U.S. stocks jumped on Wednesday, bouncing back from the prior day's sharp fall, after minutes from the

Federal Reserve's last meeting had central bankers discussing ways to normalize interest rates. The

central bank last month trimmed its monthly asset buying to $45 billion. More >>

In a report, US Energy Information Administration said that U.S. Gasoline Inventories rose to a seasonally

adjusted annual rate of 0.970M, from -0.772M in the preceding quarter. Analysts had expected U.S.

Gasoline Inventories to rise 0.079M in the last quarter. More >>

DAILY

21st May 2014

OIL (WTI: $103.78/bl, +0.89%; BRENT: $110.48/bl, +0.62%): Oil rose after a government report showed

U.S. supplies tumbled last week as imports dropped to a 17-year low. More >>

GOLD ($1291.40/oz t; -0.22%): Gold declined as the FED said it sees inflation risk from continued

stimulus, lowering demand for the precious metal as a hedge against rising consumer costs. More >>

NATURAL GAS ($4.484/MmBtu, -1.18%): Natural gas prices fell after investors sold the commodity for

profits and jumped to the sidelines to await the release of weekly U.S. inventory report. 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: -0.57% DAX30: +0.61% FTSE100: +0.28% S&P500: +0.81% NIKKEI225: -0.24%

Asian stocks fell for a fourth day, with the regional benchmark index heading for its longest losing streak

since January, as the yen strengthened and the BoJ refrained from adding to monetary stimulus. More >>

Japan's trade deficit narrowed in April, thanks to tax increases that cooled demand for imports, even as

exports struggled amid ongoing sluggishness in the global economy. More >>

Consumer confidence in Australia turned sharply lower in May, the latest sentiment survey from Westpac

revealed on Wednesday, checking in with a score of 92.9. More >>

European shares finished higher on Wednesday, with Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk

gaining after its profit beat forecasts and German utilities rising on the back of broker upgrades. The pan-

European FTSEurofirst 300 ended 0.6 percent higher at 1,364.76 points. More >>

The euro zone’s current account surplus narrowed unexpectedly in March to hit the lowest level in six

months, official data showed on Wednesday. The ECB said that the euro zone current account recorded a

surplus of €18.8 billion in March, narrowing from a surplus of €21.8 billion in February. More >>

The Portuguese market declined and diverged from the positive feeling that ruled the main European

exchanges. PSI-20 was penalized by heavy falls of Banco Espírito Santo, Portugal Telecom, Jerónimo

Martins and Mota-Engil. More >>

The S&P decided to reconsider its perspective of the "ratings" of the national banking system, after

having placed the "outlook" of the Portuguese Republic in "stable" on 9 May. This Wednesday, May 21,

S&P placed the "rating" of Santander Totta, CGD, BPI and BES under "stable" outlook. More >>