Economic Data
(EU) ECB: €1.4B borrowed in overnight loan facility v €654M prior; €454.4B parked in deposit facility vs. €416.7B prior
(FI) Finland Jan CPI M/M: 0.6% v 0.0% prior; Y/Y: 3.2% v 2.9% prior
(JP) Japan Jan Convenience Store Sales Y/Y: 1.7% v 4.1% prior
(FR) France Fed Business Confidence: 92 v 92e; Production Outlook: -27 v -36e; Own-Company Production Outlook: -2 v -5 prior
(TW) Taiwan Jan Export Orders Y/Y: -8.6% v -4.8%e
(GR) Greece Dec Current Account: -€2.2B v -€2.3B prior
(TW) Taiwan Q4 Current Account: $12.1B v $10.2B prior
(HK) Hong Kong Jan CPI - Composite Index Y/Y: 6.1% v 5.8%e
(IT) Italy Dec Industrial Orders M/M: 5.5% v 0.4%e; Y/Y: -4.3% v -5.6%e
(IT) Italy Dec Industrial Sales M/M: 3.4% v 0.1% prior; Y/Y: 5.6% v 0.2% prior
(UK) UK Jan Gross Mortgage Lending £10.5B vs £12.2B m/m
Fixed Income
(NL) Netherlands Debt Agency (DSTA) sold total €2.24B vs. €4.0B indicated in 3-month and 6-month Bills
Sold €1.09B vs.€2.0Be in 99-day Bills; Yield 0.05% v 0.032% prior; bid-to-cover: x v 3.82x prior
Sold €1.15B vs. €2.0B in 191-Day Bills; Yield 0.05% v 0.05% prior; bid-to-cover: x v 3.53x prior
(SK) Slovakia Debt Agency (ARDAL) sells €2883M in Zero Coupon Aprril 2014 bonds; Yield 2.542%; bid-to-cover 1.99x
(HU) Hungary Debt Agency (AKK) sold HUF50B in 6-Week Bills; Yield 7.14%; bid-to-cover 1.60x
(NO) Norway sold total NOK3.0B vs. NOK3.0B indicated in 4.5% 2019 Bonds; Yield 2.23% v 2.10% Prior
SPEAKERS/FIXED INCOME/FX/COMMODITIES/ERRATUM
Notes/Observations
China cuts RRR for the second time since late Nov
Japan logs record trade deficit with China
Iran cuts exports to UK and France; Oil hits 9 month highs
Eurogroup finance ministers meet later today on Greece; optimism grows on agreement on most key issues.
US markets closed for President Day holiday
Equities:
EuroStoxx at 2545.79, +1.05%, FTS100 at 5949.66, +0.75%, CAC40 at 3470.47, +0.90%, IBEX at 6937.7, +1.31%
European shares rose on optimism ahead of the euro-area finance ministers meeting where they would discuss the Greek bailout. Early reports note that there is already an agreement on the table regarding lowering interest rates on first €110B EU/IMF bailout. There also seems to be an agreement over participation in debt swaps of Greek bonds held in investment portfolios of National Central banks
Corporate events were sparse with only notable name reporting was Bank of Ireland [BKIR.IE] which reported a significantly lower underlying profit for FY11. In M&A news, TNT [TNT.NL] was higher over 50% at the open after reports that UPS may have increased its offer of €9/shr and that Fedex and Deutsche Post may have joined in the bidding.