Acfx Atlas Capital

March, 2nd 2012
Currencies EUR/USD dropped to 1.3318 with the USD remaining positive against the euro.In Europe, the Market purchasing managers index for the euro zone showed activity in the region shrank at a slower pace in February, coming in unchanged from a preliminary estimate.Separately, consumer prices grew at 2.7% annual rate in February, edged up from 2.6% in January, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat reported. January unemployment rose to 10.7% from an upwardly revised 10.6% in DecemberThursday a U.S. manufacturing gauge dropped unexpectedly, but the USD held gains against the euro following a trade body’s ruling that Greece’s privately-held debt restructuring hasn’t met the threshold of a “credit event.”

USD/CAD rose for a fourth day, the longest string of advances in more than a month, as jobless claims in the U.S., the nation’s biggest trade partner, fell to the lowest level in four years. It gained versus the majority of its most-traded peers before data tomorrow that may show the Canadian economy grew in the fourth quarter. China’s manufacturing expanded, a report showed.The pair rose 0.5% to 98.55 cents per U.S. dollar. It reached 98.42 cents, the strongest since Sept. 19. One Canadian dollar is traded for $1.0147.

USD/JPY The Yen dropped against all its major peers after government data showed Japan’s consumer-price index lowered, rising speculation the nation’s central bank will expand monetary easing to meet its inflation goal.The yen fell 0.3 percent to 108.27 per euro as of 6:14 a.m. in London. It dropped 0.4 percent to 81.44 per dollar after touching 81.67 on Feb. 27, the weakest since May 31. The euro dipped 0.1 percent to $1.3295.

Commodities Oil climbed over $110 a barrel for the first time since May after an Iranian state-run news channel reported an explosion on a pipeline in Saudi Arabia. A Saudi official said no oil facilities were sabotaged.Futures reached $110.55 at 3:17 p.m. in New York after Iran’s Press TV reported on its English-language website that “an explosion has hit oil pipelines in the flashpoint Saudi Arabian city of Awwamiya,” then fell back below $109.
Major General Mansour Al-Turki, a spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry, said no oil facility in the region has been sabotaged after reports of a fire near the Ras Tanura refinery.Crude oil for April delivery rose $1.77 to settle at $108.84 a barrel on the NYMEX before the Press TV report. The price was $108.73 at 5:11 p.m. Futures settled at a nine-month high of $109.77 on Feb. 24. Brent oil for April settlement climbed $3.54, or 2.9 percent, to a 10-month high of $126.20 a barrel on the London- based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Brent rose as high as $128.40 after the settlement and dropped back to $126.15

Gold gained Thursday, running with equities and oil as they looked to recover from a 4.3% drop the previous day. Gold is up $10.90, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,722.20. On Wednesday as Federal Reserve’s Chairman Mr. Bernanke spoke before Congress his tone and the market interpretation caused Gold to drop over $70.00 in just a few minutes. Yesterday, gold reached $1,792.70, a three-month high, even as coin sales by the U.S. lowest in February.The markets were also concerned about the effects of the program as the ECB lent a record 530 Billion euro of three-year loans to 810 financial institutions, up from 523 at the first round of lending in December. Investors are wary banks will become too reliant on ECB funds and fail to take the steps to strengthen their balance sheets
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