Good news for commodities, eg rubber, oil, etc
From Bloomberg:
Stocks, Commodities Gain as China Refrains From Rate Increase
By Stephen Voss
Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks in Europe rallied for a sixth day while
copper and rubber jumped to records after China refrained from raising interest rates. U.S. Treasuries dropped and stock futures were little changed.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.4 percent at 10:03 a.m. in London for its longest stretch of gains since July. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose less than 0.1 percent. Russia’s RTS Index gained 1.1 percent to the highest level on a closing basis since August 2008 while the yen fell against 15 of its 16 most-traded peers. The S&P GSCI index of 24 commodities climbed 0.9 percent, and oil added 0.8 percent after OPEC kept output targets unchanged at a weekend meeting.
China on Dec. 10 ordered banks to set aside larger reserves and didn’t announce an interest-rate increase, even as data released the following day showed the inflation rate reached 5.1 percent last month. As Federal Reserve policy makers meet tomorrow, a U.S. Commerce Department report is likely to show retail sales climbed for a fifth straight month in November.
“We are seeing a bit of a relief rally on the back of the fact that China decided not to raise interest rates over the weekend,” said Richard Hunter, London-based head of U.K. equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Plc. “Those interest rate rises are nonetheless expected at some point.”
The Stoxx 600 rose to the highest level since September, 2008 as more than four companies gained for every one that fell. The index has advanced 9.2 percent in 2010. Kazakhmys Plc and Fresnillo Plc paced a rally in mining shares, rising more than 2 percent.
Wellstream Jumps
Wellstream Holdings Plc jumped 5 percent as General Electric Co. agreed to buy the oilfield-services provider for about 800 million pounds ($1.3 billion). Rhodia SA jumped 4.2 percent after Credit Suisse Group AG recommended the chemicals company. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.5 percent to its highest level in more than a month.
U.S. futures were little changed after the S&P 500 rose for four straight days to its highest level since the week of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s bankruptcy in 2008. Fed policy makers, due to hold their final meeting of 2010 on Dec. 14, may reiterate the strategy to buy an additional $600 billion of Treasuries through June to try to trim joblessness and avert deflation, or an extended drop in prices.
China Index Rises
China’s Shanghai Composite Index advanced 2.9 percent, the biggest gain in eight weeks. The government is likely to set a target of at least 7 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion) of new loans for 2011, said two people briefed on the matter. Economists at UBS AG and Bank of America Corp. had forecast a new-loan quota of 6.5 trillion yuan to 7 trillion yuan. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index advanced 0.4 percent, led by energy stocks including PetroChina Co. and Moscow-based OAO Gazprom.
Copper climbed as much as 1.7 percent to a record $9,145 a metric ton and
rubber futures jumped as much as 3.8 percent to an all-time high of 396.4 yen ($4.70) a kilogram (2.2 pounds). Crude oil added 67 cents to $88.46 a barrel, and is up 11 percent this year. Silver gained 1.9 percent to $29.215 an ounce. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries kept the production ceiling for 11 of its members at 24.845 million barrels a day.
The yen weakened 0.4 percent to 84.3 per dollar and 111.44 per euro. The Dollar Index climbed 0.2 percent to 80.199, gaining for a sixth-straight day, the longest streak of gains since June. The euro slid 0.1 percent to $1.3216.
U.S. 10-year Treasury yields jumped six basis points to 3.39 percent, the highest since June. The German bund yield was two basis points higher at 2.98 percent. Spanish 10-year bonds fell for a sixth straight day, pushing the yield up five basis points to 5.48 percent.
The Markit iTraxx Financial Index of credit-default swaps insuring the senior debt of 25 European banks and insurers rose 6 basis points to 172, the highest level in three months, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Voss in London at
sev@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at
sev@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: December 13, 2010 05:23 EST