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Ruble Weakens While Nickel Jumps on Crimea; Yen, Treasuries Gain

Bloomberg News



U.S. stock index (INDEXCF) futures and European shares climbed and Treasuries and the yen pared gains after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he isn't seeking to split up Ukraine. Gold fell before a Federal Reserve meeting.


The Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures rose 0.3 percent by 7:51 a.m. in New York. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.4 percent. The yield on 10-year Treasuries was unchanged and the yen was steady after earlier advancing as much as 0.4 percent. Portugal's bonds held gains after a debt buyback. Gold dropped 0.4 percent.


Russia wishes no harm to Ukraine, Putin told parliament in a speech today, after ordering the approval of Crimea's accession to Russia. The Fed will press on with cuts to stimulus and switch to qualitative guidance for assessing rates, according to economists. German investor confidence declined for a third month in March. U.S. housing starts increased in February, economists said before the report today.


'The words that market participants wanted to hear were that he'll respect Ukraine's sovereignty and will be satisfied with Crimea, and won't go for more,' said Benno Galliker, a trader at Luzerner Kantonalbank AG in Lucerne, Switzerland. These 'words were heard, and we're seeing a relief nudge up.'


S&P 500 futures expiring in June rose after the index climbed 1 percent yesterday, rebounding from its worst week since January. The index is near a record high reached March 7.


Oracle Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc. are scheduled to report earnings today.


European Shares

The Stoxx 600 jumped 1.1 percent yesterday following its biggest weekly loss since January.


Scania AB (SCVB), a Swedish truckmaker, declined 5.3 percent after a board committee recommended rejecting Volkswagen AG's takeover offer. Cairn Energy Plc lost 11 percent after the U.K. oil explorer said it is suspending a buyback program. Fresnillo Plc slid 4.5 percent after Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered its rating on the gold and silver producer.


Kuoni Reisen Holding AG advanced 6.8 percent after Switzerland's biggest travel company posted 2013 profit that exceeded analysts' estimates.


The MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.6 percent today, rebounding from a five-week low.


The Fed Open Market Committee will further scale back its stimulatory bond-buying program when its meeting concludes March 19, reducing purchases by $10 billion for the third time, according to 54 economists surveyed by Bloomberg March 14-17. Policy makers will scrap a 6.5 percent unemployment-rate target in favor of a range of economic indicators, 76 percent of the economists said.


Housing Starts

A Commerce Department report at 8:30 a.m. Washington time may show that housing starts rebounded in February. Builders began work on 910,000 homes at an annualized rate, following the biggest slump since February 2011, according to the median economist forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.


The ZEW Center for European Economic Research's index of German investor and analyst expectations, which aims to predict economic developments six months in advance, dropped to 46.6 in March from 55.7 in February. Economists expected 52, according to a Bloomberg survey.


Nickel climbed to $16,080 a metric ton. A settlement of $15,942 would be 20 percent higher than the Nov. 27 closing low, meeting the common definition of a bull market.


Portugal Debt

The yen advanced less than 0.1 percent to 101.7 per dollar after appreciating to 100.76 on Feb. 4, the strongest since Nov. 21. The dollar was at $1.3933 per euro.


Portugal's two-year note yield dropped six basis points to 1.3 percent after the nation bought back 50 million euros in bonds due in October 2015. The indicative amount is subject to market conditions, the nation's debt agency said in an e-mailed statement on March 14.


The Micex Index of shares rose 1.9 percent in Moscow.


The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose for second day, increasing 0.4 percent to 947.


Dollar bonds sold by Chinese developers are tumbling after government officials said Zhejiang Xingrun Real Estate Co. doesn't have enough cash to repay 3.5 billion yuan ($566 million) of debt. That news comes less than two weeks after Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology Co. became the first company in China to default on its onshore corporate bonds.


More than 65 percent of dollar securities sold by Chinese developers this year are trading below their issue price.


Gold dropped to $1,359.18 an ounce and U.K. natural gas declined for a second day to 57.7 pence a therm.


To contact the reporters on this story: Nick Gentle in Hong Kong at ngentle2@bloomberg.net; Claudia Carpenter in London at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net


To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stuart Wallace at swallace6@bloomberg.net Claudia Carpenter


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