European Equities Finish Higher On Greek Expectations| February 21, 2012.
February 21, 2012 Leave a comment
The Australian equity market is pointed to a positive start to the trading day after the Euro zone finance ministers look to approve a second bailout for Greece that will resolve the country’s immediate repayment issues.
The US equities were closed overnight due to the Presidents Holiday. The German Dax Index (see above chart) finished up 102.5 points at 6945.
The euro strengthened the most in almost two weeks against the USD on continued speculation that the EU finance ministers were close to settling their differences over the Greek bailout. EURUSD has traded up from overnight lows of 1.3184 to as high as 1.3276.
On an economic front we have the minutes from the latest RBA meeting where they surprised the market and kept rates on hold. RBA Governor Glenn Stevens will also be speaking later in the day.
WTI oil rose to a nine month high of 105.44 after the Iran said that it halted some of its crude exports and investors positive sentiment that an agreement will fuel the demand for the commodity.
Gold has risen for the first time in three days as most commodities rose on the back of Chinese measures to sustain economic growth and the weaker USD spurred demand for the metal as an alternative asset.
| INDICES | |
| Last Traded | |
|
SPI 200 future |
4247 |
|
S&P500 Index |
Closed |
|
Dow Jones |
Closed |
|
FTSE 100 Index |
5945.25 |
|
COMMODITIES |
|
|
Last Traded |
|
|
Gold |
1735.41 |
|
Oil (Nymex) |
104.92 |
|
CURRENCIES |
|
|
Last Traded |
|
|
AUDUSD |
1.0756 |
|
EURUSD |
1.3242 |
|
GBPUSD |
1.5848 |
|
USDJPY |
79.62 |
Source
Bloomberg, Dow Jones News
