Notes/Observations
Soft Australia CPI prompts speculation of more RBA rate cuts
UK PM Cameron to propose referendum on UK remaining in EU by 2017
Japan Govt and BOJ both upgrade economic assessment (1st time in 8 months)
GOOG and IBM beat expectations; AAPL in focus after the bell today.
US debt limit extension likely until May; White House would not oppose a short-term debt limit hike
UK Dec jobless data comes in better than expectations
BOE minutes less dovish; Past month development strengthened some MPC members case that no more QE is required
Economic Data
(FR) France Jan Business Confidence: 86 v 90e; Production Outlook: -36 v -35e; Own-Company Production Outlook: -15 v -9 prior
(DK) Denmark Jan Consumer Confidence: -2.7 v -1.5e
(ZA) South Africa Dec CPI (all items) M/M: 0.2% v 0.3%e; Y/Y: 5.7% v 5.7%e
(TW) Taiwan Dec Industrial Production Y/Y: 2.4% v 6.8%e; Commercial Sales Y/Y: 1.7% v 1.4%e
(TH) Thailand Dec Customs Trade Balance: -$2.4B v -$1.6Be; Customs Exports Y/Y: 13.5% v 21.5%e; Customs Imports Y/Y: 4.7% v 7.5%e
(EU) ECB: €530M borrowed in overnight loan facility vs. €1.0B prior; €203.6B parked in deposit facility vs. €207.1B prior
(ES) Bank of Spain (BOS) Jan Monthly Report: Q4 GDP -0.6% q/q and -1.7% y/y
(MA) Malaysia Dec CPI Y/Y: 1.2% v 1.4%e
(IC) Iceland Dec Wage Index M/M: 0.0% v 0.2% prior; Y/Y: 4.7% v 5.0% prior
(IT) Italy Dec Non-EU Foreign Trade Balance: €3.2B v €1.9B prior
(UK) Bank of England (BOE) Minutes: voted 9-0 (unanimous) to leave interest rates unchanged in January
(UK) Bank of England (BOE) Minutes: voted 8 to 1 to maintain Asset Purchase Target (APT) at £375B in January
(UK) Dec Jobless Claims Change:-12.1 K v +0.5Ke; Claimant Count Rate: 4.8% v 4.8%e; Employment Change 3M/3M: +90K v +28Ke
(UK) Nov Average Weekly Earnings 3M/Y: 1.5% v 1.6%e; Weekly Earnings exBonus 3M/Y: 1.4% v 1.5%e
(UK) Nov ILO Unemployment Rate: 7.7% v 7.8%e
(IT) Italy Nov Current Account: +€683M v -€245M prior
(CH) Swiss Jan Credit Suisse ZEW Expectations Survey: -6.9 v -15.5 prior
Fixed Income
(IN) India sold total INR100B vs. INR100B indicated in 3-month and 12-month Bills
(EU) ECB allotted $20M in 7-Day USD Liquidity Tender at fixed 0.64% vs. $60M prior
(SE) Sweden sold SEK3.5B in 1.5% 2023 bonds; Avg Yield: 1.9089 v 1.8165% prior; Bid-to-cover: 2.86x v 1.72x prior
(PL) Poland sold total PLN11.8B vs. PLN6.0-9.0B indicated range in 2015 and 2018 bonds
(RU) Russia sold RUB35B v RUB35B indicated in 2019 OFZ; Yield: 6.5% vs. guidance of 6.47-6.52% range
Equities
Indices: FTSE 100 +0.20% at 6,188, DAX +0.20% at 7,712, CAC-40 -0.10% at 3,736, IBEX-35 -0.30% at 8,606, FTSE MIB -0.30% at 17,667, SMI +0.90% at 7,359, S&P 500 Futures -0.10% at 1,488
European equity markets opened the session slightly higher, led by the tech sector following earnings out of IBM and Google. Apple is due to report its quarterly figures following Wednesday's US close. Currently indices are mixed, amid weakness in the banking sector. Underperformers among the European financials include Banca Monte Paschi, French banks and Commerzbank.
UK movers [Intertek +1.5% (broker commentary),BHP +1% (Q2 production update),BT +0.50% (broker commentary); Severfield-Rowen -37% (concerns related to banking covenant), Tui Travel -4.5% (ended talks with TUI AG), Flybe Group -4% (Q3 sales, turnaround plan),Big Yellow Group -1.7% (capital raise),Sage Group -0.5% (interim management statement),Homebuilders broadly lower (sector downgrade)]
Germany movers [Aixtron +7% (quarterly earnings from Cree),Draegerwerk +5.5% (FY12 sales outlook), SAP +2.5% (Q4 results, guidance), Gerry Weber +2.5% (FY12 results, outlook)Infineon +1.5% (US tech earnings); TUI AG -4.5% (ended talks with Tui Travel), Siemens -1% (Q1 earnings, outlook)]
France moves [Alcatel Lucent +5% (broker commentary),BNP -1% (broker commentary)]
Switzerland movers [Nobel Biocare +4.5% (broker commentary),Novartis +3% (results, management change),Logitech +1% (Sector strength)]
Italy moves [Banca Monte Paschi -4.5% (ongoing concerns about derivatives transactions)]
Dutch movers [Unilever +2.5% (Q4 results);SNS Reaal -10% (concerns related to banking unit)]