Economic Data
(EU) ECB: €1.6B borrowed in overnight loan facility vs. €2.4B prior; parked in overnight deposit facility (fresh record higs) vs. €493.3B prior
(FI) Finland Dec PPI M/M: -0.4% v 0.0% prior; Y/Y: 1.8% v 3.7% prior
(SE) Sweden Dec PES Unemployment Rate: 4.7% v 4.6%e
(EU) Dec EU 25 New Car Registrations: -6.4 v -3.5% prior
(ZA) South Africa Nov Gold Production Y/Y: -4.5% v -3.3% prior; Mining Production Y/Y: -4.6% v -9.0%e
(UK) Nov DCLG UK House Prices Y/Y: -3.3% v -0.4% prior
(UK) Dec CPI M/M: 0.4% v 0.4%e; Y/Y: 4.2% v 4.2%e; Core CPI Y/Y: 3.0% v 3.0%e
(UK) Dec RPI M/M: 0.4% v 0.3%e; Y/Y: 4.8% v 4.7%e; RPIX Y/Y: 5.0% v 4.9%e; Retail Price Index: 239.4 v 239.1e
(DE) Germany Jan ZEW Economic Sentiment: -21.6 v -49.4e (highest reading since July 2011); Current Situation: 28.4 v 24.0e
(EU) Euro Zone Dec CPI M/M: 0.3% v 0.4%e; Y/Y: 2.7% v 2.8%e; CPI Core Y/Y: 1.6% v 1.6%e
(EU) Euro Zone Jan ZEW Economic Sentiment: -32.5 v -54.1 prior
(BR) Brazil Jan FGV Inflation IGP-10 M/M: 0.1% v 0.0%e
(IS) Israel Jan Inflation Forecast: 2.3% v 2.2% prior
(IS) Israel Dec Money Supply Y/Y: 2.5 v 1.9% prior
Fixed Income
(ZA) South Africa sold total ZAR2.1B vs. ZAR2.1B indicated in 2020 and 2041 Bonds
(ES) Spain Debt Agency (Tesoro) sold total €4.88B vs. €5.0B indicated in 12-Month and 18-Month Bills
Sold €3.01B in 12-month Bills; Avg Yield 2.049% v 4.050% prior; Bid-to-cover: 3.54x v 3.14x prior; Max Yield 2.150% v 4.088% prior
Sold €1.87B in 18-month Bills; Avg Yield 2.399% v 4.226% prior; Bid-to-cover: 3.23x v 4.97x prior; Max Yield 2.490% v 4.250% prior
(GR) Greece Debt Agency (PDMA) sold 1.625B€ vs. €1.25B indicated in 13-week Bills; Avg Yield 4.64% v 4.68% prior; Bid-to-cover: 2.90x v 2.91x prior
(EU) ECB allotted €126.9B in 7-day Refi Operations vs. €100Be at fixed 1.0%
(EU) ECB allotted €38.7B in 1-month Refi Operation at fixed 1.0% vs. €41.2B prior
(HU) Hungary Debt Agency (AKK) sold HUF55B vs. HUF45B in 3-Month Bills; Avg Yield 7.84% v 7.98% prior; Bid-to-cover:3.15x v 2.74x prior
(BE) Belgium Debt Agency sold total €2.96B vs.€3.0B indicated in 3-month and 12-month Bills
Sells €1.76B vs. €1.8B in 3-month Bills; Avg Yield 0.429% v 0.264% prior; Bid-to-cover: 2.23x v 2.13x prior
Sells €1.20B vs. €1.2B in 12-month Bills; Avg Yield 1.162% v 2.167% prior; Bid-to-cover: 2.06x v 2.21x prior
SPEAKERS/FIXED INCOME/FX/COMMODITIES/ERRATUM
Notes/Observations
S&P downgrades EFSF one notch to AA+ following the prior French, Austrian cuts
China Q4 GDP at 2 year lows but above analysts' estimates
Germany Jan ZEW Survey improves to its best reading since July 2011
Equities:
FTSE 100 +1.1% at 5717, DAX +1.8% at 6334, CAC-40 +1.6% at 3277, FTSE MIB +1.4% at 15,432, SMI +0.50% at 6063
European shares recovered their losses taking cue from Asian trading even after China's data showed economic slowing. As expected, S&P downgraded EFSF rating to AA+, an action which did not move markets. However, German ZEW data was the highest reading since July 2011 marking a significant improvement in sentiment.
In corporate news, Metro AG [MEO.DE] rallied after exceeding analysts' expectations. Company decided to discontinue divestment activities related to Galeria Kaufhof. Burberry [BRBY.UK] also reported its Q3 revenues which had increased over the year. Shares were trading lower.