Notes/Observations
All eyes on the Fed and reactions to the widely anticipated next round of QE
North Korea successfully launches satellite; UN Security Council to meet later today
President Obama and House Speaker Boehner exchange offers
India Oct Industrial Production beats expectations with largest monthly rise since June 2011
Greece 10-year gov't yield at lowest level since April 2011 following completion of buy-back
Italy 12-month Bills Avg Yield hits lowest since March
USD/JPY pair hits 8-month high near the 83 handle; break above targets 92
UK Jobless Claims Change comes in better than expected
Ravi Shankar dies at 92.
Economic Data
(DE) Germany Nov Final Consumer Price Index M/M: -0.1% v -0.1%e; Y/Y: 1.9% v 1.9%e
(DE) Germany Nov Final CPI EU Harmonized M/M: -0.2% v -0.1%e; Y/Y: 1.9% v 2.0%e
(FR) France Oct Current Account: -€2.8B v -€3.4B prior
(FR) France Nov Consumer Price Index M/M: -0.2% v 0.0%e; Y/Y: 1.4% v 1.6%e; CPI Ex Tobacco Index: 124.61 v 124.77e
(FR) France Nov CPI EU Harmonized M/M: -0.2% v 0.0%e; Y/Y: 1.6% v 1.8%e
(ES) Spain Oct House transactions Y/Y: 12.8% 0.9% prior
(ZA) South Africa Nov CPI (all items) M/M: 0.0% v 0.2%e v; Y/Y: 5.6% v 5.6%e
(EU) ECB: €507M borrowed in overnight loan facility vs. €569M prior; €236.7B parked in deposit facility vs. €229.0B prior
(NL) Netherlands Oct Trade Balance: €3.6B v €3.6B prior
(IC) Iceland Central Bank (Sedlabanki) left its 7-day Lending Rate at 6.00%
(UK) Nov Jobless Claims Change: -3.0K v +7.0Ke; Claimant Count Rate: 4.8% v 4.8%e; Employment Change 3M/3M: +40K v +45Ke
(UK) Oct Average Weekly Earnings 3M/Y: % v 1.9%e; Weekly Earnings ex-Bonus 3M/Y: % v 1.9%e
(UK) Oct ILO Unemployment Rate: % v 7.8%e
(EU) Eurozone Oct Industrial Production M/M: -1.4% v 0.0%e; Y/Y: -3.6% v -2.4%e
(CH) Swiss Dec Credit Suisse ZEW Expectations Survey: -15.5 v -27.9 prior
(PT) Portugal Nov Consumer Price Index M/M: -0.3%% v -0.1%e; Y/Y: 1.9% v 2.2%e
(PT) Portugal Nov CPI EU Harmonized M/M: -0.4% v -0.2%e; Y/Y: 1.9% v 2.1%e
Fixed Income
(SE) Sweden sold SEK3.5B vs. SEK3.5B indicated in 3.75% 2017 Bonds; Yield 0.9374%
(EU) ECB allotted$3.3B in 7-Day USD Liquidity Tender at fixed 0.66% vs. $$4.1B prior
(IT) Italy Debt Agency (Tesoro) sold €6.5B vs. €6.5B indicated in 12-month Bills ; Avg Yield 1.456% (lowest since March) v 1.762% prior; Bid-to-cover: 1.94x v 1.76x prior
(CH) Switzerland sold CHF299M in 1.25% 2037 Bonds; Avg Yield 0.969% v 1.031% prior
(RU) Russia sold RUB20B in 2017 OFZ Bonds; Yield 6.48%
Equities
Indices: FTSE 100 +0.20% at 5,937, DAX +0.20% at 7,605, CAC-40 -0.10% at 3,641, IBEX-35 +0.40% at 7,949, FTSE MIB +0.25% at 15,624, SMI +0.30% at 6,991, S&P 500 Futures +0.10% at 1,433
Follow the mixed open, European equity markets are mostly higher ahead of the US Fed rate decision. The peripheral indices have outperformed, amid the decline in Spanish and Italian bond yields, while the French CAC-40 has underperformed. Coming into today's session, the CAC-40 had closed higher for 7 straight days. European banks are mostly higher. Outperformers in the sector include Bankia and Commerzbank, while laggards include BNP and Unicredit.
Additionally, Greek banks have moved higher by over 2%, as the country's sovereign bonds have extended gains following the close of the acceptance period for the debt buyback. There has been speculation that some of Greece's private sector creditors may keep some of their exposure to the country's bonds, after the buyback, as some believe that the risk of a Greek exit from the euro zone has declined in recent months.
UK movers [HMV +5% (speculation of financial support agreement), Senior +3.5% (trading update), Drax +1% (renewed takeover speculation); SuperGroup -7% (H1 profits declined y/y), Imagination Technologies -4% (H1 results)]
France movers [Peugeot +6% (speculated related to added job cuts); Accor -1% (French high court ruling)]
Germany movers [Wacker Chemie +5.5% (China said to have raised subsidies for certain solar projects), ThyssenKrupp +2.5% (broker commentary)]
Spain movers [Inditex -0.80% (9-month results)]
Switzerland movers [Barry Callebaut -2% ($950M acquisition)]