Labor Reforms And Other

Highlights - An acceleration in deposit withdrawals, combined with the prospect of an anti-austerity party winning the next election, has brought to the fore concerns about a potential Greek exit from the euro zone. - Our base case assumption is that under the most likely scenario, the Greek election will lead to a government that sticks to an EU/IMF program, even if the terms are renegotiated. - However, we do believe that Greece needs a further restructuring of its debt and we do think the country will ultimately exit the euro - we're just not convinced that Europe is ready for this to happen at the moment. - If an accident does occur and Greece does leave the euro in the near term, it would have global financial ramifications that could range from severe to catastrophic. ...

Fundamental News Today’s highlights: · Halifax House Price Index (MoM) (GB, 08:00 GMT) · Retail Sales (MoM) (EUR, 10:00 GMT) · Nonfarm Payrolls + Unemployment Rate (U.S, 13:30 GMT) · Ivey PMI (CAD, 15:00 GMT) New claims for unemployment in the U.S. fell by 27,000 to a seasonally adjusted level of 365,000 and U.S worker productivity showed a 0.5 percent decline amid jump in hours worked, according to figures released Thursday by the Labor Department. The ISM said its non-manufacturing index dropped to 53.5 in April from 56.0 in March, although a reading above 50 indicates continued growth in the service sector. The ECB left its key interest rate unchanged for the fifth consecutive month in May, as expected. ECB President Mario Draghi left open the option ...

Another week is to end today, while markets are fluctuating heavily with the start of the final session, where markets are waiting services data from the euro zone for more confirmations whether the region is slipping into another phase of recession, ahead of the closely watched jobs report from the world's largest economy. The European common currency as seen yesterday was able to recover most of the losses incurred earlier, where after the European Central Bank rate decision and Draghi's press conference the euro rebounded supported by the downbeat services data from the world's largest economy, which sent the dollar south supporting high yielding currencies to rebound. Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank President, reassured yesterday that downside risks to growth remain evident, ...

EUR - Preview: If ECB Provides No Silver Bullets, EUR Likely to Extend Decline Release: ECB Interest Rate Decision Consensus Forecast: 1.0% Previous: 1.0% Date/Time: 05/03/12 7:45AM EDT (11:45 GMT) Release: ECB President Draghi Press Conference Date/Time: 05/03/12 8:30AM EDT (12:30 GMT) Can ECB Offer Any Help to Euro-Zone Economy Seeing a Deepening Recession? The European Central Bank decision comes amid increasing signs that the recession seen in the economic bloc is deepening. Data from Italy showed unemployment rate at its highest in the euro era, Germany unexpectedly added more unemployed, and the overall euro area saw its unemployment rate rise to 10.9%. The final version of the manufacturing PMI showed weakness across the board and has increased concerns that austerity measures ...

(Reuters) - Asian shares rose and the dollar recovered against the yen on Wednesday after strong U.S. factory activity data raised hopes that the world's biggest economy remained on a recovery track while growth in Asian manufacturing improved broader sentiment. European shares were expected to open mixed, with most exchanges reopening after the May Day holiday on Tuesday. Financial spreadbetters predicted that major European markets .FTSE .FCHI .GDAXI would open between down 0.3 percent and up 0.7 percent. U.S. stock futures were up 0.2 percent. .EU .L .N MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS climbed 0.9 percent to a six-week high, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed on Tuesday at its highest level in more than four years. Japan's Nikkei ...

UK PMI Manufacturing comes in below expectations but holds above the 50 level Economic Data (AU) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cuts Cash Target by 50bps to 3.75%; more than expected (PE) Peru Apr Consumer Price Index M/M: 0.5% v 0.4%e; Y/Y: 4.1% v 3.9%e (JP) Japan Apr Vehicle Sales Y/Y: 92.0% v 78.2% prior (IN) India Mar Trade Balance: -$13.9B v -$13.9Be; Exports Y/Y: -5.7% v + 4.3% prior; Imports Y/Y: 24.3% v 20.7% prior (IE) Ireland Apr NCB Manufacturing PMI: 50.1 v 51.5 prior (AU) Australia Apr RBA Commodity Price Index Au: 99.5 v 99.1 prior; Commodity Index SDR Y/Y: -4.2% v 2.1% prior (DK) Denmark Mar Retail Sales M/M: 0.2 v 0.1% prior; Y/Y: +1.2% v -0.2% prior (UK) Apr PMI Manufacturing: 50.5 v 51.5e (lowest since Dec 2011) (DK) Denmark Apr PMI Survey: 61.8 v 53.0 prior (12-month ...

(Reuters) - Spain's sickly economy faces a "crisis of huge proportions", a minister said on Friday, as unemployment hit its highest level in two decades and Standard and Poor's weighed in with a two-notch downgrade of the government's debt. Spain's unemployment rate shot up to 24 percent in the first quarter, the highest level since the early 1990s and one of the worst jobless figures in the world. Retail sales slumped for the twenty-first consecutive month. "The figures are terrible for everyone and terrible for the government ... Spain is in a crisis of huge proportions," Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said in a radio interview. Standard and Poor's cited risks of an increase in bad loans at Spanish banks and called on Europe to take action to encourage growth. Bank ...

U.S. Review Look Past the Monthly Volatility and See the Trend This week of economic releases painted a somewhat mixed picture, but the underlying trend still reflects an economy that is growing at a modest pace. The milder-than-usual winter likely brought some activity forward and below-consensus readings are due in part to payback. Housing starts, existing home sales and industrial production all posted disappointing readings in March that are likely not indicative of the underlying trend. Headline retail sales, however, came in more than double the consensus estimate in March, ending the first quarter on a positive note. Early Spring Brings Payback Period The full week of economic releases painted a somewhat mixed picture, but the underlying trend still reflects an economy ...

Worries remained predominant in markets on Monday after the rise in Spanish 10-year bond yield above 6%, raising speculations the euro area's fourth-largest economy will soon ask for an international bailout as the yield came close to unsecured levels which forced Greece, Portugal and Ireland for resort to international aids. Despite the labor and financial reforms adopted by the Spanish government and news of ECB intervention to halt the rise in yield, the borrowing cost continued its surge. Spain's 10-year bond yield leaped 19 basis points last week to 5.98% while today the rate leaped to 6.10% on the secondary market, according to financial data provider FactSet. Tomorrow, Spain will sell 12- and 18-month notes, while on April 19 it will auction 2014 and 2022 bills. What added ...