Market News

Asian shares pulled ahead on Wednesday, taking their cue from Wall Street's strong performance as upbeat results from two technology bellwethers offset recent concerns about the outlook for the global economy.

The Australian Dollar edged noticeably higher, gaining about 0.5% against the U.S. Dollar, after the release of Chinese growth figures offered at least some relief from ongoing jitters over global growth.

Japanese shares swung between gains and losses after the Topix index posted its biggest rally in more than a year yesterday.

Improved economic data and expectations that the Federal Reserve won’t be raising interest rates in the near future helped to revive investors’ risk appetite and pushed the U.S. Dollar higher versus the Japanese Yen.

Australian state-owned health insurer Medibank plans to raise up to 5.5 billion Australia dollars ($4.8 billion) in what could be the biggest state initial public offering (IPO) since Telstra in 1997.

Asian stocks were tentatively higher on Friday after a solid set of U.S. data calmed turbulence in global financial markets, though underlying worries about slowing world economic growth kept investors on edge.

With the economy in the Eurozone on the brink of a deflationary spiral, the U.S. Treasury Department issued a warning to investors saying that even the European Central Bank’s recent measures to stimulate the region’s economy may be insufficient to stave off deflation.

Two pieces of unexpectedly disappointing economic data sent the U.S. Dollar broadly lower as investors speculate that the economic news is likely to further delay an interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve Bank.

The U.S. Dollar regained earlier traction after falling against the Japanese Yen to its lowest price in nearly a month which came about as investor concerns over global growth began to escalate.

Stocks on Wall Street tumbled in late selling on Monday with the S&P 500 closing below its 200-day average for the first time since mid- November 2012 on continued concern about the strength of the global economy.

The Japanese Yen was broadly higher against its major peers as investors’ fears escalate on speculation that the global economy is on the verge of a downturn.

Asian stocks slipped with U.S. index futures extending the retreat in equities following the Federal Reserve report that said a slowdown in parts of the global economy could delay interest-rate increases.

The S&P 500 on Thursday posted its largest percentage decline in six months on concerns about the strength of the global economy and its effect on corporate earnings.

Global equity markets fell sharply on Tuesday and oil slipped to near 27-month lows as investors shifted funds into safe-haven government debt as poor economic data from Europe heightened concerns about worldwide demand.

In Japan, the Prime Minister earlier today spoke of the many disadvantages of a weak Japanese Yen, including burdens to Japan’s consumers, small businesses and especially exporters.