MoneyWisee

European leaders seem convinced that the crisis has come to a conclusion following commentary from both Mario Monti and Angela Merkel. Meanwhile Spain still remains a threat to the recovery, as yields on 10-year debt rose 0.02 basis points to 5.349%. The Spanish IBEX also experienced steeper losses than most indices, falling -1.03% and capping 3-straight sessions of losses. Most equity markets were lower, including a -0.92% drop in the French CAC and -0.72% loss in the Italian MIB. The German DAX was relatively stronger, staying unchanged after Merkel noted that borrowing costs are likely to rise soon as "safe haven status" recedes. EURUSD is trading marginally higher, ticking up 15 pips to 1.3331. Australian ASX is serving as a bright spot in Asian equities, jumping 0.90%, following a rather negative data dump out of the U.S. Metals producers in China are seeing profits and earning getting crushed as weakened domestic demand and tighter housing policies reduce needs for industrial materials. This has hurt exporters, specifically Australia and New Zealand which have seen currencies fall the most against peers in trading. AUDUSD and NZDUSD have dropped -0.32% and -0.26% respectively. The Nikkei and Hang Seng are also weaker, led by a steep -1.21% decline in the Nikkei after reaching pre-quake high in yesterday's session. The Hang Seng is edging lower -1.03% Although housing prices coupled with consumer confidence figures produced less than desirable results, stocks managed to moderate the drop relative to Asian and European peers. The Dow Jones proved the weakest index, falling -0.33%, while the S&P 500 sunk -0.28%. The Nasdaq was able to moderate the drop, only declining -0.07%. The dollar index (DXY) has staged a comeback, rising marginally to 79.061. Treasuries rebounded yesterday following a better than anticipated demand during a $35 billion auction of 2-year notes. Natural gas moved to new 10-year lows, falling as low as $2.176/MMBtu before rebounding to $2.191. Coffee also climbed a dramatic 4.78% following reports of weather affecting the Brazilian crop. Sugar on the other hand fell -1.94%.