The US Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that home prices fell by 0.3pct in March to be down 5.8pct on a year ago. And US durable goods orders fell by 3.6pct in April after a 4.4pct lift in March. Economists had tipped a fall of 2.2pct.

French finance minister Christine Lagarde has indicated her interest to lead the International Monetary Fund.

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European shares rose for a second day on Wednesday with bargain hunters lifting banking stocks. The STOXX Europe 500 banks index rose by 2.1pct. But miners were mixed - in London trade shares in BHP-Billiton were flat while Rio Tinto rose by 0.8pct. The FTSEurofirst index closed up 0.7pct while the German Dax rose by 0.3pct and the UK FTSE edged 0.2pct higher.

US sharemarkets rebounded on Wednesday. But luxury goods retailer Polo Ralph Lauren was amongst the losers with shares down 11.4pct after weak profit figures. Sharemarket trade was volatile, especially in the last hour of trade with the Dow quickly putting on 44pts only to lose all the momentum. But at the close, the Dow Jones was higher by 38pts or 0.3pct with the S&P 500 up 0.3pct and the Nasdaq gained 15pts or 0.6pct.

US treasuries eased on Wednesday (yields higher) as investors again had a taste for riskier assets like equities and commodities, in preference to government bonds. US 2yr yields rose by 2pts to 0.535pct and US 10yr yields rose by 1pt to 3.125pct.

The US dollar eased against major currencies on Wednesday as risk appetite improved. The Euro rose from lows near US$1.4015 to US$1.4115, ending US trade near US$1.4085. The Aussie dollar rose from lows near US104.35c to US105.45c before ending US trade near US105.25c. And the Japanese yen held between 81.80 yen per US dollar and JPY82.15, ending US trade near JPY81.95.

US crude oil prices rose by almost 2pct on Wednesday, supported by a weaker greenback and a drop in US distillate inventories (includes heating oil and diesel fuel) in the past week. Distillate stocks fell by 2.05 million barrels to a 26-month low of 141 million barrels. The Nymex crude oil contract rose by US$1.73 or 1.7pct to US$101.32 a barrel and London Brent crude rose by US$2.40 to US$114.93 a barrel.

Base metal prices again rose on the London Metal Exchange on Wednesday in line with other commodities as risk appetite improved and the greenback softened. Metals rose between 1.4-2.6pct with zinc faring best. And the gold price also lifted modestly with Comex gold futures up by US$3.40 an ounce to US$1,526.70.

Ahead: In Australia private business investment data for the March quarter is released. Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Ric Battelino delivers a speech. In the US revised GDP data is released together with weekly jobless claims.

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