Silver Near Record Highs – Hot Picks Dec 30

U.S. economy adds just 39,000 jobs – Hot Picks Dec 6

Binary Options Daily Hot Picks – 23 November 2010

Market Update: IPad gets a software update

Weekly Outlook June 14 – 18

The upcoming week consists of inflation figures from all over the world, a major German survey,  rate decisions from Japan and Switzerland among other events. Did the dollar take a pause, or will its new weakness continue?

We see a growing gap between the commodity currencies and the rest of the world. Australia enjoys a great job market, the rate has been lifted in New Zealand, and Canada is doing well on all parameters. This week will be mostly about the US. Let’s start:

1. Japanese rate decision: On Tuesday morning. The BOJ isn’t expected to change the rock-bottom Overnight Call Rate of 0.1%, but the rate statement, and especially the press conference afterwards, will probably trigger interesting statements about the state of the economy. Officials in the new Japanese government warned that Japan could face a “Greek-style” debt crisis. Are they trying to aggressively weaken the Yen?

2. British CPI: Published on Tuesday at 8:30 GMT. The new British Prime Minister, David Cameron, said that inflation must be tackled. The current level of 3.7% is above the government’s target of 1-3%, and this isn’t expected to changed. CPI is expected to tick down to 3.5%. Mervyn King, the BOE’s governor, dismissed inflation until now. Raising the rates while the economy is struggling isn’t tempting. King and other senior members will speak in front of the Treasury Committee about inflation.

3. German ZEW Economic Sentiment: Published on Tuesday at 9:00 GMT. This survey of 350 analysts and investors is highly regarded and has a strong impact on the Euro. The forecast is for a slight recovery, from 45.8 to 48.7, after the initial wave of the contagious European debt problems. Note that there’s also an all-European figure, but the German one tends to have more impact.

4. American TIC Long-Term Purchases: Published on Tuesday at 13:00 GMT. This indicator shows the flow of money into our out of the US, being a sign of confidence. The turmoil in Europe, as last month saw a huge leap  - 140 billion instead of 50 that was predicted. The safe haven status that the US has will probably be reflected in this figure once again.

5. British employment data: Published on Wednesday at 8:30 GMT. The number of unemployed people, as seen in the Claimant Count Change, dropped significantly in the past three months, exceeding expectations time after time. While this is good for the Pound, the complementary figure, unemployment rate, which is a lagging figure, rose to 8% and isn’t expected to move from there.

6. European inflation data: Published on Wednesday at 9:00 GMT. Also in Europe, prices are rising, but the inflation rate isn’t a headache for the ECB, not yet. CPI is expected to show an annual rise of 1.6% and Core CPI a rise of only 0.8%. Any surprise will shake the Euro.

7. American housing figures: Published on Wednesday at 12:30 GMT. Building permits disappointed last month as they weakened to 610K. A rise to 630K is expected now. A rise above 700K will convince the markets that the recovery is strong. Housing starts reached a higher level, 670K, but they’re expected to drop this time to 650K. Together with the PPI, this time is very volatile for the dollar.

8. American PPI: Published on Wednesday at 12:30 GMT. Producer prices fell last month by 0.1%, and this fall is expected to accelerate this month to 0.5% – this is mainly the result of the drop in oil prices. Core PPI, which the Federal Reserve closely watches, is also expected to be tame – 0.1%. No inflation pressures from here.

9. Swiss rate decision: Published on Thursday at 7:15 GMT. The Swiss National Bank makes a decision on the Libor Rate only once a quarter. No change is expected this time, so the focus will be on the accompanying release of the SNB Monetary Policy Assessment. Will the central bank express concerns about the currency? After the fall of the Japanese government, the Swissy got some renewed attention as a safe haven currency. The low levels of EUR/CHF could trigger an intervention, and this might happen together with the rate decision, as seen in the past.

10. American CPI: Published on Thursday at 12:30 GMT. The main inflation figure isn’t expected to be different than producer prices. CPI is expected to drop by 0.2% and Core CPI will probably rise by 0.1% – Bernanke will probably leave the wording about “interest rates being low for an extended period of time” once again, weakening the dollar.

11. American Unemployment Claims: Published on Thursday at 12:30 GMT. Last week saw another disappointment, as jobless claims are refusing to go down. This week isn’t expected to be different – the forecast is for a minor drop from 456K to 454K.

12. American Philly Fed Manufacturing Index: Published on Thursday at 14:00 GMT. This major gauge has risen steadily in recent months, reaching 21.4 points. This trend will probably stop. The global turmoil will probably take its toll on this indicator.

