Euro Falls on Concern Greek Talks Will Stall; Yen Approaches Postwar High

The euro weakened versus the yen and the dollar as Greece struggled to reach an agreement with bondholders on cutting the nation’s debt burden, stoking concern Europe’s crisis will deepen.

The common currency fell against 14 of its 16 major counterparts as Spanish bonds declined after the nation sold debt today.

The yen rose to within 1 percent of a postwar high against the dollar, prompting speculation Japan will intervene to limit the currency’s gains.

The euro briefly erased losses after China’s Premier Wen Jiabao said his nation supports European efforts to stabilize the 17-nation currency.

Asian Stocks Rise for Third Day on Global Outlook; Glitch Hits Tokyo Trade

Asian stocks advanced for a third day, with the regional benchmark index heading for its highest close in three months, as manufacturing gained in the U.S. and Europe, boosting confidence the global economy is recovering.

LG Electronics Inc. (066570), the world’s No. 3 maker of mobile phones, jumped 7.4 percent in Seoul.

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest carmaker by market value, advanced 1.8 percent after car sales in the U.S. increased last month.

Lynas Corp. surged 19 percent in Sydney after the rare earths supplier won approval to start production in Malaysia.

European Stocks Are Little Changed; Xstrata Shares Jump on Glencore Talks

European (SXXP) stocks were little changed as Glencore International Plc’s talks to buy Xstrata Plc (XTA) boosted mining companies, offsetting declines at Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and Unilever.

U.S. index futures were little changed, while Asian shares rose.

Xstrata jumped 10 percent after confirming that Glencore made an approach about an offer for the coal, copper and nickel miner.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BP Plc (BP/), Europe’s two biggest oil companies, fell more than 1 percent.

Unilever dropped 4 percent as the world’s second-largest consumer-goods maker posted revenue growth that missed analysts’ estimates.

U.S. Stock Futures Little Changed Before Data

U.S. stock-index futures were little changed, erasing earlier gains, before a report that may show initial claims for jobless benefits in the world’s largest economy fell.

Qualmish (QCOM) Inc., the world’s biggest maker of mobile-phone chips, climbed 4.8 percent in early New York trading after raising its sales and profit forecasts for this quarter and the year.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) lost 0.7 percent even after profit excluding some items matched analyst estimates.

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in March slid less than 0.1 percent to 1,319.7 as of 11:18 a.m. in London, after earlier rising as much as 0.4 percent.

European Stocks Advance on Signs Manufacturing Growth is Gaining Traction

European (SXXP) stocks advanced for a second day, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index extending its best start to a year since 1998, amid signals that manufacturing growth is gathering pace from America to China.

U.S. index futures climbed, while Asian shares were little changed.

Car makers and banks led gains.

ICAP Plc (IAP) jumped 6.6 percent after saying annual pretax profit will be at the “upper end” of the range of analysts’ estimates.

RWE AG (RWE) climbed after Morgan Stanley added the stock to its best ideas list.

Is Facebook a wise investment?

A report published by the Wall Street Journal Friday has touched off a flurry of speculation that Facebook could file IPO papers with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as early as Wednesday.

In an interview with CTV’s Canada AM, IT and finance expert Dave Valliere says the timing of the sale begs the question: why now?

Valliere, who chairs the Ted Rogers School of Management Entrepreneurship and Strategy at Ryerson University in Toronto, says companies will often decide to go public when they need an injection of cash.

“That’s useful if you have some great projects in mind.

Pakistani stocks end almost flat; rupee weakens

The Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) benchmark 100-share index closed down 0.07 percent, or 8.12 points, at 11,874.89 points.

Volume fell to 60.17 million shares, compared with 67.06 million traded on Monday.

“The market closed lower… amid thin trade due to limited institutional and foreign interest,” said Ahsan Mehanti, director at Arif Habib Corp.

Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim shed 0.56 per cent at 46.10 rupees, and Bank Alfalah fell 1.54 per cent to 12.17 rupees.

Financial services firm Jahangir Sidiqui rose 5.28 per cent to close at 5.58 rupees, while textile company Azgard Nine gained 7.59 per cent to end at 3.40 rupees.

S&P 500 Index Is Poised for Best January in 15 Years Amid EU Fiscal Accord

U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index toward its best January in 15 years, as most countries in Europe agreed to tighter budget controls and Greece made progress on debt talks.

Bank of America Corp. and Morgan Stanley (MS) increased at least 1.3 percent, following gains in European lenders.

Eli Lilly & Co. rallied 1.2 percent as the drugmaker’s profit beat projections.

Archer Daniels Midland Co., the world’s largest grain processor, slumped 3.2 percent amid disappointing results.

The S&P 500 added 0.4 percent to 1,318.20 at 9:46 a.m. New York time.

Stocks, Euro Rise on Greek Debt Talks

Stocks (MXWD) climbed around the world, heading for the best January since 1994, the euro strengthened and commodities gained after most countries in Europe agreed to tighter budget controls and Greece made progress on debt talks.

The MSCI All-Country World Index (MXWD) rose 0.6 percent at 9:30 a.m. in New York, taking its monthly gain to 6.2 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.4 percent and is up 4.8 percent in the month.

The euro appreciated 0.2 percent to $1.3169, set for its first monthly advance since October.

Saudi Arabia’s central bank eyes bigger role

Saudi Arabia’s central bank will play a bigger role in the supervision of the country’s financial sector as the kingdom weighs opening up its stock market to direct investments by foreigners.

The country’s Capital Market Authority (CMA) said on Sunday that it had signed a cooperation agreement with the central bank or Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) to coordinate supervision of the financial sector in order to improve its stability.

As per the agreement, the two entities will coordinate in the supervision of corporate governance, risk management measures, initial public offerings (IPOs), sukuk issuance and merger and acquisition regulations as well as the exchange of information.