Europe News - May 31, 2013

Emerging-market currencies are taking a battering, with the South African rand (EZA) receiving particular punishment. What began as a "drip drip of currency weakness" (WSJ) on concerns about the end of the Fed's QE program has turned into a flood as countries' various problems become exposed. The rand is down 6.3% since last week and the Turkish lira is -2.4%

Overseas: Japan +1.4%. Hong Kong -0.4%. China -0.7%. India -2.3%. London -1.1%. Paris -1.2%. Frankfurt -0.9%

  Eurozone inflation rose in line with consensus to an annual 1.4% in May from 1.2% in April, while core CPI increased to a greater-than-expected 1.2% from 1%. Inflation is well below the ECB's target of just under 2%, so could give the bank further room to loosen monetary policy

 

The Nikkei 225 (EWJ) closed +1.4% today after several volatile sessions, but that's not enough to prevent the index from ending May 0.6% lower, its first monthly loss in ten. Stocks rallied following a report that Japan's $1T Pension Investment Fund could increase its equity allocation. Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong -0.2% and China -0.7% ahead of manufacturing data, and India -1.4% after GDP figures

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