Yesterday, the European Central Bank (ECB) issued its second Long Term Financing Operation (LTRO) to 800 European banks. The amount lent to the banks was $712.8 billion for three years. Many of these banks will use the money to play the carry trade, others will pay down their own debt. The first LTRO program in December 2011 had 500 banks participate. Leading European banks such as Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB), and Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE:LYG) are trading higher this morning. The S&P 500 Index e-mini futures (ES H2) are trading higher by 1.50 points to 1373.00 per contract.
Tuesday night, most of the Asian markets were higher, however, the important Shanghai Index (China) finished lower by nearly 1.00 percent. Traders should note that if the U.S. markets are weak the Chinese ADR's could lead the markets lower. At this time, leading Chinese ADR's such as Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU), China Mobile Limited (NYSE:CHL), and Sina Corp (NYSE:SINA) are holding up fine.
NYSE:DB, NYSE:LYG, NASDAQ:BIDU, NYSE:CHL, NYSE:SINA
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