Bad News The Housing

Euro hits fresh 2012 lows ahead of informal summit; More reports of an ECB contingency plan in the works Economic Data (GR) Greece Mar Current Account: -€2.1B v €1.1B prior (NL) Netherlands Mar Consumer Spending Y/Y: % v -1.3% prior (SE) Sweden Apr Unemployment Rate: % v 7.8%e (EU) Euro Zone Apr Current Account: +€7.5B v -€5.6B prior; Current Account Seasonally Adj: +€7.5B v -€1.2B prior (IT) Italy May Consumer Confidence: 86.5 v 89.5e (lowest reading on record after series began in 1996)) (ZA) South Africa Apr CPI (all items) M/M: 0.4% v 0.5%e; Y/Y: % v 6.2%e (TW) Taiwan Apr Industrial Production Y/Y: -2.3% v -1.7%e; Commercial Sales Y/Y: -2.4% v -0.9% prior (UK) Apr Retail Sales Ex Auto Fuel M/M: -1.0% v -0.7%e; Y/Y: -0.3% v +0.7%e (UK) Apr Retail Sales with Auto Fuel M/M: -0.8% ...

Sunrise Market Commentary - Fixed Income: Profit taking continued, but now concluded? - The profit taking on global core bond markets continued in the run-up to tonight's informal EU-Summit. Spanish and Italian spreads decreased significantly but yields remain at elevated levels. Today, the eco calendar is again thin and trading will again be driven by sentiment. - Currencies: Euro rebound short-lived On - Tuesday, the euro came again under pressure even as the global context was not that negative. Sentiment on risk was constructive and intra-EMU spreads narrowed, but all this didn't prevent investors to use any upticks in the single currency to further reduce exposure. The key 1.2642/24 support is again coming within reach. The Sunrise Headlines - In the final hour of ...

Yen gains after BOJ stands pat; World Bank cuts China outlook, April lending looks weak; EUR falls on Papademos "grexit" mention Economic Data (JP) BANK OF JAPAN (BOJ) LEAVES TARGET RATE RANGE UNCHANGED BETWEEN 0.0% TO 0.10% (AS EXPECTED); Keeps economic assessment unchanged; Maintains asset purchase fund at ¥70T (JP) JAPAN APR MERCHANDISE TRADE BALANCE TOTAL: -¥520B V -¥471BE; ADJUSTED: -¥480B V -¥617BE (US) NORTH AMERICA SEMI EQUIPMENT INDUSTRY APR SALES BOOK TO BILL RATIO: 1.10 V 1.13 PRIOR (3RD CONSECUTIVE MONTH ABOVE PARITY, 1st decline in 7 months) (AU) AUSTRALIA APR DEWR INTERNET SKILLED VACANCIES M/M: -0.8% V -0.5% PRIOR (4-month low) (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR WESTPAC LEADING INDEX M/M: 0.4% V 0.0% PRIOR (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR CONFERENCE BOARD LEADING INDEX M/M: +0.2% V 0.0% PRIOR (SG) ...

Fundamental News Today’s highlights: · CPI (MoM) (GB, 09:30 GMT) · BOE Inflation Letter (GB, Tentative) · Existing Home Sales (U.S., 15 :00 GMT) The U.S. labor market is set to strengthen this year, a survey published by the National Association for Business Economics said Monday. The survey of 54 economists said non-farm payroll increases will average 188,000 per month this year, up from the prior projection of 170,000. The jobless rate is expected to fall to 8 percent by the fourth quarter of 2012. Japan’s foreign investments and assets grew to the second-highest level on record as companies used the high yen to make acquisitions abroad, a trend that may help them cope with stagnant demand at home. Investments abroad grew 3.3 percent to 582 trillion yen ($7. ...

