Economic Data
(EU) ECB: €256M borrowed in overnight loan facility v €1.6B prior; €791.3B parked in deposit facility v €782.3B prior
(RU) Russia Narrow Money Supply w/e Apr 23rd: 6.91T v 6.86T prior
(JP) Japan Mar Construction Orders Y/Y: -0.3% v -1.8% prior
(JP) Japan Mar Annualized Housing Starts: 848K v 875Ke; Y/Y: 5.0% v 8.2%e
(DE) Germany May GfK Consumer Confidence: 5.6 v 5.9e
(DE) Germany Mar Import Price Index M/M: 0.7% v 0.9%e; Y/Y: 3.1% v 3.3%e
(FI) Finland Q1 House Prices Q/Q: 1.2% v 0.6%e, Y/Y: 0.9% v 0.2%e
(FR) France Mar Producer Prices M/M: 0.5% v 0.6%e; Y/Y: 3.7% v 4.0%e
(FR) France Mar Consumer Spending M/M: -2.9% v -1.9%e; Y/Y: -2.0% v -0.2%e
(ES) Spain Q1 Unemployment Rate: 24.4% v 23.8%e (just below the all-time record of 24.5% from 1993)
(ES) Spain Apr Preliminary Consumer Price Index Y/Y: 2.0% v 1.8%e; CPI EU Harmonized Y/Y: 2.0% v 1.8%e
(ES) Spain Mar Adjusted Real Retail Sales Y/Y: -3.7% v -6.4% prior; Real Retail Sales Y/Y: -3.9 v -3.4% prior
(CH) Swiss Apr KOF Leading Indicator: 0.40 v 0.20e
(HU) Hungary Mar Unemployment Rate: 11.7% v 11.7%e
(SE) Sweden Mar Retail Sales M/M: +0.2% v -0.3%e; Y/Y: 4.5% v 3.5%e
(SE) Sweden Mar Trade Balance (SEK): 4.8B v 7.0Be
(IT) Italy Feb Retail Sales M/M: +0.6% v -0.2%e; Y/Y: +0.1% v -1.9%e
(NO) Norway Mar Retail sales Volume M/M: 2.4% v 0.0%e; Y/Y: 9.6% v 7.4% prior
(TW) Taiwan Mar Leading Index M/M: 1.2% v 1.2% prior; Coincident Index M/M: +0.1 v -0.1% prior
(IC) Iceland Apr CPI M/M: 0.8% v 1.0% prior; Y/Y: 6.4% v 6.4% prior
Fixed Income:
(IT) Italy Debt Agency (Tesoro) sold total €5.945B vs. €3.75-6.25B indicated range in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2022 Bonds
Sold €493M in Apr 3.75% Apr 2016 BTP; avg yield 4.29% v 4.79% prior; Bid-to-cover: 2.63x v 1.88x prior
Sold €2.416B v €2.5Be in 4.75% May 2017 BTP; avg yield 4.86% v 4.18% prior; Bid-to-cover: 1.34x v 1.65x prior
Sold €537M in 4.25% Feb 2019 BTP; avg yield 5.21% v 4.30% prior; Bid-to-cover: 2.27x v 2.0x prior
Sold €2.42B vs. €2.5Be in 5.5% Sept 2022 BTP; avg yield 5.84% v 5.24% prior; Bid-to-cover: 1.48x v 1.65x prior
Sold total €4.916B v €3.0-5.0B targeted in 2017 and 2022 issues (on-the-run)
Sold total €1.03B vs. €0.75-1.25B targeted in 2016 and 2019 issues (off-the-run)
Notes/Observations
S&P cuts Spain sovereign rating by 2 notches to BBB+; maintained negative outlook.
BoJ raises bond buys by 10 tri JPY. Widely expected and not seen as large.
Spain Q1 Unemployment surges to 24.4%, highest since 1996
Italy auction results not as solid as rumored; higher yield and lower bid-to-covers for the 5-year and 10-year issues; market still relieved at results
US Q1 advanced GDP data in focus
Equities
Indices: FTSE 100 +0.30% at 5766, DAX +0.24% at 6756, CAC-40 +0.70% at 3250, IBEX-35 +0.50% at 7060, FTSE MIB +0.70% at 14,604, SMI +0.10% at 6126
European equity indices opened the session sharply lower following S&P's downgrade of Spain, as Spanish banks led the opening losses. Markets have since moved off of the worst levels for the session, as market await the later today release of Q1 advance GDP data out of the US
In Germany, shares of Daimler [DAI.DE], Rheinmetall [RHM.DE] and BASF [BAS.DE] are all trading lower after issuing their respective earnings reports. Employment services provider USG People [USG.NL] is higher by over 11% on better than expected Q1 earnings. In Norway, banking name DNB NOR [DNB.NO] is lower by more than 7%, after reporting disappointing earnings, while aluminum company Norsk Hydro [NHY.NO] is lower following its Q1 earnings. Fertilizer company Yara International [YAR.NO] has gained approx. 2%, after reporting better than expected quarterly sales. Financial Times owner Pearson [PSON.UK] is trading flat after issuing its trading statement, while advertising firm WPP [WPP.UK] is slightly higher following its Q1 sales report. In France, Sanofi [SAN.FR] has gained more than 2%, after reporting better than expected Q1 profits and reaffirming its forecast. Energy name, Total [FP.FR] is lower by over 1%, following its earnings report. In Italy, Eni [ENI.IT] is higher by over 1%, as the company's earnings beat analyst expectations. Swedish metalworking products manufacturer Sandvik [SAND.SE] has gained over 9%, after reporting Q1 results. In Switzerland, Nobel Biocare [NOBN.CH] has gained over 8%, after its Q1 results beat analyst expectations.