Dolar Australia Dekati Level US71c

---

Dolar Australia menguat seiring rebound komoditas dan pelemahan greenback.

Pada pukul 07:00 (AEDT), unit lokal diperdagangkan pada level US70.78c, naik dari level US70.40c Kamis.

Semalam, mata uang mencapai posisi tertinggi tiga minggu di level US 71,29 c.

Penasihat Keuangan klien Senior OM Stuart Ive mengatakan rally tiga hari mata uang berlanjut seiring harga komoditas yang lebih tinggi menepikan risk-on appetite di pasar.

Harga minyak sendiri memantul dari level terendah 12-tahun terbaru mereka, dengan minyak mentah melonjak tiga persen semalam.

Namun masih memangkas kembali beberapa dari mereka keuntungan.

Tidak ada rilis ekonomi domestik utama yang dijadwalkan untuk dirilis pada hari Jumat, tetapi investor akan mengawasi keputusan kebijakan moneter Bank Sentral Jepang. (sdm)

Sumber: BusinessSpectator

Pound Climbs as Accelerating Growth Counters ''Brexit'' Concern

---

The pound rose the most in seven weeks after a report showed the U.K.’s economic expansion accelerated in the fourth quarter.

Sterling’s gain versus the dollar reversed a decline Wednesday which was the biggest in almost two weeks. Britain’s economy grew 0.5 percent in the final three months of 2015, compared with 0.4 percent in the third quarter, and matching the median forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

The pound still headed for its third monthly decline versus the U.S. currency, having slumped to an almost seven-year low last week, weighed down by whipsawing financial markets and concern that the U.K. will vote to exit the European Union.

The pound rose 1.1 percent to $1.4390 at 4:13 p.m. London time, the biggest gain since Dec. 9, paring its monthly decline to 2.3 percent. The U.K. currency fell to $1.4080 on Jan. 21, the lowest since March 2009. Sterling gained 0.7 percent to 76.03 pence per euro, having weakened 1 percent a day earlier.

Source: Bloomberg

Europe Stocks Snap 2-Day Gain as Roche, H&M Earnings Disappoint

---

Worse-than-estimated earnings from companies including Roche Holding AG and Hennes & Mauritz AB dragged European stocks lower.

Roche slid 3.8 percent, leading drugmakers lower. H&M dropped 4.8 percent after also warning a stronger dollar will continue to weigh on first-quarter profit. Stocks have moved more in step with with crude prices lately, and Europe’s benchmark deepened losses after energy shares pared some gains.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped 1.6 percent at the close. It swung between gains and losses at least six times, falling as much as 2.2 percent and rising as much as 0.3 percent. Worries about global growth amid a rout in oil prices and a slowdown in China have sent the Stoxx 600 down 8.5 percent this month, putting it on track for the worst January since 2008.

Volatility has been on the rise, with the VStoxx Index of euro-area market stress heading for its biggest monthly gain since August. The volume of futures traded shows investors are betting the swings will only get worse.

Among other stocks moving on corporate results, First Group Plc slid 12 percent after lowering its forecast for full-year operating profit. Tele2 AB slumped 11 percent after the Swedish wireless carrier predicted earnings that missed analysts’ estimates.

Source: Bloomberg

U.S. Stocks Rebound as Oil Surges, Facebook Leads Rally in Tech

---

U.S. stocks rebounded from a selloff Wednesday as better-than-estimated results from Facebook Inc. boosted technology shares and crude oil rallied for a third day to lift energy producers.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.9 percent to 1,899.64 at 9:32 a.m. in New York, after sliding 1.1 percent yesterday, as the gauge alternated between daily gains and losses for a fifth session. Oil rose to a three-week high in New York after Interfax reported that OPEC and other producers will meet in February to discuss a potential output cut.

Stocks dropped yesterday after the Federal Reserve, while largely maintaining its policy stance, signaled financial-market turmoil may pose risks to its economic outlook. An Apple-led slump in technology shares and Boeing Co.’s biggest drop in 14 years also weighed on equities.

Investors are looking to earnings as a possible bright spot in the worst month for stocks in at least five years. Analysts estimate profit at S&P 500 firms fell 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter, better than predictions a week earlier that called for a 7 percent slump. Of those that have already posted results, 80 percent beat earnings projections and 51 percent exceeded sales forecasts. Amazon and Microsoft Corp. are due to report results later today.

Fed policy makers left interest rates unchanged yesterday and said they still expect to raise borrowing costs at a “gradual” pace, while watching to see the impact of the global economy and markets. The comments sent the probability of a March hike lower, to 12 percent from about one-in-four odds before the meeting.

Data today showed orders for business equipment fell in December by the most in 10 months, a sign U.S. companies were slashing capital investment even before the turmoil in global financial markets. Orders for all durable goods -- items meant to last at least three years -- slumped 5.1 percent, the most since August 2014 and reflecting a broad-based pullback.

Source : Bloomberg

Europe Stocks Halt 2-Day Gain; Deutsche Bank Falls After Results

---

European stocks were little changed, after rising four times in the past five sessions, as investors weighed earnings reports and gains in energy producers.

Deutsche Bank AG slid 2.3 percent after posting its first annual loss since 2008. Hennes & Mauritz AB dropped 3.5 percent after its fourth-quarter earnings missed analysts’ estimates. Seadrill Ltd. and Subsea 7 SA climbed at least 4.7 percent, leading an advance in oil-and-gas companies.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped less than 0.1 percent at 8:17 a.m. in London. U.S. equities fell yesterday amid bad earnings and after the Federal Reserve indicated no discernible shift in its stance. Officials reiterated they will raise rates at a gradual pace, while watching to see the effect of the global economy and markets on the U.S. outlook.

Worries about global growth amid a rout in oil prices and a slowdown in China have weighed on stocks in 2016, sending the Stoxx 600 down 7 percent. That puts it on course for the worst January since 2008. Still, speculation of more stimulus from the European Central Bank and better-than-forecast earnings from some companies have helped staunch losses after the benchmark sank to its lowest level since October 2014 last week.

Source: Bloomberg