Market Update 20/09/13

One line- Markets pause after Fed induced rally.

- US stocks declined yesterday after the Dow and S&P hit record highs on the news on Wednesday that the Fed would leave monetary policy unchanged. The S&P sold off 0.18% with the Dow sliding 0.26%. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-19/u-s-stock-futures-rise-signaling-fresh-s-p-500-record.html

- Asian stocks traded at a four month high as the yen sold off 1.5% against the dollar. The Topix gained 0.3% while the MSCI Asia Pacific index added 0.1%. India's Sensex slumped 2.7% as the RBI unexpectedly raised interest rates by 25 basis points. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-20/asian-stocks-extend-four-month-high-as-japan-shares-rise.html

- European stocks near a five year high were little changed this morning. The market is looking ahead to the result of the German election in which Merkel's Christian Democratic Union is expected to retain power but may have to form a new coalition. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-20/european-stock-futures-little-changed-before-german-vote.html

- Emerging market currencies and equities slid yesterday as investors took profits from the rally on the Fed news. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-20/emerging-stocks-fall-with-currencies-as-india-sinks-on-repo-rate.html

- Metals declined yesterday with gold trimming its first weekly advance in a month. Reports showed US home sales unexpectedly rose in August and jobless claims gained less than forecast last week. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-20/gold-declines-on-u-s-data-to-pare-first-weekly-gain-in-a-month.html

Data

S&P 1722.34 0.18%
FTSE 6620.04  0.08%
Nikkei 14,742.42 0.16%

EUR/USD- 1.3531 0.01%
USD/JPY- 99.29 0.16%
GBP/USD- 1.6053 0.13%

Gold- 1354.01 0.90%
Oil (Brent)- 109.08 0.29%

Copper- 334.45 0.07%
10 year yields
US- 2.73 (-2bps)
UK- 2.90 (0bps)
Japan- 0.67 (0bps)