Binary Options Daily Review August 25, 2010
Stocks:
U.K. stocks were broadly flat Wednesday, as losses for Tullow Oil were offset by well-received results from BHP Billiton and insurer Admiral Group.
The U.K.’s benchmark FTSE 100 index rose 0.1% to 5,158.60, helped by a 1% gain for heavyweight miner BHP Billiton after it said fiscal-year profit more than doubled to $12.72 billion.
A broad decline in U.S. stocks that sent the Dow Industrials briefly below 10,000 ended sharply Tuesday, after poor data on the housing market intensified worries about the global economic recovery.
Currencies:
The Japanese yen eased against its rivals during Asian trading Wednesday after hitting multiyear highs the previous day, with the market watching for possible intervention by Tokyo to curb the currency’s rise.
In East Asian afternoon trading, the U.S. dollar changed hands at ¥84.38, recovering from its 15-year low of ¥83.57 Tuesday.
Commodities:
Crude oil futures rose slightly in Asia trading Wednesday as fresh buying emerged after prices closed at their lowest levels in more than two months.
A weaker U.S. dollar against the euro helped support buying interest, but gains were limited by a fall in regional equities.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in October traded at $71.87 a barrel at 0653 GMT, up $0.24 in the Globex electronic session. October Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.36 to $72.74 a barrel.
Crude prices have fallen nearly $10 a barrel in just over two weeks following weaker equities and a stronger U.S. dollar amid growing doubts about the strength of the global economic recovery. While the bearish undertone prevails, analysts say crude might be set up for a technical bounceback in the near term with strong support around $70 a barrel.
