In Asian Equity Markets stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index on course for the highest close in a month, as telecommunication and health-care companies led gains. Naver Corp. surged 6.6 percent in Seoul as people with knowledge of the matter said a stake in company's Line Corp. mobile-messaging service is being sought by SoftBank Corp., which jumped 3.5 percent in Tokyo. Ramsay Health Care Ltd. (RHC) rose 6.4 percent in Sydney after raising its profit forecast. HSBC Holdings Plc (5) fell 2.5 percent in Hong Kong after profit at Europe's largest bank missed estimates as a cost-cutting drive fell short of targets and revenue shrank. Japan's Topix index today gained 1 percent and South Korea's Kospi index rose 0.7 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.3 percent and China's Shanghai Composite was little changed. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.1 percent, as did New Zealand's NZX 50 Index. Singapore's Straits Times Index and Taiwan's Taiex Index rose 0.1 percent.
In Currency Markets the euro remained lower against most of its major peers from yesterday on bets the European Central Bank may add to monetary stimulus next week. The 18-nation currency held the sharpest drop in more than a week versus the pound before the ECB publishes its inflation projection for 2016 on March 6. The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Indexheaded for its biggest monthly drop since September as Citigroup Inc.'s U.S. Economic Surprise Index showed data was the weakest in seven months. Norway's krone and the Australian and New Zealand dollars led monthly gains amid higher commodity prices. The euro was little changed at 82.41 pence at 3:00 p.m. in Tokyo from yesterday, when it dropped 0.3 percent, the most since Feb. 14. The shared currency was unchanged at $1.3735 from yesterday, when it slid 0.1 percent. It fetched 140.83 yen from 140.79. The greenback bought 102.54 yen from 102.51 at the close in New York.
In Commodities Markets West Texas Intermediate fell for the third time in four days before a government report forecast to show U.S. crude stockpiles are expanding while prices are near a technical level that signals gains may have been excessive. Futures in New York dropped as much as 0.4 percent. U.S. crude supplies are forecast to increase for a sixth week to 363.6 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts before Energy Information Administration data tomorrow. WTI's relative strength index was near 70, a point where investors typically sell contracts. WTI for April delivery fell as much as 44 cents to $102.38 a barrel in electronic trading on theNew York Mercantile Exchange and was at $102.44 at 2:00 p.m. Singapore time. The contract rose 0.6 percent to $102.82 yesterday, the highest close since Feb. 20. Brent for April settlement slid as much as 23 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $110.41 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
In US Equity Markets stocks rose, briefly sending the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (SPX) to a record, after health-care shares jumped on a smaller-than-forecast cut in Medicare rates and EBay Inc. climbed as Carl Icahn urged the spinoff of PayPal. Humana rallied 11 percent for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after saying the rate cut in 2015 for Medicare Advantage patients will be less than an earlier estimate. EBay climbed 3.1 percent as Icahn criticized the online marketplace for "lapses" in corporate governance and asked shareholders to vote in favor of the split. Oil producers led gains among 10 main industries in the S&P 500 with a 1.5 percent advance as crude prices traded above $100 a barrel. Energy, industrial, financial and health-care companies rose the most among 10 main industries in the S&P 500, climbing more than 0.7 percent. Finally, the DJIA finished up 0.66% at 16,209.13, the S&P 500 up 0.62% at 1,847.70 and the NASDAQ 100 up 0.63% at 3,685.81.
In Bond Markets Treasury 10-year note yields reached almost a 10-day high amid speculation harsh winter weather is masking strength in the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve won't hold off on further reducing its bond purchases. The benchmark yields traded in the narrowest range in 10 days as Treasuries fell before the U.S. sells $109 billion of notes this week. Ten-year yields rose as much as three basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, to 2.76 percent before trading at 2.74 percent at 5 p.m. New York time. India's 10-year government bond yield climbed to the highest level in almost two months as the central bank governor warned that inflation remains the biggest threat to economic growth. The yield on the 8.83 percent sovereign notes due November 2023 rose two basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 8.90 percent as of 10:30 a.m. in Mumbai, the highest since Dec. 27.
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