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Binary Options Daily Review – May 24, 2010

Euro, Dollar Up vs Yen

The dollar and the euro ticked up against the yen in Asia Monday as short-term players in the region reacted to gains in Chinese share markets by selling the safe-haven yen in favor of the two riskier currencies.

Oil looking for a stronger start early this week

Crude futures rose in Asia Monday. Also on the New York Mercantile Exchange,  crude futures for delivery in July traded at $70.71 a barrel.

Gold still weaker

Gold futures ended lower for the fourth consecutive session on Friday, as investors dumped the metal, in order to raise cash for stock bargain hunting. “We maintain a positive view on gold given longer-term investor interest remains strong. However, in the near term profit taking and margin requirements given elevated speculative interest could result in a deeper correction,” said market analysts.

U.S. Stocks will look to economic data

U.S. economic data will be flowing thick and fast in the week ahead, with housing reports a particular focus.

European Stocks start the week strongly

European shares climbed on Monday morning, with banks taking back some ground lost last week amid jitters about sovereign finances.

How to trade Google into its earnings report tonight

Here is a great post about trading Google into earnings:

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/cody/2010/04/15/how-to-trade-google-into-its-earnings-report-tonight/

Greek Economy Spells Trouble For Eurozone – Market Weekly Outlook – February 15-19

A volatile week full with hope and fear comes to an end with currencies returning to the same spots. The week ahead contains a nice mix of events from all over the world: a rate decision in Japan, employment data from Britain, and lots of American numbers, with important inflation data to close the week. Here’s an outlook for the major events in the week ahead.

The Greek crisis is far from over. While Greece is only a small country at the edge of the Euro-zone, the implications of debt and the ways to deal with it have an impact on many other troubled countries in the region that is on the brink of new recession. This also has a wider impact – debt problems trigger risk aversion trading – dollar buying. OK, let’s start the review:

1.Japanese GDP: Published on Sunday at 23:50 GMT. As of Q2 of 2009, Japan is out of recession. The growth rate has dropped to 0.3% in Q3, after being first reported at 1.2%. Apart from slow economic growth, Japan historically suffers from deflation, a problem that won’t be solved soon. Growth of 1% is expected now. 2.British CPI: Published on Tuesday at 9:30 GMT. This important indicator has risen sharply in recent months. The last print was 2.9%, and the upcoming number is predicted to be 3.6%, above the government’s target. Mervyn King dismissed the inflation threats and signaled that no rate hike is underway. Will he continue this stance once again? Rising inflation isn’t seen elsewhere, and it will be interesting to see the impact on the whole market.3.ZEW Economic Sentiment: Published on Tuesday at 10:00 GMT. This is a major market mover – especially the release for Germany. In the past months, it has deteriorated sharply, going hand by hand with the Eurozone’s troubles, and Germany’s stagnant economy. It’s expected to dive again – this time from 47.2 to 41.9 points. 4.American TIC Long-Term Purchases: Published on Tuesday at 14:00 GMT. Foreign investment in the US has made a leap last month, rising from 20 to 126 billion dollars. This confidence in the US economy and the dollar probably won’t repeat itself, at least not so strong – 50 billion is predicted this time. A stronger number will boost the dollar. 5.British Employment Data: Published on Wednesday at 9:30 GMT. The number of unemployed people made a turnaround in Britain two months ago and the positive trend continued last month as well. The Claimant Count Change, an early an important indicator is expected to show another “positive loss” of unemployed people this month – 14.3K. The British Unemployment Rate is predicted to remain stable at 7.8%, but economists were wrong with this figure over and over again. Positive numbers will also push towards a rate hike. 6.American Building Permits: Published on Wednesday at 13:30 GMT. The housing sector was one of the main contributors to the downturn in the economy, and is recovering slowly. The annualized number of 0.65 million is predicted to be followed by a drop to 0.62 million. The economy cannot make a significant advance without a healthy housing sector. Also note the housing starts published at the same time. 7.FOMC Meeting Minutes: Published on Wednesday at 19:00 GMT. Although the wording of the statement hasn’t changed, there was one surprise in the recent American rate decision – one member voted to change the wording and start signaling a future rate hike. When the minutes will be revealed, we’ll get to see if other members also began thinking out loud about such an option. 8.Japanese Rate Decision: Published on Thursday, in the early hours. No rate hike is expected in Japan, which suffers from deflation. The Overnight Call Rate is predicted to remain unchanged at 0.1% but the views that that will be expressed about the economy by the BOJ usually move the Yen. 9.American PPI: Published on Thursday at 13:30 GMT. Producer prices aren’t always a market mover, but this time, a rise of 0.8% is predicted, much higher than last month’s 0.2% rise and much higher than previous months. Such a rise might cause Bernanke to rethink the “extended period” wording in the FOMC Statements. 10.American Unemployment Claims: Published on Thursday at 13:30 GMT. After a surprise last week – a drop to 440K, the drop in jobs seen in the NFP can be forgotten. A small rise to 445K is predicted this time. Only another drop, preferably below 430K can boost the dollar. 11.American Philly Fed Manufacturing Index: Published on Thursday at 15:00 GMT. This important gauge has seen 6 months of improving conditions, but last month was disappointing with a drop to 15.2 points. A steady rise to 17.2 is predicted this time. 12.American CPI: Published on Friday at 13:30 GMT. The major inflation figure closes the week. Contrary to the expectations from the PPI, consumers probably didn’t see a significant rise in prices. CPI is predicted to rise by 0.3% and Core CPI, an indicator that the Federal Reserve watches, is expected to rise by 0.2% – very stable. A jump will make the markets jump, seeing another crazy Friday. For USD/CAD traders, note that the Canadian CPI is published around the same time. This Market Weekly Outlook was brought to you by our partner ForexCrunch.com. Click here to Trade Binary Options with us. Best Regards, StartOptions.com Disclaimer: Binary options trading might carry potential rewards, but also potential risks. You must be aware of the risks and willing to accept them in order to trade in the financial markets. Don’t trade with money you can’t afford to lose.

