Currencies

EUR/USD The euro strengthened the most in a week against the dollar on speculation China will increase purchases of European bonds, boosting confidence the region will emerge from its sovereign-debt crisis.

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The euro rose to $1.4150 as of 12:50 p.m. in Tokyo from $1.4088 in New York yesterday.

USD/JPY USD being influenced by the OIL is getting weaker against all its paired currencies.

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The dollar fell to 81.76 yen from 81.97 yen around 7 a.m. London time.

GBP/USD The pound strengthened for a second day against the dollar as a report showed U.K. exports helped the economy resume growth in the first quarter, outweighing the biggest slump in consumer spending in almost two years.

* Gross domestic product expanded 0.5 percent in the first three months of this year, matching an initial estimate, data showed yesterday and exports rose 3.7 percent in the quarter and net trade added a record 1.7 percentage points to GDP growth.
* Sterling was 0.6 percent stronger at $1.6271 as of 4:19 p.m. in London after dropping to as low as $1.6132.

Commodities

Gold futures climbed toward its early May peak as investors sought safe-haven assets. o Gold for May delivery settled $3.40, or 0.2%, higher at $1,526.60 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil rose to a two-week high in New York on signs of increased U.S. fuel demand after a government report showed inventories of diesel and heating oil fell in the world’s biggest crude- consuming nation.

* Futures advanced as much as 0.6 percent after the Energy Department said yesterday that U.S. distillate supplies declined 2.04 million barrels to 141.1 million last week.
* Crude for July delivery gained as much as 58 cents to $101.90 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and were at $101.56 at 12:39 p.m. Singapore time.