Quiet start to week
Economic Data(UK) July Halifax House Prices M/M: -0.6% v -0.5%e; 3M/Y: -0.6% v -0.6%e
(CZ) Czech Jun Industrial Output Y/Y: -2.2% v -2.0%e; Construction Output Y/Y: -8.4% v -3.5% prior
(CZ) Czech Jun Trade Balance (CZK):29.4 B v 25.0Be
(SE) Sweden Jun Service Production M/M: -0.2% v +2.3% prior; Y/Y: 1.1% v 1.9% prior
(UK) July New Car Registrations Y/Y: 9.3% v 3.5% prior
(TW) Taiwan July Foreign Exchange Reserves: $391.1B v $391.3B prior
(EU) Euro Zone Aug Sentix Investor Confidence:-30.3 v -31.0e
(GR) Greece July Consumer Price Index Y/Y: 1.3% v 1.3% prior; CPI EU Harmonized Y/Y: 0.9% v 1.0% prior
Fixed Income
(NO) Norway sold NOK3.0B vs.NOK3.0B indicated in 10.5 month bills: Yield 1.57%
(NL) Netherlands Debt Agency (DSTA) sold total €2.5B vs. €4.0B indicated in 3-month and 7-month Bills
Sold €1.24B vs. €2.0B indicated in 3-month Bills; Yield -0.051% v -0.041% prior; Bid-to-cover: 2.89x v 3.20x prior
Sold €1.26B vs. €2.0B indicated in 7-month Bills; Avg Yield -0.020% v -0.029% prior; Bid-to-cover: 2.05x v 3.19x prior
Notes/Observations
China PBoC: Will intensify monetary policy fine-tuning in the second half of year
Bank Of Italy's Visco sees ECB easing policy in coming months
German Officials push for more ECB Control
Greek austerity talks with Troika to resume in early September
ECB's Coeure: ECB will not accept higher bond yields due to Euro fears
Equities
FTSE 100 flat at 5789, DAX +0.60% at 6908, CAC-40 +0.40% at 3387, FTSE MIB +0.70% at 14,223, IBEX-35 +0.25% at 6772, SMI -0.10% at 6452, S&P 500 Futures +0.10% at 1391
European equity indices are mostly higher, adding on the sharp gains seen on Friday's session. Markets continue to be supported by recent comments out of ECB head Draghi and better than expected monthly payrolls data out of the US. Indices have tracked the declines which have been seen in shorter-dated peripheral yields. European banks are trading mixed following, last week's gains (outperformers include French banks and Intesa, laggards include German banks, Spanish financials and Unicredit). Resource related firms are mostly higher, tracking Friday's gains in commodity prices.
Swiss luxury watch maker, Richemont [CFR] is higher by over 5%, as the company guided its H1 profits to rise by as much as 40% y/y. In FY11/12, the company's op profit rose by 51% y/y. Shares of Swatch [UHR.CH] have traded up by over 2%, following the commentary out of Richemont.
In UK movers, Catlin Group [CGL.UK] has gained over 2% (released H1 results), Telecity Group [TCY.UK] is up over 3% (reported H1 results) and shares of HMV [HMV.UK] have lost over 4% (confirmed resignation of CFO). In Belgium, financial company Ageas [AGS.BE] is higher by over 1.5%, after the company reported H1 results and announced a €200M stock buyback. In the Netherlands, Postnl [PNL.NL] is lower by more than 5%, as the company reported weaker than expected quarterly sales and lowered its FY sales growth target.