Week Ahead: Earnings Will Call the Tune for Stocks

Earnings will be a challenge for stocks in the coming week, as major bank and tech firms report, along with hundreds of other companies.
The question, though, is whether earnings news will be strong enough to keep the rally going or investors will see it as an excuse to take profits temporarily.

The latter was the case Friday, when tech giant Intel [INTC  20.80  -0.68  (-3.17%)  ] fell after reporting better-than-expected profits and an improved outlook. JPMorgan Chase [JPM  43.68    -1.01  (-2.26%) ] stock also fell, and its report raised the flag on other bank stocks after loan losses and weaker-than-expected revenues outweighed a strong income number. Both stocks had moved higher ahead of their reports.

“We think the reaction is overdone. The issue for equity markets in earnings is really, about, in our view, the multiple,” said Binky Chadha, chief U.S. equities strategist at Deutsche Bank.

This earnings season is a critical turning point since it is the first quarter in 10 where there should be positive profit growth on a year-over-year basis. S&P 500 profits are expected to improve by 8 percent, excluding the financials, according to Thomson Reuters. When financials are included, that number jumps to 186 percent because of the sector’s gigantic losses a year ago.

For the most part, analysts expect the earnings news to be a catalyst for stocks in the first quarter. Some companies reporting in the week ahead include General Electric [GE  16.44    -0.26  (-1.56%)   ], Citigroup [C  3.42    -0.09  (-2.56%) ], Goldman Sachs [GS  165.21    -3.32  (-1.97%) ], Bank of America [BAC  16.26    -0.56  (-3.33%)], Google [GOOG  580.00    -9.85  (-1.67%)   ] and IBM [IBM  131.78    -0.53  (-0.4%)  ].

“I think earnings will deliver more than expected. The news we have so far is positive, though the market is taking it badly,” he said. Chadha said other factors were worrying investors, including the concerns about Greece’s fiscal situation.

Whither Stocks

David Kotok, chairman and chief investment officer at Cumberland Advisors, said he sees earnings as a driver in the first quarter. “It’s a good earnings season. There’s no labor cost pressures,” he said. Companies are showing margin improvement as they reap the benefit of leaner work forces and reduced spending.

Kotok expects technology to do particularly well this quarter and he is overweight the sector. When Intel released profits, it also reported surprisingly strong margins of 65 percent, the best level in a decade. Margin improvement could be an important story for tech. “That could be sustainable worldwide for several years,” he said.

Banks are another story. “We won’t know sustainable trends for banks in the U.S. until 2011 or 2012,” he said, adding that at that point current prices could look extremely cheap.

Kotok said the market has had an easy run since it began moving higher in March, but the next leg up will be bumpier. “I think the second half is going to be troubled by the economy. I think the market’s going to recognize that and reprice and sell off in the late spring, early summer” he said.

