Asia-Pacific Market Recap: Fixed Income Gaining, Equities Mixed

Asia-Pacific fixed income markets are gaining and equities closed mixed with yields on Australian 10-year bonds down 6.0 bps to 5.17% and Japanese 10-year government bonds down 1.6 bps to 1.48%.

Sydney's S&P ASX 200 closed up 16.90 points to 4018.

The Japanese Nikkei closed down 452.78 points to 8576.98 and the Hang Seng down 780.88 points to 13548.97.

Yields on three-year Australian bonds were down 14.6 bps to 5.39 and the Australian 90-day March 09 contract was up 2.0 ticks to 95.51.

The Euroyen March 09 contract was up 2.5 ticks to 99.41.

The Australian dollar was down 2.19 cents to 0.6605 against the USD and down 1.07 cents to 0.8083 against the Canadian dollar.

Against the yen, the U.S. dollar was down 1.62 points to 96.96 and the Canadian dollar was down 2.86 points to 79.26.

The euro was down 2.20 cents to 1.2698 USD.

Generated by CEP Newswires

Closing Market Recap: U.S. Equities Able to Shake off Weak Data

(CEP News) - Investors are closing the books on what some reports are calling the worst October since 1987. But this last week has shown some promising signs, say some strategists.

In October, the Dow fell almost 14% and the S&P 500 fell 16.5%. But the news isn't all bleak, as buyers held the line today and ended the week with back-to-back positive closes for the first time in more than a month.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 144 points to 9325, the S&P 500 closed up 15 points to 969 and the Nasdaq ended the day up 22 points to 1721.

"There is some good news because we saw the volatility die off a little in the last couple of days," said Colin Cieszynski, market analyst from CMC Markets Canada. "It will be interesting to see if next week we can get a break in sentiment."

In Canada, there was choppy trading as the S&P/TSX followed commodity prices. But losses were limited and stocks held on to gains, which were made earlier in the week. Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index closed down 93 points to 9763.

Looking at commodity markets, WTI crude oil is up $1.54 to $67.50. The front month gold contract at the Chicago Board of Trade is down $16.10 to $723.70 per ounce.

European stock markets closed in positive territory with the Eurostoxx up 68 points to 2331, the UK FTSE 100 up 86 points to 4377 and the German DAX up 119 points to 4988.

Data wasn't even able to drag down investor sentiment today with weaker U.S. consumer spending and the biggest drop ever in the Chicago PMI. The Federal Reserve's Personal Consumption Expenditures report showed falling consumer spending in September. The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, the PCE core deflator, advanced by 0.2% (0.176%) in the month, a faster pace than the 0.1% expectation, and contributed to a year-over-year change of 2.4% (2.402%).

More Details at: Actionforex