Gold has edged up from lows of $1654 per ounce at the start of the London trades, trying to crawl back up after a near 50-dollar collapse in the last session. The Euro has gained modestly but rallies above 1.3200 are likely to prove unsustainable given the grim economic sentiments. Markets are awaiting UK CPI and German ZEW data in the next couple of hours. European equities have eased in early moves and the Asian stocks have extended their initial losses- with China leading the downward lurch-down nearly 2%. The Euro extended its downward run to test a two month low against the US dollar in Asian trades today as the plans hatched in the latest EU summit failed to boost investor confidence and doubts persisted about how the policymakers are going to stem Europe's debt crisis. The ratings agencies welcomed the latest EU steps with a lukewarm response, in turn pressurizing the world markets and assisting the US dollar to rally as safe haven demand surged. Moody's Investors Service stated yesterday that it still intends to revisit the ratings of all European Union countries during the first quarter of 2012, given the continued absence of decisive policy measures. The other major ratings agency Fitch also said that the inability by European Union leaders to devise a comprehensive fix to the region's debt crisis had intensified pressure on debt ratings of euro-area nations. Moody's also placed eight Spanish banks and two holding companies on review for possible downgrades due to expectations of increased losses stemming from their commercial real estate exposure. Commodities have slipped in tandem with stocks and gold witnessed a ferocious drop yesterday after breaking under $1700 per ounce levels. The metal quotes at $1666, down 3 dollar on the day. Crude is slightly up at $98 per barrel for the WTI delivery while COMEX Copper is unchanged at $3.45 per pound.

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