Chadha disagrees, however, that markets will be troubled in the second half. “It’s clearly the consensus view that we have a good first quarter, first half and then things stagnate and get much worse. I basically don’t think that. The fundamentals are that basically corporates over contracted and they over fired, and there’s basically a very large gap between final sales and production. There’s room for them to expand. That will spark a self-sustaining recovery,” he said.

But, he said the economy is not self -sustaining yet, and that fact could make the market choppier in the first part of the year rather than the second half, if his premise is correct.

“We’re putting our money on that it will take hold and the market should do a lot better later,” he said. Currently, the market’s multiple is about 14 on 2010 earnings, and fair value would be closer to 16.5. “So that’s potential for 20 percent more upside,” he said. His year-end target is 1325 on the S&P 500.

Chadha’s year-end target is 1325 on the S&P 500. Kotok’s target for the S&P this year is 1250 to 1300.

The Dow in the past week lost 8 points or 0.08 per cent to 10,609, while the S&P 500 slid 0.8 percent to 1136. Financial shares lost 1.8 percent for the week, but the biggest losers were telecom, down nearly 4 percent and materials, off 3.2 percent. Health care was the best performer, up 1.5 percent, while consumer staples were second best, up 0.9 percent.

Credit Uncrunch

Treasuries gained in the past week, driving yields lower. The 10-year’s yield fell to 3.676 percent, and the 2-year slipped to 0.887 percent.

In the past week, the government’s auctions of $84 billion in notes and bonds were well received by the market. At the same time, the flood of corporate debt issuance continued, bringing the total of dollar denominated issuance to $56.7 billion since Jan. 1.

In the past week, spreads widened in emerging markets, as investors worried about Greece’s ability to make debt payments. But there was also widening in corporate spreads. Traders have been watching these spreads, particularly as Washington discusses a new tax for banks and some of the consumer driven data in the past week disappointed.

Kevin Ferry of Cronus Futures Management said the widening of corporate spreads is actually just a normal function of the market as it absorbs the new issuance. He and others say the heavy activity is in part being driven by corporations anxious to get deals done ahead of higher interest rates.

“What we’ve been focusing on for the past two years is very stable and in fact it’s at an all time low, but out in the real world getting this (corporate debt) stuff through the pipeline is having the usual effect,” he said. Ferry said, for example, the 12-month libor rate hit an all time low in the past week of 0.89 percent.

Dollar Dilemma

The dollar lost 0.2 percent against a basket of currencies but gained 0.3 percent against the euro to $1.4379. At the same time, commodities sold off. Oil had five days of losses, finishing Friday at $78 per barrel, a decline of 5.7 percent for the week. Gold lost $8.10 per troy ounce for the week, to $1130.10.

Boris Schlossberg of GFT Forex said the dollar and euro are trapped in a range around $1.45 per euro. “Every time we get positive data on one side of the Atlantic, its counterbalanced by bad news on the other side of the Atlantic,” he said. The market responded to comments in the past week from European Central Bank President Jean Claude Trichet about a possible negative quarter in the Eurozone, as well as worries about Greece.

One focus for the euro in the coming week will be PMI data for the Eurozone, released on Friday, Schlossberg said.

Econorama

In the U.S., the calendar for economic data is relatively light. Markets are closed Monday for the Martin Luther King holiday. Wednesday and Thursday are the big days for data. On Wednesday producer prices are reported, as are housing starts. Thursday’s data includes the Philadelphia Fed survey, leading indicators and weekly jobless claims.

The National Association of Home Builders survey is Tuesday, as is the Treasury’s international capital flow data.

In the past week, the data pointed to a still very weak consumer. Retail sales were surprisingly negative for December and consumer sentiment was weaker than expected.

“The reality setting in is this isn’t an easy recovery,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial. Swonk said she expects unemployment to continue to rise and peak sometime this quarter at a level of 10.25 to 10.3 percent.

“We’ll still turn profits this year. We’ve still got productivity growth. This is still a good environment for profits and profit share, compared to wage share, is going to rise. That should support some additional gains in the stock market from where we were at the end of the year, but we’ve already gotten ahead of ourselves,” she said.

She said the housing starts data and PPI data this week should be important. She said PPI should be neutral and the housing numbers will be watched to see what impact there is from the first time home buyers program. “It’s really telling about how much government support is needed for this sector,” she said.

What Else to Watch

The Obama Administration’s plan to tax banks for TARP-related losses rattled investors in the past week and weighed on bank stocks when the news first trickled out. Investors have also been watching every development in Congress efforts to revamp health care.

Winterizing Your Portfolio – A CNBC Special Report

Now investors will be closely watching Massachusetts to see whether the Senate race there could be a sign that change is coming to Washington. On Tuesday, voters there will choose between Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Scott Brown in what has become an unexpectedly close race to fill the seat of late Sen.. Ted Kennedy.

The race is being watched as a referendum on President Obama’s programs and a sign of what could happen in the mid term elections in November.

Earnings Central

Banks dominate the week, starting with Citigroup’s report Tuesday. Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Bank of New York Mellon, State Street, US Bancorp, Wells Fargo and Northern Trust report Wednesday. Thursday’s reports include Goldman Sachs, Capital One Financial, American Express, Fifth Third, Keycorp, and PNC. Huntington Bancshares and SunTrust report Friday.

Among tech names this coming week, IBM leads the charge Tuesday. Ebay, Seagate and Xilinx report Wednesday. Google and AMD report Thursday.

Also Tuesday, reports are expected from TD Ameritrade, Forest Labs, and CSX. On Wednesday, AMR, Jefferies, Covidien, Coach, Brinker International, Starbucks, and SLM release results. Thursday’s reports include Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Continental Airlines, United Health, Union Pacific, Southwest Airlines, PPG and Xerox

Friday’s names include Air Products, Exelon, General Electric, Kimberly Clark, McDonalds and Schlumberger.

There could also be news on Cadbury in the week ahead, as Hershey reportedly weighs a bid and Kraft considers a new offer.

Stocks Shed Losses as Bank Stocks Gain

Stocks turned slightly positive as investors warmed to bank stocks, a day before the White House will announce its plans to charge the industry fees related to the industry’s bailout and as Congress probes the financial system’s collapse.

Major indexes faced pressure most of the morning after energy prices fell on an inventory surge and concerns persisted over global growth. But the mood turned a bit positive as Wells Fargo , Bank of America and others headed higher. BofA earlier was the biggest drag on the Dow.

Energy shares also fell after a report showed a larger than expected surge in inventories.

Oil prices dropped again, falling below $80 a barrel for the first time in 10 days even as the dollar continued to fade.

Chevron was the biggest loser on the Dow 30, which lost an early pop as the market sought to rebound from a losing day Tuesday.

Resource companies also fell, with Southern Copper dropping more than 2.5 percent.

Kraft Foods stoked some investor enthusiasm as it raised its outlook for the second time in two months. Investors even scooped up shares of Alcoa , which led the market lower yesterday after issuing disappointing earnings.

The market fell Tuesday on concerns over earnings and whether monetary tightening in China would stall the global economic recovery.

The China worries seemed to abate somewhat but remained a lingering concern.

“We don’t expect the effects of the current tinkering to be overly disruptive or derail the recovery trend,” Tinconderoga Securities analyst John Stoltzfus wrote in a morning research note that acknowledged a “steep selloff” remains possible. “Likely a look in the rearview mirror sometime down the road will tell us that China’s actions … were sensible and ultimately prudent.”

Technology continued to be a sore spot for the market, though, with chipmakers particularly weak and the Nasdaq lagging its counterparts. shares dropped for the second consecutive day as investors begin to take profits from an aggressive two-month rally in the group.

Google shares fell on news that it may pull out of China because of cyber attacks. Chinese search engine Baidu surged.

AstraZeneca was among the market’s big movers, rising after Credit Suisse upgraded the pharma leader to “neutral” from “underperform.”

Another snapshot of the economy comes at 2 pm New York time, when the Federal Reserve releases its Beige Book, the region by region assessment of economic conditions.

At the same time, the Treasury is out with the December budget statement, expected to show a deficit of $91 billion for the month, compared with a shortfall of $51.8 billion in December of 2008.

Sony gained as it postpones the launch of videogame Gran Turismo 5, citing production issues for the latest in that hot-selling videogame line.

Stocks Rise, Bonds Drop on Economic Recovery; Carbon Declines

Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) — Stocks rallied and bonds fell, sending the difference between 2- and 10-year Treasury note yields to a record, on signs the economic rebound is gaining steam. Oil rose after attacks on facilities in Nigeria and Iraq.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 1.2 percent to 1,115.44 at 11:20 a.m. in New York. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index gained 1.4 percent. The Treasury yield curve touched 281 basis points on speculation the economic rebound will fuel inflation, while the cost to protect U.S. corporate bonds from default fell to the lowest since May 2008. Carbon-permit prices tumbled as leaders agreed not to set binding emissions targets at the Copenhagen climate summit.