Spain's banking sector said to be calling on market regulator for renewed ban on short-selling Economic Data (EU) ECB: €809M borrowed in overnight loan facility €839M prior; €762.4B parked in deposit facility v €785.1B prior (JP) Japan Apr Nationwide Dept. Sales Y/Y: 1.3% v 14.1% prior; Tokyo Dept. Store Sales Y/Y: 6.7% v 26.7% prior (IN) India Apr CPI Y/Y: 10.4% v 9.4% prior (DE) Germany Apr Producer Prices M/M: 0.2% v 0.3%e; Y/Y: 2.4% v 2.5%e (HU) Hungary Mar Avg Gross Wages Y/Y: 2.7% v 6.5%e v 6.9% prior (RU) Russia Narrow Money Supply w/e May 14th (RUB): 6.93T v 6.88T prior (ES) Spain Central Bank (BOS): Mar Bad Loan Ratio at 8.37% v 8.16% prior; - Lending -3.1% y/ym, Deposits -4.2% y/y (IT) Italy Mar Industrial Orders M/M: 3.5% v 1.0%e; Y/Y: -14.3% v -13.2% prior (IT) Italy ...

Central Banks' to the Rescue? The Bank of England stole the headlines this morning as it delivered its second Inflation Report of the year. Its message was fairly grim: the UK won't regain its 2007 level of output until 2018. The biggest threat to the UK economy right now according to the bank is the impasse in the Eurozone (something the BOE can't control). The BOE: "blame the Royal Family and the Eurozone" However, the one thing it can control is QE and interest rates, and it kept the door to more QE firmly open today. It noted that Q1 GDP figures could be revised higher, however a number of "one off" factors like the Queen's Jubilee bank holiday this year could knock 0.5% from GDP. This "holiday" could have a more damaging economic effect than the Royal Wedding, according to the Bank. ...

Sunrise Market Commentary - Fixed Income: Fresh elections in Greece further support core bonds - German bund came off the contract highs at the start of the session on better German Q1 GDP data. The move didn't last long however and the announcement of fresh Greek elections marked an intraday U-turn. This morning, the German Bund future and US Note future once again reach new contract highs. - Currencies: euro sell-off accelerates as Greece will hold now elections. - On Tuesday morning it looked temporary that the euro might enjoy some breathing space as the German Q1 growth was much stronger than expected. However, the rebound had no momentum at all. The euro was again hammered as talks on the formation of the Greek government collapsed. Is the euro heading for a free fall? ...

Sunrise Market Commentary - Fixed Income: Global core bonds profit from euro debt crisis - Concerns about Greece and Spain underpinned the ongoing rally of global core bonds. The German 10-year yield fell below 1.50%. Intra-EMU yield spreads versus Germany widened substantially. Today, the eco calendar is enticing. If no euro debt crisis news acts as a circuit breaker, the eco data may for once drive the price action. - Currencies: Speculation on Grexit continues to hammer the euro. - At the start of the new trading week, the Greek crisis remained the key factor for currency trading. With no visibility on the outcome of the EMU crisis, the easiest way for the euro is south. EUR/USD set a new correction low. EUR/GBP dropped below the 0.8000. This morning, strong German ...

Yen at 2-month highs in the wake of disappointing BOJ and sluggish US GDP Economic Data (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR PRIVATE SECTOR CREDIT M/M: 0.4% V 0.3%E; Y/Y: 3.4% V 3.2%E (AU) AUSTRALIA MAR HIA NEW HOME SALES M/M: -9.4% V +3.0% PRIOR (multi-year low) (AU) AUSTRALIA APR TD SECURITIES INFLATION M/M: 0.3% V 0.5% PRIOR; Y/Y: 1.9% V 1.8% PRIOR (NZ) NEW ZEALAND MAR BUILDING PERMITS M/M: 19.8% V 6.0%E (NZ) NEW ZEALAND APR NBNZ ACTIVITY OUTLOOK: 36.1 V 38.8 PRIOR; BUSINESS CONFIDENCE: 35.8 V 33.8 PRIOR (8-month high) (NZ) NEW ZEALAND MAR TRADE BALANCE (NZ$) 134M V 417ME (KR) SOUTH KOREA MAR INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION M/M: -3.1% V +0.2%E; Y/Y: 0.2% V 2.2%E (KR) SOUTH KOREA MAY BUSINESS SURVEY MANUFACTURING: 90 V 85 PRIOR; NON MANUFACTURING: 85 V 82 PRIOR (SI) SINGAPORE Q1 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE PRELIM: 2.1% V 2. ...