(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The dollar hit a seven-year high against the yen on Wednesday ahead of minutes from the US Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting, as investors bet on an increasingly divergent outlook for the world's major economies.
European stock markets turned positive after a weak start, helped by some encouraging broker upgrades, with Switzerland's SMI equity index hitting the 9,000-point mark for the first time since 2007.
US equity futures pointed to a flat opening on Wall Street while oil prices recovered a touch but stayed near four-year lows on signs of disagreement between Opec members before a meeting next week.
The Fed is expected to raise interest rates at some point in 2015 as the US economic recovery broadens. Petr Krpata, currency strategist at ING, said the Fed minutes were likely to retain the hawkish tone of the central bank's statement following its October meeting.
In contrast, the Bank of Japan is expected to keep policy very loose for a much longer period, and last month announced it was expanding its already-huge monetary stimulus programme in an effort to spur the economy and boost inflation. The BoJ kept monetary policy unchanged on Wednesday.
The yen fell as low as 117.655 to the dollar, its weakest since October 2007, and was last close to that low at 117.605, down 0.7 per cent on the day.
"The yen has not been so weak against the dollar in real terms - that is, if you factor in inflation - since the 1980s," said Ugo Lancioni, head of currency management at investment house Neuberger Berman in London.
Germany's DAX equity index, was up 0.6 per cent at a 1-1/2 month high, putting it on track for its fifth consecutive day of gains - the index's best run since September - after a run of better data from Europe's biggest economy.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.3 per cent at 1,364.41 points, having fallen to a low of 1,355.67 earlier in the session.
The STOXX Europe Basic Resources index, however, fell 0.9 per cent, the worst sectoral performer in Europe after China's iron ore futures fell nearly 5 per cent to a record low.
Brent was up 40 cents at $78.87 a barrel at 0815 GMT, after settling 84 cents lower in the previous session. US crude was up 5 cents at $74.66 a barrel. The US crude futures contract closed $1.03 lower on Tuesday.
Spot gold was at $1,195.80 an ounce at 1251 GMT, down 0.1 per cent, while US gold futures for December delivery were down $1.70 an ounce at $1,195.40.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.