Good morning traders!

In the US last night, the Dow rose 53 points at 15,388, the Nasdaq added 6 points at
3,502 and the S&P 500 gained 3 points at 1,669.

In Asia today, the Nikkei was recently up 202 points at 15,583 and the Hang Seng
was closed for the morning due to a storm warning.

WTI crude oil traded at $95.80 a barrel and Brent crude at $103.91.

Gold settled at $1,372 an ounce.

Good hunting!

G.

BOJ holds steady despite bond turmoil, upgrades economic outlook

TOKYO | Wed May 22, 2013 5:24am BST

(Reuters) - The Bank of Japan kept policy steady on Wednesday despite concerns over recent volatility in bond market, saying growth is starting to pick up even as risks loomed from an uncertain global outlook.

The central bank upgraded its assessment of the economy, saying it "has started picking up," as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's programme of aggressive fiscal and monetary stimulus has boosted sentiment and a weaker yen has halted a decline in exports.

As expected, the central bank stuck with April's massive quantitative easing, in which it pledged to end 15 years of deflation by doubling its Japanese government-bond holdings in two years as it expands the supply of money at an annual pace of 60 trillion ($583 billion) to 70 trillion yen.

BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will hold a news conference from 0630 GMT with his comments expected to come out any time after 0715 GMT.

Asian stocks cheered by Fed reassurance; BOJ stands pat

SINGAPORE | Wed May 22, 2013 6:15am BST

(Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on Wednesday following a positive lead from Wall Street, with Japan's Nikkei reaching a fresh 5-1/2 year high and clinging to its gains as the Bank of Japan stood pat after unleashing massive stimulus last month.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.1 percent, reversing some of Tuesday's 0.4 percent decline. The South Korean market climbed 0.8 percent.

Tokyo's Nikkei gained 1.2 percent, breaking above 15,500 for the first time in over five years.

"The buying just doesn't stop," said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities.

"If the Nikkei gets above 15,500, volatility could increase, trading could become choppy, but with foreigners still buying Japanese shares the trend might still point upward for a while."

Bank of Canada's Carney says Europe needs big reforms

MONTREAL | Tue May 21, 2013 9:02pm BST
(Reuters) - Europe could face a decade of stagnation unless it makes big reforms and it should heed the lessons of Japan, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said on Tuesday as he highlighted Japan's bold moves to bolster growth.

In his final speech as Canadian central bank chief before he takes over as governor of the Bank of England on July 1, Carney said Europe's recessionary economy is being held back by fiscal austerity, low confidence and tight credit conditions.

FTSE 100 modestly lower ahead of BoE MPC minutes

EUR Current Account 25.9B 14.2B 16.3B

GBP MPC Meeting Minutes 0-0-9 0-0-9 0-0-9

GBP Retail Sales m/m -1.3% 0.0% -0.7%

GBP Public Sector Net Borrowing 8.0B 7.6B 16.7B

Cold weather dampens retail sales in April

LONDON | Wed May 22, 2013 9:34am BST

(Reuters) - Cold weather continued to hurt British retail sales in April, driving the biggest monthly drop in a year, official data showed on Wednesday.

The Office for National Statistics said sales of barbecue food and garden furniture were hit in particular.

Retail sales volumes including automotive fuel fell 1.3 percent in April from March, confounding economists' forecasts for flat sales.

German 10-y Bond Auction 1.41|1.6 1.28|1.6

GBP CBI Industrial Order Expectations -20 -18 -25

FTSE 100 slightly lower in midday trade ahead of US data

CAD Core Retail Sales m/m -0.2% 0.2% 0.7%

CAD Retail Sales m/m 0.0% 0.2% 0.8%

US STOCKS-Futures up ahead of Bernanke testimony

NEW YORK, May 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose in thin trading on Wednesday, ahead of highly anticipated Congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the economy and monetary policy.

Bernanke is expected to strike a dovish tone when he addresses a congressional committee at 10:00 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT). Earlier on Wednesday, influential New York Fed President William Dudley reinforced his own remarks Tuesday, when he damped speculation that the U.S. central bank was preparing to reduce its monetary stimulus.

USD Existing Home Sales 4.97M 4.99M 4.92M

Bernanke touts benefits of Fed easing, no hint of pullback

WASHINGTON | Wed May 22, 2013 3:04pm BST

May 22 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus is helping the U.S. economy recover, and the central bank needs to see further signs of traction before taking its foot off the gas, central bank chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.

In testimony that offered no sign that he is ready to retreat from the Fed's latest round of bond buying, Bernanke emphasized the high costs of unemployment and inflation that continues to run below the central bank's target.

Spike on gold.

Bernanke's Q&A testimony to congressional panel

(Reuters) - Below are highlights of the question and answer session of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony on the U.S. economy to the congressional Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday.

FTSE100 ends firmly higher with banks and miners strong

Can anyone confirm the previous high (1999), I think today's intraday high (6,875.62) may have beaten it.