Asian Morning Briefing: U.S. Stocks Rise as Greek Uncertainty Ebbs

 
                       LAST    CHANGE  % CHG 
DJIA                 18120.25   70.08  0.39% 
Nasdaq                5163.18   64.24  1.26% 
S&P 500               2124.29   16.89  0.80% 
Japan: Nikkei 225    20600.12  136.79  0.67% 
Hang Seng            25162.78  107.02  0.43% 
Shanghai Composite    3823.18   17.47  0.46% 
S&P BSE Sensex       28446.12  247.83  0.88% 
Australia: S&P/ASX     5669.6    33.4  0.59% 
UK: FTSE 100          6796.45    42.7  0.63% 
 
 
                    PRICE CHG  YIELD 
U.S. 2 Year             -2/32  0.661 
U.S. 5 Year             -4/32  1.655 
U.S. 10 Year             0/32  2.354 
Australia 10 Year       16/32  2.984 
China 10 Year            5/32   3.57 
India 10 Year            1/32  8.005 
Japan 10 Year            3/32  0.446 
German 10 Year          -3/32  0.783 
 
 
                          LAST(MID)  CHANGE 
Australia $ (AUD/USD)        0.7404   0.0025 
Yen (USD/JPY)                124.13     0.35 
S. Korean Won (USD/KRW)     1146.81     -0.7 
Chinese Yuan (USD/CNY)       6.2114    0.003 
Euro (EUR/USD)               1.0875  -0.0075 
WSJ Dollar Index              88.37     0.33 
 
 
               LAST   CHANGE  % CHG 
Crude Oil      50.94   -0.47  -0.91% 
Brent Crude    57.02    -0.1  -0.18% 
Gold          1143.9    -3.5  -0.31% 
 

