U.S. stocks jumped, bouncing back from the prior day's sharp fall. Stocks rose modestly on Thursday,

extending the prior day's rally, as investors weighed varied economic reports a day after the Federal

Reserve signaled interest rates would remain low for the foreseeable future. More >>

The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday existing home sales increased 1.3 percent to an

annual rate of 4.65 million units, marking the second increase in sales in nine months. Sales are still down

15 percent from a peak of 5.38 million units hit in July. More >>

DAILY

22nd May 2014

OIL (WTI: $103.76/bl, -0.30%; BRENT: $110.38/bl, -0.10%): Oil dropped from a one-month high as more

Americans than projected filed applications for unemployment benefits last week. More >>

GOLD ($1293.80/oz t; +0.44%): Gold futures rose after U.S. jobless claims increased more than forecast,

boosting demand for the metal as a haven. More >>

NATURAL GAS ($4.372/MmBtu, -2.25%): Natural gas prices fell on Thursday after a weekly U.S. supply

report revealed that inventories rose more than expected last week. More >>

DISCLAIMER: Daily Briefs contains a summary of financial news covered on conventional news services around the world. Daily Briefs coverage of subjects is based on the

whims of its volunteer contributors. FEP Finance Club is not responsible for any imprecision or error in the content of any news.

PSI20: +0.30% DAX30: +0.24% FTSE100: -0.01% S&P500: +0.24% NIKKEI225: +2.11%

Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index set for the biggest gain in three months, after

Chinese manufacturing gauge topped estimates. More >>

BoJ Governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, expressed confidence in the recovery of the world’s third largest

economy without signalling the need for further stimulus measures. More >>

Australia’s core inflation slowed last quarter, sending the currency lower as investors eased bets on the

likelihood of an interest-rate increase. More >>

Italian and Spanish stocks underperformed firmer equity markets elsewhere in Europe on Thursday, as

traders said concerns about this week's European Parliament elections were weighing on Milan and

Madrid. The FTSEurofirst 300 has gained around 4 percent this year. More >>

Manufacturing activity in the euro zone expanded at the slowest rate in six months in May, underlining

concerns over the health of the region’s economy. Markit said that its preliminary manufacturing

purchasing managers’ index declined to 52.5 this month, down from 53.4 in April. More >>

The Portuguese Stock Exchange rose 0.30% to 6877.68 points, on the day Portugal Telecom gained more

than 5% and fuelled the climb of PSI20. The banking sector declined and penalized the performance of

the main Portuguese index. More >>

Between March and April 2014, the deficit of Public administration soared from EUR 846.1 to EUR 2257.6

million. This represents an increase of 167%. Still, the budget balance shows an improvement of EUR 287

million compared to 2013. More >>