Asian stocks rallied on Wednesday from a five-year low, led by Japanese automakers and the region’s mining companies, as the yen weakened and commodity prices rose. Futures on the S&P 500 Index dropped 0.2% after the gauge jumped 4% in New York on Tuesday as Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said there was a “reasonable prospect” the current recession will end this year.
Asian markets (Wed)
03:50am GMT
Nikkei up 107.33 (1.48%) to 7,375.89
Topix up 6.54 (0.9%) 736.82
Hang Seng up 151.16 (1.18%) at 12,949.68
US markets (Tues)
DJIA up 23.16 (3.32%) at 7,350.94
Nasdaq up 54.11 (3.9%) at 1,441.83
S&P500 up 29.81 (4.01%) at 773.14
European markets (Tues)
FTSE100 down 34.29 (-0.89%) at 3,816.44
Eurofirst 300 down 10.01 (-1.37%) at 719.38
Currencies
03:43 GMT
€/$ 1.2849 (1.2713)
$/¥ 96.90 (94.92)
£/$ 1.4536 (1.4547)
Commodities (updated)
03:45 GMT
Brent Crude (Apr09) down $0.25 at $42.25
Light Crude (Apr09) down $0.08 at $39.93
100 Oz Gold (Apr09) down $3.80 at $965.70
Copper (3M 24hr) down $70.00 at $3,335.00
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.80 (2.78)
UK 3.41 (3.45)
Germany 2.99 (3.00)
Japan 1.29 (1.26)
Sources: FT, Reuters