        MARKETS AT A GLANCE
        (Data as of approximately 5 p.m. ET)
        SNAPSHOT:
        U.S. stocks rose Thursday, while Treasurys pulled back and the euro weakened, on abating worries over Greece's finances. U.S. oil futures fell to a three-month low while global benchmark Brent ticked higher. Gold slipped to an eight-month low.
        OPENING CALL:
        Friday is a quiet day for Asian data reports but does bring South Korea's PPI figures for June. Producer prices in South Korea decreased 3.5% year-over-year in May and are forecast to slip 3.3% in June from the previous year.
        EQUITIES:
        The Nasdaq Composite Index notched a record high Thursday, buoyed by a rally in technology shares following a batch of upbeat earnings reports and abating worries over Greece's finances.
        The Nasdaq gained 64.24 points, or 1.3%, to 5163.18, marking its first record finish since June 23. The technology-heavy index is up 3.5% this month.
        A stream of positive earnings reports from different pockets of the technology sector helped power the technology rally, which gained steam as the session drew to a close. Shares of Netflix soared 18% while eBay shares jumped 3.4%, both making strides on better-than-expected quarterly profits.
        The Nasdaq's gain came on the back of a broad rally in stocks, which were buoyed by news that Greece's Parliament passed austerity measures needed to secure a fresh bailout. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 70.08 points, or 0.4%, to 18120.25, while the S&P 500 rose 16.89 points, or 0.8%, to 2124.29.
        "There's some framework to getting the deal done, and that's the thing the market needs," said Bill Nichols, head of U.S. equities at Cantor Fitzgerald. "And earnings have been OK, and that's giving a little bit of room for a rally."
        Chinese shares managed to hold on to gains Thursday, as trading resumed for hundreds of firms this week, while markets elsewhere in Asia rose after Greece approved austerity measures to secure a bailout.
        FOREX:
        The euro weakened against the dollar and the yen on Thursday after Greece moved closer to securing a much-needed bailout that would allow it to stay in the eurozone.
        Positive developments in the Greek debt crisis gave investors more confidence and led them to re-establish their bets that the euro would lose ground against its rivals as the European Central Bank maintains an easy monetary policy.
        The common currency weakened 0.6% versus the dollar to $1.0877 in late-afternoon trade, on track for its lowest close since May 26. The euro fell to a one-week low against the yen, sliding 0.4% to Yen134.97.
        Early on Thursday, Greece's parliament passed the austerity measures needed to help it secure as much as $94.5 billion in bailout loans over the next three years from the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund. A short time later, the ECB raised its emergency lending to Greek banks by $989 million, a move that could enable the country's lenders to reopen. In addition, eurozone finance ministers approved, in principle, a third bailout to Greece, setting the stage for several countries to take up the agreement in their own parliaments before the go-ahead for negotiations is given.
        Investors have started to regard each cleared hurdle as a signal to sell the common currency, returning to a view they had abandoned when the Greek debt crisis ramped up uncertainty on the euro's short-term prospects. The ECB's easing policies, including lower interest rates and the launch of a massive bond-buying program, sent the currency plummeting between May 2014 and March.
        "People have wanted to sell the euro for some time," said John Hardy, head of currency strategy at Saxo Bank. "The consensus trade is the ECB needs a weaker euro."
        BONDS:
        U.S. Treasury bonds pulled back after worries Greece could leave the eurozone diminished.
        The eurozone is expected to give a green light to negotiations on a new Greece bailout, after Greece's parliament passed a first round of stringent austerity measures. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank raised its emergency lending to Greek banks by EUR900 million ($980 million), a move that would pave the way for the banks to reopen.
        With Greece's debt crisis easing, investors shift focus back toward the Federal Reserve's plan to raise short-term interest rates. Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen told lawmakers Wednesday that the central bank is on track to boost the federal-funds rate later this year for the first time since 2006.
        Yields on shorter-dated notes posted a bigger increase during the session as they are sensitive to changes in the Fed's interest-rate outlook.
        In late afternoon trading, the yield on the two-year note was 0.661%, compared with 0.625% on Wednesday. Yields rise as prices fall.
        The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was 2.352%, compared with 2.348% on Wednesday.
        "Hopefully Greece is out of the way for a while," said Thomas Roth, executive director in the U.S. government bond trading group at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities (USA) in New York. The U.S. economy is "improving and moving the Fed closer to a rate hike."
        COMMODITIES:
        U.S. oil futures fell to a new three-month low on fresh indications of a supply surplus, while global benchmark Brent ticked higher on production concerns.
        Light, sweet crude for August delivery settled down 50 cents, or 1%, at $50.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since April 9. Brent, the global benchmark, rose 46 cents, or 0.8%, to $57.51 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
        On Thursday, data provider Genscape reported that stockpiles in the key hub of Cushing, Okla., rose by nearly a million barrels between July 10 and 14, according to three market participants. U.S. oil prices erased early gains on the news.
        The U.S. benchmark slid Wednesday after inventory data showed total U.S. inventories of crude oil and petroleum products at a record high, even as refineries processed more crude than ever before into gasoline and other fuels. The data spurred worries that fuel demand isn't sufficient to eat away at the global glut of oil, despite strong gasoline demand during the busy summer-driving season.
        Canadian oil exports to the U.S. have increased in recent weeks as Canada's oil production ramped back up following wildfires in Alberta. Much of the oil shipped from Canada to the U.S. passes through Cushing.
        "There's a lot of talk around the market that the market is a little bit saturated with Canadian" crude, said Dominick Chirichella, analyst at the Energy Management Institute. "From a U.S. perspective, the market is oversupplied."
        Gold prices fell to an eight-month low, weighed down by a stronger dollar and expectations that the Federal Reserve is likely to raise interest rates in coming months.
        TODAY'S HEADLINES:
        Google's Results Top Expectations
        Google reported solid growth in revenue and profit as the world's largest Internet search provider grappled with falling advertising prices and kept a closer eye on expenses.
        Yellen Testifies Before Senate Panel
        Fed's Yellen said raising interest rates too soon could threaten the ongoing recovery while waiting too long risks overheating the economy and raising inflation.
        FCC Poised to Reject Dish Entities' $3.3 Billion Auction Discounts
        The Federal Communications Commission is poised to reject $3.3 billion in discounts requested by partners of satellite-TV provider Dish Network Corp. in the government's $45 billion airwave auction earlier this year, according to people familiar with the matter.
        ECB Raises Emergency Lending to Greek Banks
        The European Central Bank sent a signal of support for Greece's embattled government and banks, saying it would grant more emergency loans to Greek lenders.
        Takata Air-Bag Probe Points to Leaky Seals
        A study of faulty Takata air bags is focusing on air and moisture penetrating the inflaters' seals and turning what are ordinarily mild explosives used to inflate air bags inside into violent bombs.
        Goldman Sachs Posts Weaker Results on Big Litigation Provision
        Goldman Sachs's profit dropped after the firm set aside more than $1 billion to cover legal costs.
        Germany Blasts Deutsche Bank Over Culture
        German regulators accused a half-dozen current Deutsche Bank executives of failing to stop or tell regulators about years of attempted market manipulation, according to a confidential report.
        U.S. Home-Builder Confidence Hits Highest Level in Nearly a Decade
        A gauge of home-builder sentiment hit its highest level since November 2005, reflecting confidence in a steadily improving U.S. housing market.
        U.S. Jobless Claims Fall to 281,000
        (MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires

        July 16, 2015 17:31 ET (21:31 GMT)
        The number of Americans claiming first-time unemployment benefits fell for the first time in three weeks, a sign of a healthy labor market.
        EBay Revenue Rises, Profit Tops Expectations
        EBay said revenue grew 7% in the June quarter, its last before cleaving off PayPal. The company also confirmed it will sell its Enterprise unit for $925 million and added $1 billion to its stock-buyback plans.
        RECENT DJ EXCLUSIVES:
        Fear of the Unknown Binds a Greek Deal With Few Believers
        Activist Investor Voce Takes 5.1% Stake in Securities Firm FBR
        Citi May Finally Slip Its Cuffs -- Heard on the Street
        FCC Poised to Reject Dish Entities' $3.3 Billion Auction Discounts
        Plenty of Open Road for J.B. Hunt -- Ahead of the Tape
        TODAY'S CALENDAR
        (Times in GMT, followed by country and event)
        2100 SKA Jun PPI
        0000 AUS May Australia Conference Board Leading Index
        0200 CHN Jun FDI Foreign Direct Investment
        0730 THA Weekly International Reserves
        0830 HK Q3 Business Expectations - Quarterly Business Tendency Survey
        0900 EU May Construction output
        1130 IND Weekly foreign exchange reserves
        1230 US Jun CPI
        1230 US Jun Real Earnings
        1230 CAN Jun CPI
        1230 US Jun New Residential Construction - Housing Starts and Building Permits
        1400 US Jul University of Michigan Survey of Consumers - preliminary
        1400 US Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer participates in U.S. Chamber of Commerce event
        1800 CAN Bank of Canada Weekly Financial Statistics
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        July 16, 2015 17:31 ET (21:31 GMT)

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