Stocks

The Asia Pacific gauge dropped 0.8 percent as of 8:10 a.m. London time, with Japan’s Topix tumbling 1.1 percent after earlier jumping more than 1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced for a second day, gaining 1.1 percent.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.4 percent. “Stay cautious,” said Mark Lister, head of private wealth research at Craigs Investment Partners in Wellington, which manages about $7.2 billion.

“Don’t be afraid to reduce risk because we expect things to be volatile from here -- it’s a relatively defensive message. There are a lot of economic issues that need to be worked through. We’ve been incrementally paring back” risk positions, including equities, he said.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 0.6 percent, led by a 4.2 percent slump in a gauge of energy stocks. Woodside Petroleum Ltd., the nation’s second-largest oil and natural gas producer, tumbled 6.9 percent after reporting a 99 percent collapse in full-year profit amid the rout in energy prices.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index retreated 0.2 percent after the benchmark capped its best two-day gain since August on Tuesday, rising 1.7 percent.

Yen Advances on Asia Stock Losses as Aussie Weakens After RBA

The yen strengthened for a second day while the Australian and New Zealand dollars weakened as a regional stock market slump boosted demand for safer assets.

The Aussie dropped for the first time in six days after the Reserve Bank of Australia kept interest rates at a record low and said it will weigh the impact of recent global financial turbulence in deciding whether to ease policy further. 

Asian equities fell, halting a four-day gain, while oil declined amid fading optimism sparked by last week’s surprise Bank of Japan expansion of stimulus.

“The safe-haven yen has strengthened and globally linked currencies such as the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar have declined as regional equity markets fall,” said Joseph Capurso, a currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. “The RBA appears a little more cautious on the global economy.”

The yen strengthened 0.3 percent to 120.65 per dollar as of 6:48 a.m. in London after appreciating 0.1 percent on Monday. Japan’s currency rose 0.2 percent to 131.52 per euro. The shared currency climbed 0.1 percent to $1.0900.

“The BOJ has made it difficult to buy the yen, but people are also calming down” after the central bank announced negative interest rates last week, said Jun Kato, a senior fund manager in Tokyo at Shinkin Asset Management.

The Australian dollar

The Australian dollar, sensitive to the ebb and flow in risk appetite and fluctuations in commodity prices, was up 0.2 percent at $0.7022 after touching a nine-day high of $0.7046 on Friday.

Crude, recently under pressure from a global glut, jumped as harsh winter weather on the U.S. East coast boosted demand for heating oil. U.S. crude climbed 9 percent and Brent bounced 10 percent on Friday.

U.S. crude was last up 0.9 percent at $32.49 a barrel. The contracts had descended to as low as $26.19 last week, their lowest since May 2003. Brent crude rose 1.3 percent to $32.59 a barrel after dropping on Wednesday to $27.10, lowest since November 2003.

Recently battered oil-linked currencies enjoyed a boon on crude's sharp rebound. The Canadian dollar traded near an 11-day high of C$1.4115 per dollar hit on Friday, having jumped from a 13-year low of C$1.4689 reached earlier last week.

Australian market set to open higher

THE Australian market looks set to open higher, following gains of around one per cent on Wall Street. At 0649 AEDT on Thursday, the March share price index futures contract was up 64 points at 5,162.

US stocks are higher for a third consecutive session, led by strength in energy stocks, as a bounce in oil prices boosts confidence ahead of the Christmas holiday.

In Australia, the market on Wednesday closed higher for the sixth straight session, following a stabilisation in commodity prices.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 25.1 points, or 0.49 per cent, at 5,141.8 points.

The broader All Ordinaries index was up 25.8 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 5,193.5 points.

Australian dollar falls below 71 US cents

One Australian dollar buys

* 70.92 US cents, from 71.14 cents on Monday

* 87.42 Japanese yen, from 87.08 yen

* 66.42 euro cents, from 66.33 euro cents

* 109.19 New Zealand cents, from 108.86 NZ cents

* 46.67 British pence, from 46.76 pence

Asia erases losses, Aussie spikes on jobs data

Asian shares reversed earlier losses on Thursday as crude oil prices pulled away from their deep overnight lows, while the Australian dollar grabbed the spotlight and surged after a much stronger-than-expected employment report.

European shares were expected to take their cue from Wall Street, which ended a choppy session lower as a sharp drop in oil prices knocked energy stocks.

Financial spreadbetters expected Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE to open down as much as 0.19 percent, Germany's DAX .GDAXI to fall as much as 0.08 percent, and France's CAC 40 .FCHI to drop around 0.06 percent,

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up about 0.7 percent, erasing its early modest losses.

U.S. crude futures CLc1 steadied in Asia after tumbling 3 percent overnight on worries about higher crude inventories. They were last up about 0.6 percent at $43.18 a barrel. Brent crude LCOc1 added 0.5 percent to $46.04 though was still not far from its lowest levels since August.

Prices of other commodities also weakened after the previous session's downbeat Chinese industrial output data, which continued to pressure shares in resource-rich Australia. The S&P/ASX 200 index eked out a 0.1 percent gain, helped by the jobs report's upside surprise.

Employment jumped 58,600 last month, driving the jobless rate down to a five-month low of 5.9 percent and beating the market consensus for a 15,000 rise and a steady unemployment rate of 6.2 percent.

The Australian dollar AUD=D4 jumped three-quarters of a U.S. cent to $0.7155, and was last up 1.1 percent at $0.7136. Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 ended slightly higher, erasing earlier losses.

Australian Stock Market News - US Federal Reserve

Dollar nosedives as Fed leaves rates on hold

THE Australian dollar has broken below 71 US cents after the US Federal Reserve kept its near-zero benchmark interest rate unchanged.

At 0630 AEDT on Thursday, the currency was trading at 71 US cents, down from 71.20 cents on Wednesday.

While leaving policy steady on Thursday morning (AEDT), the central bank hinted it could begin raising US interest rates as early as December.

The Aussie slumped to 70.80 US cents with the news, from 71.59 earlier.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 0630 AEDT ON THURSDAY

One Australian dollar buys:

* 71.00 US cents, from 71.20 cents on Wednesday

* 86.03 Japanese yen, from 85.72 yen

* 65.02 euro cents, from 64.53 euro cents

Australian Stock Market News - Dollar has dropped

Dollar down on Chinese share market pain

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slumped 3.06 per cent

THE Australian dollar has dropped, following Chinese equities down.

At 0630 AEDT on Thursday, the currency was trading at 72.13 US cents, down from 72.50 cents on Wednesday.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slumped 3.06 per cent on Wednesday, after rising strongly in recent weeks in a recovery from a rout over the summer.

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 0630 AEDT ON THURSDAY

One Australian dollar buys:

* 72.13 US cents, from 72.50 cents on Wednesday

* 86.53 Japanese yen, from 86.98 yen

* 63.61 euro cents, from 63.87 euro cents