Market News

U.S. equity-index futures dropped with Asian stocks, as Japanese shares dragged the regional index lower and gold rose from a four-year low. The euro climbed prior to the European Central Bank’s decision on monetary policy.

The U.S. Dollar struck a 7-year peak versus the Japanese Yen during the European trading session today following a Republican-led victory for seats in the U.S. Congress raised investors hopes that Washington’s political gridlock could finally be overcome.

The market took Saudi Arabia’s oil price cut this week as another sign that the kingdom is willing to use pricing as a lever to preserve its market share rather than cut production in what is now an oversupplied market.

Emerging market currencies fell on Tuesday, coming under pressure by the strength of the U.S. Dollar and in the wake of mounting evidence that growth in China is slowing.

Gold prices are continuing to drop this week. However, even with gold prices dropping to near 4-year lows, buyers in China , the world's leading market aren't tempted to buy, suggesting prices have even further to fall.

The U.S. Dollar surged versus the Japanese Yen, rising to a 7-year high in the wake of the Bank of Japan’s newest easing efforts.

The dollar jumped to an almost seven-year high versus the yen and gold fell as slowing Chinese manufacturing growth and the Bank of Japan’s unexpected stimulus highlighted the diverging growth outlook for the U.S. and Asian economies.

The yen fell to a six-year low against the dollar after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly increased unprecedented monetary stimulus.

At the conclusion of a 2-day policy meeting, the Federal Reserve Bank put an end to the 6-year program of Quantitative Easing, a move that was widely expected among analysts and economists polled.

The dollar climbed to a four-week high after the Federal Reserve judged the U.S. economy strong enough to end its asset-purchase program.

Ahead of a rate decision from the Federal Reserve Bank, cautious investors helped to maintain a steady momentum on the U.S. Dollar as FX traders speculate that the Fed will likely exercise a prudent stance as regards the timing of any potential interest rate hike.

Asian stocks rose for a fourth day, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index closed near a record, amid optimism about U.S. earnings and economic data before a Federal Reserve policy announcement.

The U.S. Dollar firmed versus the common currency Euro, stabilizing after the greenback edged lower following the release of unexpectedly disappointing economic reports which lowered the yields on U.S. Treasuries.

U.S. data on Monday showed uneven growth in the U.S. Contracts to purchase pre-owned homes, indicating that a bounce-back in the housing sector will not come as quickly as hoped.

Investors had been concerned that the European Central Bank’s “stress test” of Eurozone banks would reveal inadequacies with capital requirements however the tests found that the fewer banks than expected were experiencing any difficulties.