- Asia quietly mixed: Japan +.69%, China -.25%, SoKo + .54%, Twn +.10%
- South Korea PPI +2.4% YoY vs +2.8% previous
- Australia trade balance -$1.587 bn vs $1.3 bn expected, -$754 mm prev
- European stocks in red: Eurostoxx -.75%, Dax -.51%, France -1.27%
- Finland GDP +3.5% vs previous +3.5% (prev revised down from +4.1%)
- European sovereign CDS stable following elections: FR 1.94%, SP 4.9%, IT 4.4%
- Dutch bond auctions go well; Austria, Belgium on deck
- Merkel rules out Hollande's plan to renegotiate EU pact
- Greece wrangling to form coalition following election
- Survey finds 48% of "graduates" working in finance want new jobs
Markets remain skittish following elections in France and Greece, with selling re-emerging overnight following a strong sell-off and rebound yesterday. S&P, DAX, and CAC futures are currently at the midpoint of yesterday's range, with French shares virtually unchanged from Friday's close.
Greek stocks have not been so lucky, down about 8% from Friday and testing January's historic lows. The euro remains under mild pressure, trading at 1.301, slightly below the level of 24 hours ago.
Meanwhile, Australia's trade balance is now firmly in negative territory, and the Aussie dollar is paying the price, down about half a figure and now reversing the 6-handle gains of the year. This weakness in both trade and currency belies a weakness in commodities--and Chinese demand.
Finally, in the pleasant oddity department, Finland reported GDP growth of 3.5%, remarkable given the travails of the eurozone, and the hammering Nokia (NOK) (and everyone else) is taking from Apple (AAPL).