The consolidation of US stock markets was helped by good economic data – a jump in the manufacturing PMI and an increase in construction spending – and encouraged Asian markets. Real economy statistics also brought good news to Asia, from the PMI services indexes in China to the composite PMI index in Japan (manufacturing and services), both growing. Thus, the MSCI Asia Pacific index is rising by 0,6% and Tokyo, driven by a yen which has crossed the threshold of 105 against the dollar (the most depreciated level since the beginning of the year), rises by 0,9%.
The dollar gains against almost all currencies, but remains at yesterday's levels (1,312) against the euro. The divergence in trends between an expanding US economy and a stagnant European economy favors the greenback. Gold and oil, which had finished yesterday with net losses, recovered only slightly, and were quoted at 1267 $/ounce for the yellow metal and 93,2 for "black gold" (100,7 the Brent). Equity futures on both sides of the Atlantic were slightly positive.
