Most stocks (MXAP) climbed, helping the
MSCI All Country World Index gain for a fifth day, while the
dollar maintained losses against higher-yielding peers amid
speculation the U.S. economy will continue to recover. China’s
yuan surged to a 17-year high.
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| Visitors look at the trading floor of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg |
MSCI’s global index advanced 0.1 percent at 10:38 a.m. in
New York as benchmark equity gauges in Japan, India, Russia and
Brazil rose 0.2 percent or more. Financial markets from Hong
Kong to the U.K. and the U.S. are closed for holidays today. The
dollar weakened 0.2 percent to $1.3066 per euro. The yuan
touched 6.3160 versus the greenback, the strongest level since
1993, on speculation China’s policy makers will tolerate
appreciation to stem capital outflows.
Reports tomorrow may show home prices in 20 U.S. cities
declined at a slower pace and consumer confidence improved to a
five-month high. Data last week showed durable goods orders
jumped in November by the most in four months, while sales of
new homes increased to a seven-month high.
“The U.S. economy is improving more than expected,” said
Hideyuki Ishiguro, assistant manager at the investment strategy
department at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo. “Pessimism is
easing among American consumers due to a recovery in the job
market and some stability in the stock market.”
About four shares advanced for every three that declined on
MSCI’s global benchmark index, helping the gauge extend last
week’s 3.1 percent advance.
Brazil’s Bovespa index gained 0.2 percent after economists
cut their 2012 inflation forecast for a fourth straight week.
Mexico’s IPC slipped 0.3 percent.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 1 percent, the BSE
India Sensitive Index jumped 1.5 percent, while Russia’s Micex
Index gained 1.1 percent. Canon Inc. (7751) climbed 1.3 percent after
the Nikkei newspaper reported that the camera maker may pay a
120 yen ($1.54) dividend this year.
The Bloomberg GCC 200 Index of Persian Gulf shares rose
less than 0.1 percent to 54.89 while Israel’s TA-25 index gained
0.7 percent.
The S&P 500 (SPX) added 0.9 percent on Dec. 23, erasing its
losses for this year, after Commerce Department data showed
orders for goods meant to last at least three months rose 3.8
percent in November. A separate report showed purchases of
single-family properties increased 1.6 percent to a 315,000
annual pace, while consumer spending rose less than forecast in
November as wages declined for the first time in three months.
Consumer Confidence
Property values probably dropped 3.2 percent in October
from the same month in 2010, the smallest year-over-year
decrease since January, according to the median forecast of 20
economists before a report from S&P/Case-Shiller. Consumer
confidence may have climbed to a five-month high of 58.6 in
December from 56 last month, a separate survey showed before
tomorrow’s report from the New York-based Conference Board.
“Excessive pessimism has receded at the end of the year,
and what we’re seeing is some unwinding of safe-haven buying of
currencies like the dollar and yen,” said Kengo Suzuki, manager
of the foreign-bond department in Tokyo at Mizuho Securities
Co., a unit of Japan’s third-biggest listed bank by market
value. “The U.S. economy is resilient.”
The Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against
those of six trading partners, fell 0.1 percent after sliding
last week. The Australian dollar rose 0.1 percent to $1.0164 and
Turkey’s lira gained 0.5 percent to 1.8922 per dollar.
Yuan Gains
The yuan strengthened 0.3 percent to 6.3198 per dollar as
the central bank set the reference rate 0.07 percent higher at
6.3167 per dollar. A depreciation of the yuan may fuel outflows
of capital, Yi Xianrong, a researcher at the Institute of
Finance and Banking that is affiliated to the Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences, wrote in a commentary in the China Daily.
Japan and China will promote direct trading of yen and yuan
without using dollars and will encourage the development of a
market for companies involved in the exchanges, the Japanese
government said at a meeting between Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing yesterday.
Gold for immediate delivery retreated as much as 0.5
percent to $1,597.75 an ounce before trading at $1,606.90 an
ounce. Copper declined 1.2 percent to 55,200 yuan ($8,735) a
metric ton in Shanghai, the first retreat in five days. The
London Metal Exchange and Comex are closed today.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Shiyin Chen in Singapore at
schen37@bloomberg.net;
Bruce Stanley in Dubai at
bstanley5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Sheldon Reback at
sreback@bloomberg.net
