The dollar hovered at three-year highs versus a basket of currencies

Good Morning,

- The dollar hovered at three-year highs versus a basket of currencies. The euro steadied after sliding to a three-month low against the dollar at 1.2755.

- Asian shares: Japan's Nikkei -0.39%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.94% (07:00 GMT), Korea's Kospi -0.34%, Australia's ASX 200 0.40% and China's Shanghai 2.17%

- Standard & Poor's cut Italy's debt rating by one notch to BBB, the second lowest of the investment grade status, and left its outlook on negative, citing concerns about prospects for the Italian economy.

- ECB Joerg Asmussen: Central bank's guidance on interest rates staying at record lows extends beyond 12 months. The ECB later issued a statement saying Asmussen had not intended to give any guidance on the exact length of time for which it expects to keep rates at record lows.

- Consumer prices in Germany rose by 1.8% in June 2013 compared with June 2012. The inflation rate had been 1.5% in May 2013 and 1.2% in April 2013. Inflation thus increased for the second consecutive month.

- Moody's: UK's banking system outlook changed to stable from negative.

- Sterling stabilized at $1.4860-80 level after sliding to a three-year low of $1.4814 in the previous session on weak factory output and trade data, seen as raising the risk of the Bank of England easing monetary policy in the coming months.

- spiegel.de: Despite drastic austerity measures, a new Greek debt haircut looks unavoidable. The old system has proven resistant to reform and billions in emergency aid hasn't been enough to turn things around.
Greece's euro partners have already pledged more than €230 billion in aid, and government spending has also been slashed by dozens of billions.
Representatives of Greek business are now convinced that the country cannot survive without yet another debt haircut. The subject is politically sensitive, especially in Germany, because this time a debt haircut would also affect public creditors, which already hold 80 percent of Greek sovereign debt. In other words, a large share of German assistance loans would be irretrievably lost.

- China’s exports and imports both unexpectedly declined in June in a sign that weakness in global and domestic demand will intensify the slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy. Overseas shipments fell 3.1 percent from a year earlier. Imports declined 0.7 percent after a 0.3 percent drop in May.

- China’s money-market rate dropped to a six-week low as the central bank refrained from draining funds, further easing a cash squeeze. The seven-day fixing rate, , dropped one basis point to 3.59 percent. That’s the lowest since May 28. It reached an all-time high of 10.77 percent on June 20.

- Australia consumer confidence remains fragile. Index edged down by 0.05 percent in July from June, when it rose 4.7.

- NZ finmin English: RBNZ rate rise could lead to higher NZ dollar.

- Brent crude prices were steady at below $108 a barrel after rising 0.6 percent in the previous session on concerns that violence in Egypt could ignite conflict in the Middle East. Brent prices have rebounded 11 percent from a more than nine-month low touched on April 18.

Have a nice Day !