Economic Data
(EU) ECB: €1.5B borrowed in overnight loan facility v €1.3B prior; €466.4B parked in deposit facility vs. €449.1B prior
(ES) Spain Dec Mortgages-capital loaned Y/Y: -37.4% v -32.6% prior; Mortgages on Houses Y/Y: -37.2% v -35.8% prior
(TW) Taiwan Jan Industrial Production Y/Y: -16.5% v -15.3%e; Commercial Sales Y/Y: -7.2% v -4.7%e
(SE) Sweden Feb Consumer Confidence: -3.2 v 0.0e; Manufacturing Confidence: -13 v -12e; Economic Tendency Survey: v 92.8e
(NL) Netherlands Dec Consumer Spending Y/Y: -1.3 v -1.5% prior; Producer Confidence: -1.5 v -1.4 prior
(HK) Hong Kong Jan Trade Balance (HKD): -8.9B v -29.9Be; Exports Y/Y: -8.6% v -7.0%e; Imports Y/Y: -10.5% v -4.5%e
(DE) Germany Feb IFO Business Climate: 109.6 v 108.8e; Current Assessment: 117.5 v 116.5e; Expectations Survey: 102.3 v 102.0e
(IT) Italy Feb Consumer Confidence: 94.2 v 92.1e
(PL) Poland Jan Retail Sales M/M: -24.9% v -25.0%e; Y/Y: 14.3% v 13.8%e
(PL) Poland Jan Unemployment Rate: 13.2% v 13.3%e
(ZA) South Africa Jan PPI M/M: 0.3% v 0.7%e; Y/Y: 8.9% v 9.4%e
(UK) Jan BBA Loans for House Purchase: 38.1K v 36.3Ke
(EU) EU issues Interim Economic Forecasts: cuts 2012 Euro Zone GDP growth to -0.3% vs. +0.5% Nov view
(IT) Italy Jan Non-EU Trade Balance: -€5.1B v -€5.6B y/y
(BR) Brazil Feb FGV Construction Costs M/M: 0.4% v 0.6%e
Fixed Income
(SE) Sweden sold SEK750M vs. SEK750M indicated in 0.25% I/L 2022 bonds; Yield: 0.4104% v 0.2900% prior
(HU) Hungary Debt Agency (AKK) sold total HUF45B in 2015, 2017 and 2028 bonds
SPEAKERS/FIXED INCOME/FX/COMMODITIES/ERRATUM
Notes/Observations
Concern that money was leaving China at an alarming rate, China FX regulator responds
German IFO Survey again exceeds expectations
UK oil imports exceeded production for first time since 1978
EU Commission slashes Euro Zone 2012 growth forecast; sovereign downgrade rumors result
Equities:
FTSE 100 +0.20% at 5928, DAX -0.30% at 6820, CAC-40 flat at 3447, IBEX-35 -1.1% at 8562, FTSE MIB -0.90% at 16,402, SMI +0.10% at 6196
European shares traded mixed to negative territory even after positive German IFO. EU commission cut its forecast for Eurozone FY12 GDP to -0.3% noting that the Eurozone was seen in a mild recession although signs of stabilization were seen.
Banking shares weighed down the market as RBS [RBS.UK], Commerzbank [CBK.DE] and Credit Agricole [ACA.FR] were all trading lower after reporting losses on sovereign debt. Credit Agricole reported a wider than expected loss and upped its provisions to 74%. Bank took a charge of €220M in Q4. Commerzbank wrote down €700M in Greek impairments and RBS reported a much wider than expected loss after a €1.1B writedown related to sovereign debt. Natixis [KN.FR] reported a profit albeit lower than last year. Greek provisions totaled €124M. Meanwhile, Deutsche Telekom [DTE.DE] reported in line with estimates but lowered FY12 Adj EBITA to €18.0B from prior number of €19.1B. Shares were lower by 2%. In contrast with French Telecom, DT decided to keep its dividend of €0.70. Insurers such as Allianz [ALV.DE] and Swiss Re [RUKN.CH] also reported and traded higher during the session. Allianz missed its profit estimate but kept its dividend higher while Swiss Re reported higher than expected earnings.