U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, helped by optimism that Greece was close to an agreement to avoid default and as further gains in bond yields lifted financials.
Tags: Greece
Yen soars after Bank of Japan's Kuroda says currency already 'very weak'
The yen surged to a two-week high against the dollar on Wednesday, after the head of the Bank of Japan said the currency was unlikely to fall further because it was already "very weak", prompting investors to trim huge bets against the yen.
Bund yield at 1 percent for first time since September
German bond yields hit 1 percent for the first time since September on Wednesday as long-term inflation expectations rose, although recent rollercoaster moves in fixed-income markets kept stock markets flat.
Italy economy minister says confident Greece deal will come soon
Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said on Tuesday he was confident a deal would soon be found to keep Greece in the euro zone and even if it did exit, the currency bloc was now much better placed to withstand the shock.
U.S. rate prospects spook global stocks, dollar struggles
Shares in Europe and Asia fell on Tuesday as speculation intensified that the Federal Reserve could raise U.S. interest rates sooner than many expect, although this failed to give the dollar a significant boost.
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Greece will not make a June 5 repayment to the International Monetary Fund if there is no prospect of an aid-for-reforms deal with its international creditors soon, the spokesman for the ruling Syriza party's lawmakers said on Wednesday.
German debt yields added to their biggest jump in almost three years and the euro held on to its gains on Wednesday, as investors waited to hear the ECB's view of a turbulent run for markets and its hopes for a Greek aid deal.
European shares dipped on Tuesday while German bond yields rose, with investors scrabbling for clarity over whether a high-level meeting on Greece's debt crisis might herald a significant breakthrough.
Germany's EU Commissioner Guenter Oettinger said on Monday it might still be possible for Greece and its creditors to reach a deal this week.
Greece is not a topic for leaders of the Group of Seven countries to discuss at a meeting in Bavaria starting on Sunday, a German government spokesman said, adding that it was up to Athens and its lenders to resolve the crisis.
European shares rose on Monday, helped by an almost five percent rally in Chinese stock markets and rumours of progress in Greece's debt talks that halted sales of the euro.
Greece and its European creditors agreed on the need to reach a cash-for-reforms deal quickly as Athens missed a self-imposed Sunday deadline for reaching an agreement to unlock aid, sources close to the talks said.
Greece's government is confident of reaching a deal with its creditors this week and is open to pushing back parts of its anti-austerity program to make that happen, the country's interior minister said Saturday.
Years of uncertainty and economic pain spent keeping Greece in the euro zone boils down in June to a handful of make-or-break debt repayments, while a raft of key data in the next few days will point to the progress of the global economy.
