• The week is starting off on a down note, with substantial declines on Asian and European markets. Disappointing U.S. jobs figures released on Friday also proved a setback to the loonie and crude oil, which are both down against the greenback.
• In the wake of the difficult bond issue in Spain last week, we are carefully monitoring credit spreads in the major European countries. Since bottoming out in March, these spreads have widened significantly and are up 1.29% and 1.33% for Spain and Italy respectively. This appears to hint at a new period of tension for the eurozone.
• In other news, Chinese inflation figures are also higher than anticipated. This could reduce government officials' ability to intervene to stimulate economic growth via an expansionist monetary policy.
• For Easter Monday, Canadian and U.S. exchanges are open, but many players and investors are out of the office today, which should reduce liquidity on markets.