Optimism about the global economic recovery was bolstered as analysts advised buying shares of Alcoa Inc. and Intel Corp. on signs that demand for aluminum and computer chips is improving. The Confederation of British Industry raised its forecast for next year’s U.K. growth to 1.2 percent from 0.9 percent. U.S. consumers probably earned and spent more in November, economists said before reports later this week.

“The economy is improving and shoppers are out there, which signals confidence in that improvement,” said Stefanie Yeager, a fund manager at State College, Pennsylvania-based Vantage Investment Advisors LLC, which oversees $450 million. “People are really seeing that things are turning around. Christmas isn’t turning out to be the black mark that people thought it might be earlier in the year.”

Chipmakers Lead Gains

All 24 industries in the S&P 500 advanced, with Intel leading computer-chip stocks up 2.6 percent for the top gain. Retailers climbed 1.5 percent as a group after the National Retail Federation said last-minute shopping in the days leading up to Christmas may make up for lost weekend sales on the U.S. East Coast after record snowfalls shut stores early and kept shoppers at home.

Health insurers, led by Cigna Corp. and Aetna Inc., rose two days after the Senate announced a compromise health-care bill that dropped proposals for a government-run plan to compete with the private sector and delayed taxes on the insurance industry. Cigna and Aetna climbed at least 6 percent, while the 13-member Standard & Poor’s insurance index was up 4.4 percent.

“The bill seems fairly benign for the industry,” said Les Funtleyder, a Miller Tabak & Co. analyst in New York, in a note to clients. “A mid-2010 start date seems like it will give the companies enough time to deal with the new rules.”

Default Swaps Drop

Credit-default swaps on the Markit CDX North America Investment-Grade Index, used to speculate on the creditworthiness of 125 companies in the U.S. and Canada or to protect against losses on their debt, declined 1.5 basis points to 87 basis points, according to broker Phoenix Partners Group. The index fell to its lowest since May 2, 2008, according to CMA DataVision.

The MSCI World Index of 23 developed nations’ stocks advanced 1 percent. Safran SA climbed 3.8 percent in Paris after winning a $5 billion contract to supply engines for China’s first narrowbody aircraft. Natixis SA added 3.6 percent after the French bank said it will be profitable in the fourth quarter.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.3 percent, as Hong Kong- listed property developers and insurers declined on concern China will do more to curb real-estate speculation. Soho China Ltd., the biggest developer in Beijing’s central business district, dropped 4.5 percent and Poly (Hong Kong) Investment Ltd. lost 6.1 percent.

Carbon Permits Tumble

European Union carbon permits fell the most since February on the European Climate Exchange. Carbon-dioxide allowances for delivery in December 2010 fell as much as 8.7 percent to 12.40 euros a metric ton.

The U.S., China, India and other nations attending the two- week Copenhagen summit that ended at the weekend agreed to voluntary, rather than binding, targets to reduce emissions. The accord isn’t enough to boost demand for permits, said Trevor Sikorski, an emissions analyst at Barclays Capital in London.

The dollar traded near a three-month high against major counterparts. The Dollar Index, which IntercontinentalExchange Inc. uses to track the greenback against currencies including the euro, yen, pound and franc, has increased 3.8 percent this month to 77.687, within 1 percent of its three-month high of 78.141 reached on Dec. 18.

The dollar traded at $1.4318 per euro, compared with $1.4338 on Dec. 18, when it appreciated to $1.4262, the strongest level since Sept. 4. The yen depreciated 0.4 percent to 130.20 per euro, from 129.75.

Oil Rallies

Crude oil rallied as much as 1.3 percent to $74.32 a barrel in New York. Nigeria’s main militant group claimed its first assault on oil infrastructure in the country in five months, while Iraq shut its northern export pipeline to Turkey after an explosion damaged the link. OPEC, meeting in Angola tomorrow, said it expects to hold production targets.

Nickel rallied 4.8 percent to $17,925 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange as Russia’s government decided to reimpose a 5 percent tax on nickel exports that was suspended in January. Russia is home to OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest producer of the stainless-steel ingredient.

Copper for three- month delivery added 1.7 percent to $6,960 a ton, the first gain in three days.

The yield on the German 10-year bund, Europe’s benchmark government security, climbed five basis points to 3.18 percent. Greece’s bonds fell for a third day, pushing the 10-year yield 16 basis points higher to 5.94 percent to its highest level since March.