BLBG:Yen Strengthens on Greek Debt Talks; U.S. Treasuries Drop Before GDP Data
The yen strengthened the most in a month against the dollar and the cost of insuring government debt rose as bondholders resumed talks with Greece. Treasuries fell before a report that may show U.S. economic growth quickened, while European stocks were little changed.
The yen appreciated as much as 0.7 percent against the dollar before trading 0.5 percent higher at 9:25 a.m. in London. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note climbed two basis points. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1 percent after the gauge yesterday entered its second bull market in less than a year. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rose less than 0.1 percent. The Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe Index of credit- default swaps linked to 15 governments climbed 7.5 basis points to 330 basis points.
Talks on a Greek debt swap made some progress yesterday and continue today, said the Institute of International Finance which represents private creditors. The U.S. economy probably grew in the fourth quarter at the fastest pace of 2011, economists in a Bloomberg survey said before a Commerce Department report today. Ford Motor Co. and Chevron Corp. are among companies scheduled to release earnings.
“Uncertainty over the Greek situation is sending money into refuge currencies such as the yen,” said Toshiya Yamauchi, a senior currency analyst in Tokyo at Ueda Harlow Ltd., which provides foreign-exchange margin-trading services. “That adds to the yen’s outperformance versus the dollar because of the Fed’s monetary easing.”
BNP Paribas SA, France’s biggest bank, retreated 3.5 percent as JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded the shares to “neutral” from “buy.” BP Plc lost 1.6 percent as a U.S. judge ruled that the U.K. oil company can’t collect losses caused by the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill from Transocean Ltd. Transocean jumped 8 percent in Zurich trading.
To contact the reporters on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net; Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stuart Wallace at Swallace6@bloomberg.net
