Notes/Observations
S&P: Revise Cyprus outlook to stable from negative.
Moody's: Portugal court decision is a credit negative.
Australia Mar employment data disappoints with Employment Change coming in at -36K vs. -7Ke
China: Mar M2 Money Supply data come sin above expectations ( 15.7% vs. 14.6%e)
China new Yuan loans for the month of March totaled CNY1.06T (beat expectations and considerably higher than the CNY620B reported in the prior month)
The Bank of Korea (BOK) unexpectedly maintained the 7-day Repo Rate at 2.75% (for 6th straight month), despite the political pressure to lower rates; 5-year bond yield jumps 20bps (most since May 2009)
ECB deposit facility dips below the €100B for first time since Nov 2011 (Sign of banks putting money to work???)
Greece Jan Unemployment Rate climbs to fresh record of 27.2%
Italy bond auction seen as decent with borrowing costs improving with better bid-to-cover ratios.
Economic Data
(ID) Indonesia Central Bank (BI) leaves Reference Rate unchanged at 5.75%, as expected (14th straight pause at record low level)
(DE) Germany Mar Final Consumer Price Index M/M: 0.5% v 0.5%e; Y/Y: 1.4% v 1.4%e
(DE) Germany Mar Final CPI EU Harmonized M/M: 0.4% v 0.4%e; Y/Y: 1.8% v 1.8%e
(SE) Sweden Mar PES Unemployment Rate: 4.5% v 4.5%e
(FR) France Mar Consumer Price Index M/M: 0.8% v 0.7%e; Y/Y: 1.0% v 0.9%e; CPI Ex Tobacco Index: 125.69 v 125.67e
(FR) France Mar CPI EU Harmonized M/M: 0.8% v 0.8%e; Y/Y: 1.1% v 1.0%e
(HU) Hungary Mar Consumer Prices M/M: 0.3% v 0.5%e; Y/Y: 2.2% v 2.5%e
(ES) Spain Feb House transactions Y/Y: 17.3% v 18.9% prior
(TR) Turkey Feb Current Account: -$5.1B v -$5.0Be
(EU) ECB: €1.1B borrowed in overnight loan facility vs. €588.0M prior; €99.9B parked in deposit facility vs. €136.3B prior
(RU) Russia Mar YTD Budget Level (RUB): -141.1B v -259.5B prior
(SE) Sweden Mar CPI Headline Rate M/M: 0.4% v 0.4%e; Y/Y: 0.0% v -0.2%e; CPI Level: 314.65 v 314.23e
(SE) Sweden Mar CPI Underlying (CPIF)M/M: 0.5% v 0.4%e; Y/Y: 0.9% v 0.8%e
(SE) Sweden Mar Average House Prices (SEK): 2.115M v 2.124M prior
UN Foods and Agricultural Organization (FAO) March Food Price Index: 212 v 210 m/m
(GR) Greece Jan Unemployment Rate: 27.2% v 26.6%e (record high)
(ZA) South Africa Feb Gold Production Y/Y: -4.7% v -8.1% prior; Mining Production Y/Y: 7.0% v 7.3% prior
Fixed Income:
(IT) Italy Debt Agency (Tesoro) sold total €5.67B vs.€4.5-6.0B in 2016 and 2028 BTP bonds.
Sells €4.0B vs. €3.0-4.0B indicated range in new 2.25% May 2016 BTP; Avg Yield 2.29% v 2.48% prior; Bid-to-cover: 1.4x v 1.28x prior.
Sells €1.67B vs. €1.0-2.0B indicated range in 4.75% Sept 2028 BTP; Avg Yield 4.68% v 4.90% prior; Bid-to-cover: 1.3x v 1.28x prior.
(IT) Italy Debt Agency (Tesoro) sold €1.5B vs. €1.0-1.5B in Jun 2017 CCTeu; Avg Yield: 2.74% v 2.55% prior; Bid-to-cover: 1.28x v 1.39x prior.
(SE) Sweden sold SEK1.0B in 0.5% I/L 2017 bond.
(PL) Poland sold total PLN5.02B in 2023 and 2024 bonds.
(HU) Hungary Debt Agency (AKK) sold HUF 50B vs. HUF50B indicated 12-Months Treasury Bills; Avg Yield 4.16% v 4.55% prior; Bid-to-cover: 1.74x v 2.67x prior.
(HU) Hungary Debt Agency (AKK) sold HUF12B vs. HUF8B indicated in 2019 Floating Rate Bond: Price: 96.31 v 95.51 prior; bid-to-cover: 2.8x
(UK) DMO sold £1.6B in 0.125% Inflation-linked 2024 Gilts; Real Yield -1.262% v -0.844% prior; Bid-to-cover: 1.86x v 1.97x prior
SPEAKERS/FIXED INCOME/FX/COMMODITIES/ERRATUM
Equities
Indices: FTSE 100 +0.30% at 6,409, DAX +0.60% at 7,853, CAC-40 +0.60% at 3,766, IBEX-35 +0.10% at 8,143, FTSE MIB +0.60% at 16,025, SMI +0.60% at 7,821, S&P 500 Futures +0.10% at 1,585
Equity markets in Europe are mostly higher, tracking Wednesday's gains in U.S. markets. Banks have lagged on today's session, following the outperformance seen on Wednesday's session. U.S. banks J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo are due to report their quarterly earnings on Friday's session. Resource related firms are trading mixed, amid the decline in commodity prices.
U.K. movers [Ashmore Group +14% (quarterly AUM rose by 9.4%), Man Group +6.5% (Higher capital surplus), Mothercare +6% (Q4 LFL sales above ests)Marks & Spencer +4.5% (Q4 sales above ests), Hays +4% (FY profit guidance seen at top end of ests), WH Smith +4% (H1 profits rose y/y); Evraz -7% (FY profits declined y/y, omitted dividend), Associated British Foods -1.5% (broker commentary)]
Germany movers [Fraport +1% (rise in March traffic)]
France movers [France Telecom +1.5% (broker commentary)]
Italy movers [Telecom Italia +2.5%(board meeting on possible merger)]
Spain movers [Gas Natural -2% (broker commentary)]
Switzerland movers [Roche flat (Q1 sales above ests, reaffirmed forecast)]