the United States over its debt problems and said the world needed a new global stable reserve currency. "China, the largest creditor of the world's sole superpower, has every right now to demand the United States address its structural debt problems and ensure the safety of China's dollar assets," China's official news agency said in a commentary. "International supervision over...
12:36 PM, Aug 06, 2011
Washington: Better. The job market beat expectations, and the stock market managed a modest gain - not great, but good enough after a turbulent week. The nation added 117,000 jobs in July, the government said on Friday - far from what happens in a healthy economy, and only good for a reduction of one notch in the unemployment rate, to 9.1 per cent. But the jobs number beat the forecast...
12:26 PM, Aug 06, 2011
New York: The US stock markets closed on a flat note on Friday, after they witnessed wild swings, trading in a range of 400 points during the day. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day up 61 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 11,444.68. The S&P 500 closed lower by a point, or 0.1 per cent, at 1,199. The Nasdaq composite index shed 24 points, or 0.9 per cent,...
12:07 PM, Aug 06, 2011
Credit rating is based upon the history of borrowing and repayment, as well as the availability of assets and extent of liabilities. ...
11:56 AM, Aug 06, 2011
The United States lost its top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's on Friday. ...
11:33 AM, Aug 06, 2011
Houston: US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords made a dramatic return to the House of Representatives to vote for the debt ceiling bill, nearly seven months after she was shot in the head. Giffords made an emotional return to the House floor on Monday, casting a vote in favour of the bill to raise the nation's debt ceiling and avoid a massive default. The lawmaker, who has been undergoing intense rehabilitation and...
09:39 AM, Aug 02, 2011
America's largest foreign creditor, China, has repeatedly urged Washington to protect its dollar investments. ...
08:17 AM, Aug 02, 2011
