Economic Data
(EU) ECB: €11.8B borrowed in overnight loan facility v €992M prior; €758.8B parked in deposit facility vs. €727.7B prior
(IN) India Feb CPI Y/Y: 8.8% v 7.7% prior
(ZA) South Africa Q4 Current Account Balance (ZAR):-110.2B v -132.0Be; Ratio to GDP: -3.6% v -4.2%e
(HK) Hong Kong Feb Unemployment Rate: 3.4% v 3.3%e
(EU) Euro Zone Jan Current Account nsa: -€12.3B v €16.3B prior; Current Account Seasonally Adj: €4.5B v €2.0B prior
(IT) Italy Jan Industrial Orders M/M: -7.4% v -3.2%e; Y/Y: -5.6% v -2.9%e
(IT) Italy Jan Industrial Sales M/M: -4.9% v 3.2% prior; Y/Y: -4.4% v 5.4% prior
(EU) Euro Zone Jan Construction Output M/M: -0.8% v -1.9% prior; Y/Y: -1.4% v 9.8% prior
(ZA) South Africa Q1 BER Consumer Confidence: 5 v 5 prior
Fixed Income:
(SL) Slovakia Debt Agency (ARDAL) sold €300.6M in 2016 Bonds; Yield 2.8465%; bid-to-cover: 1.78x
(NO) Norway sold NOK5.0B vs. NOK5.0B indicated in 12-month Bills; avg yield 1.59%
SPEAKERS/FIXED INCOME/FX/COMMODITIES/ERRATUM
Notes/Observations
IMF warns again "of false sense of security"
PIMCO's El-Erian sees Portugal to be the next Greece
Apple [AAPL] to decide on what to do with its cash
Equities
FTSE 100 -0.40% at 5943, DAX -0.50% at 7119, CAC-40 -0.60% at 3572, IBEX-35 +0.70% at 8543, FTSE MIB flat at 17,081, SMI -0.30% at 6323
European shares traded lower during the session, falling from the eight-month high prices sustained last week.
In M&A news, TNT Express [TNTE.NL] rose after UPS reached agreement to buy the company at a higher offer of €9.50/shr from €9.0/shr. Misys [MSY.UK] also rallied after agreeing to be bought by Magic Bidco for a value of £1.27B.