U.S. stocks fell sharply on Tuesday after a Federal Reserve official said rate hikes might come sooner than

expected and Staples and other retailers such as Urban Outfitters and Dick’s Sporting Goods offered

disappointing quarterly results. More >>

Salesforce.com Inc. and Intuit Inc. are among S&P 500 companies reporting results today. About 75

percent of those that have posted results this season have beaten analysts’ estimates for profit, while 53

percent have exceeded sales projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show. More >>

DAILY

20th May 2014

OIL (WTI: $102.97/bl, +0.88%; BRENT: $109.81/bl, +0.40%): West Texas Intermediate oil and Brent Oil

climbed on Tuesday amid ongoing concerns that geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and Libya will disrupt

global supply. More >>

NATURAL GAS ($4.537/MmBtu, +1.40%): Short covering sent natural gas prices rising on Tuesday, as

investors closed out bets for mild temperatures and prepped for the arrival of summertime mercury

readings in the U.S., which should hike demand for air conditioning. 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: -0.05% DAX30: -0.21% FTSE100: -0.62% S&P500: -0.65% NIKKEI225: +0.49%

Asian stocks fell as energy shares led declines. Thailand’s stock index posted its biggest loss in almost two

weeks as the army imposed martial law. More >>

Data from Japan showed that the all industry activity index in the nation rose 1.5% (MoM) in March,

following a 1.1% drop in February and compared to market expectations for a rise of 1.6%. More >>

The Reserve Bank of Australia has, yet again, given no indication of any future change to the cash rate,

which remains at a record low 2.5%. More >>

European stocks were little changed, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index trading near a six-year high, as

investors weighed corporate earnings. However, the Stoxx 600 slipped less than 0.1 percent to 338.32 at

the close of trading. More >>

Consumer price inflation in the U.K. accelerated more than expected last month, official data showed on

Tuesday. The U.K. Office for National Statistics said the rate of consumer price inflation rose 1.8% in April,

above expectations, and up from 1.6% in March. More >>

The PSI-20 ended up closing in negative territory, a session marked by swings between gains and slight

losses. The main index of the national stock exchange declined 0.05% to 6896.20 points. The fall of

Portugal Telecom annulled the gains of 2% of Banco Espírito Santo. More >>

The National Statistics Institute revealed that the indicator of economic activity accelerated in March,

reaching the highest level since August 2010, "following the sharp positive trend started in June 2012".

The indicator of economic climate, the same source added, "picked up slightly in April”. More >>