Economic Data
(EU) ECB: €1.6B borrowed in overnight loan facility v €214M prior; €782.3B parked in deposit facility v €759.3B prior
(RU) Russia Gold & Forex Reserve w/e Apr 20th: $519.5B v $518.8B prior
(FI) Finland Apr Business Confidence: -2 v -2e; Consumer Confidence: 10.4 v 9.0e v +8 prior
(TH) Thailand Mar Custom Trade Balance: -$4.6B v +$0.5Be; Exports Y/Y: -6.5% v 0.5%e; Imports Y/Y: 25.6% v 5.8%e
(DK) Denmark Mar Unemployment Rate: 4.3% v 4.2% prior; Gross Unemployment Rate: 6.2% v 6.2%e
(DE) Germany Apr CPI Saxony M/M: 0.1 v 0.3% prior; Y/Y: 2.0 v 2.2% prior
(SE) Sweden Apr Consumer Confidence: 4.7 v 1.0e; Manufacturing Confidence: -1 v -1e; Economic Tendency:100.9 v 100.5e
(SE) Sweden Mar PPI M/M:-0.3% v -0.3%e; Y/Y: 0.2% v 0.1%e
(DE) Germany Apr CPI Brandenburg M/M: 0.2% v 0.2% prior; Y/Y: 2.1% v 2.1% prior
(DE) Germany Apr CPI Hesse M/M: 0.2% v 0.2% prior; Y/Y: 1.9% v 2.0% prior
(IT) Italy Apr Business Confidence: 89.5 v 92.1e, two-year low
(NO) Norway Apr Unemployment Rate: 2.6% v 2.5%e
(UK) Mar BBA Loans for House Purchase: 31.9K v 34.0Ke
(DE) Germany Apr CPI North Rhine Westphalia M/M: 0.2% v 0.4% prior; Y/Y: 1.7% v 1.8% prior
(EU) Euro Zone Apr Business Climate: -0.52 v -0.30e; Consumer Confidence: -19.9 v -19.8e; Economic Confidence: 92.8 v 94.2e; Industrial Confidence: -9.0 v -7.0e; Services Confidence: -2.4 v -0.5e
(IC) Iceland Q1 Unemployment Rate: 7.2 v 6.0% prior
(PT) Portugal Apr Consumer Confidence: -53.3 v -54.5 prior; Economic Climate: -4.7 v -4.8 prior
(BE) Belgium Apr CPI M/M: 0.1% v 0.2% prior; Y/Y: 3.2 v 3.4% prior
(ZA) South Africa Mar PPI M/M:-1.1% v 0.6%e; Y/Y: 7.2% v 8.0%e
(DE) Germany Apr CPI Baden Wuerttemberg M/M: 0.2% v 0.3% prior; Y/Y: 1.9% v 2.4% prior
Fixed Income:
(IT) Italy Debt Agency (Tesoro) sold €8.5B vs. €8.5B indicated in 6-month Bills; avg yield 1.772% v 1.119% prior; Bid-to-cover: 1.71x v 1.51x prior
(HU) Hungary Debt Agency (AKK) sold HUF45B in 12-Month Bills; avg yield 7.37% v 7.66% prior; bid-to-cover: 2.06x v 1.63x prior
SPEAKERS/FIXED INCOME/FX/COMMODITIES/ERRATUM
Notes/Observations
FOMC remained committed to keeping low interest rates at least until late 2014
New Zealand Central Bank (RBNZ) leaves its interest rates unchanged but warns of it strong Kiwi currency
US Corporate earnings season moves into high gear with over 60 S&P companies reporting today
Equities
Indices: FTSE 100 +0.10% at 5725, DAX -0.60% at 6666, CAC-40 -0.74% at 3209, IBEX-35 -2.1% at 6970, FTSE MIB -0.90% at 14,476, SMI -0.70% at 6108
European equity indices opened the session mostly higher, with the exception of the DAX. As of the time of writing, indices are trading mixed as traders assess the recent statement from the US Fed, in addition to corporate earnings. Declines in the equity markets are being led by the Spanish IBEX, amid weakness in shares of Santander and the rise in peripheral bond yields. European banks opened the session lower and have remained mostly negative, following mixed Q1 earnings out of European banks. In UK equity movers, shares of Barclays [BARC.UK] are higher after the company reported its Q1 results, Royal Dutch Shell [RDSA.UK] has gained over 2% following its earnings report, while Whitbread [WTB.UK] has gained by more than 3% on its earnings release. Conversely, AstraZeneca [AZN.UK] has declined by more than 4% after cutting its forecast and announcing its CEO transition plan. In Germany, Bayer [BAYN.DE] and Volkswagen [VOW3.DE] are moving higher after reporting better than expected quarterly results and reaffirming their respective full year forecasts. Deutsche Bank [DBK.DE] has declined by more than 3%, after reporting a weaker than expected Q1 net profit. Also, DB made cautious comments about early Q2 investment banking activity. Emergency health care facility operator Rhoen-Klinikum [RHK.DE] is higher by over 45%, after receiving a takeover bid from Germany's Fresenius SE. Vivendi [VIV.FR] is higher by more than 5% on speculation that the firm is considering breaking up its business. Additionally, PPR [PP.FR] and Safran [SAF.FR] are trading higher after their respective Q1 sales reports. Alcatel Lucent [ALU.FR] has declined by more than 13%, as the company's quarterly revenues missed analyst expectations. Large Spanish bank Santander [SAN.ES] is lower by over 4%,as the company reported a sequential increase in its bad loan ratio. In other movers, Unilever [UNA.NL] is higher by over 3% following its Q1 sales report, while Swiss name Logitech [LOGN.CH] is higher by over 11% , after Q4 earnings beat consensus expectations, amid a y/y rise in margins.