Gold prices edged down on Monday

Currencies

EUR/USD The euro fell against most peers before data today that may show the currency bloc’s jobless rate climbed to a record and manufacturing contracted, boosting prospects the European Central Bank will cut interest rates.

• The euro dropped 0.4 percent to $1.2620 as of 11:50 a.m. in Tokyo from the close in New York on June 29.

EUR/JPY The 17-nation currency posted the biggest jump in more than a year versus the yen on June 29 after euro leaders eased terms on loans to Spanish banks, taking a step toward resolving the region’s debt crisis.

• It fell 0.4 percent to 100.68 yen after rising 2.2 percent at the end of last week, the biggest advance on a closing basis since March 2011.

NZD/USD New Zealand’s dollar may climb to the highest in more than two months as its short-term momentum has a “bullish” bias, Niall O’Connor, a New York-based technical analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co., wrote in a research note yesterday.

• The so-called kiwi is facing an ‘important’’ test at the level of 80.60 U.S. cents to 80.90, which sits on a downtrend line from the Feb. 29 high, the analyst wrote. Rising above that level may take the currency toward April highs, according to O’Connor.

• The South Pacific nation’s currency jumped as much as 2 percent on June 29 before trading little changed at 80.06 today. It reached 83.20 on April 13, the highest since March 2.

Commodities

Oil fell in New York as investors sold contracts to profit from the biggest price surge in three years before reports today that may signal Europe’s economic slump is deepening.

• Oil for August delivery dropped as much as $1.30 to $83.66 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $83.70 at 12:23 p.m. Sydney time. The contract surged $7.27 on June 29 to $84.96, the highest close since June 6. Prices decreased 17.5 percent last quarter, the biggest decline since the final three months of 2008.

Gold prices edged down on Monday, taking a breather after a 3-percent rally in the previous session, as the initial euphoria over a euro zone deal to help its debt-laden members gave way to caution over its effectiveness.

• Spot gold edged down 0.3 percent to $1,592.51 an ounce by 11:43 EDT on Sunday. The precious metal posted a monthly gain of more than 2 percent in June, its first in five months.

Equities

Asian stocks rose for a fourth day as better-than-estimated economic reports from China to Japan and steps by European leaders to address the sovereign-debt crisis eased concern global growth is slowing.

• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.4 percent to 117.66 as of 12:02 p.m. in Tokyo, with three stocks raising for each two that fell. Markets are closed in Hong Kong today. The Asian benchmark last week capped the biggest weekly gain since January, jumping 2.7 percent, as euro-zone leaders agreed to relax conditions for recapitalizing lenders.

European stocks rose for a fourth week, last week, as the region’s leaders agreed to address flaws in their bailout programs to ease the sovereign-debt crisis.

• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 1.9 percent to 251.17 last week, extending the longest stretch of gains since January, after policy makers eased repayment rules for Spanish banks, relaxed conditions for possible aid to Italy and unveiled a $149 billion economic growth plan. The advance pushed the measure to the highest level since May 11 and trimmed the second-quarter decline to 4.6 percent.

U.S. stocks rallied last week, lifting the Dow Jones Industrial Average to the best monthly gain since October, amid optimism an agreement by European leaders on banks will help contain the region’s debt crisis.

• The S&P 500 advanced 2 percent to 1,362.16 during last week, extending its increase in June to 4 percent, the most since February.

• The Dow gained 239.31 points, or 1.9 percent, to 12,880.09 last week, finishing the month up 3.9 percent.