Asian Stocks further slipped on Thursday, Anticipation Ahead of ECB meeting on QE scheme, Rio Tinto
March 5, 2015 7:09 am
Asian stocks slipped on Thursday after Wall Street continued to pull back from record highs ahead of Friday’s closely-watched U.S. jobs data, while the nervous euro languished at an 11-year low prior to the European Central Bank’s policy meeting.
Edgy before the ECB’s announcement on details of its QE scheme, the euro fell as far as $1.1055, a low not seen since September 2003. The dollar rose 0.2% to 119.855 yen, still some distance from a three-week peak of 120.27 struck earlier in the week thanks to a spike in U.S. Treasury yields. The Aussie was up 0.1% at $0.7825. The currency hit a six-year nadir of $0.7627 early in February after the RBA cut interest rates to a record-low 2.25%
U.S. crude oil added to overnight gains, rising 0.4% to $51.73 a barrel, and Brent gained 0.1% to $60.59 a barrel Mining Giant Rio Tinto is bottom of the FTSE100 this morning after the firm is looking to slash hundreds of jobs as a new round of cost cutting gets underway. Iron ore managers have reportedly begun cutting dozens of positions at the company’s Pilbara operations in Western Australia as part of a process unions fear will leave up to 800 employees out of work. The stock is down 3% in early trade at 2973p per share.
Asian stocks slipped on Thursday after Wall Street continued to pull back from record highs ahead of Friday’s closely-watched U.S. jobs data, while the nervous euro languished at an 11-year low prior to the European Central Bank’s policy meeting.
Edgy before the ECB’s announcement on details of its QE scheme, the euro fell as far as $1.1055, a low not seen since September 2003. The dollar rose 0.2% to 119.855 yen, still some distance from a three-week peak of 120.27 struck earlier in the week thanks to a spike in U.S. Treasury yields. The Aussie was up 0.1% at $0.7825. The currency hit a six-year nadir of $0.7627 early in February after the RBA cut interest rates to a record-low 2.25%
U.S. crude oil added to overnight gains, rising 0.4% to $51.73 a barrel, and Brent gained 0.1% to $60.59 a barrel
Mining Giant Rio Tinto is bottom of the FTSE100 this morning after the firm is looking to slash hundreds of jobs as a new round of cost cutting gets underway. Iron ore managers have reportedly begun cutting dozens of positions at the company’s Pilbara operations in Western Australia as part of a process unions fear will leave up to 800 employees out of work. The stock is down 3% in early trade at 2973p per share.
Related Posts: