Plan To Combat The Euro

We have heard conflicting information about Greece over the last 24 hours: first we heard that Greece was making plans to leave the Eurozone from former Prime Minister Papademos, which was denied. Then this morning reports from a German newspaper suggested that the ECB had set up a task force (tucked away in a bunker) working on the potential fallout from a Greek exit. It's likely that we will get these conflicting headlines between now and the end of the EU summit, which starts this evening at 1800 BST. The markets' seemed to like the idea of an Avengers - style ECB working to combat the negative effects if Athens goes to the wall, and the euro bounced from its lowest level since 2010 earlier. But the real test will be the outcome of today's summit. So what should we expect and, ...

(Reuters) - Riskier assets retreated broadly on Wednesday as hopes for fresh measures to tackle the euro zone debt crisis faded and caution set in ahead of a meeting of European leaders, with sentiment hurt by renewed fears Greece would leave the euro bloc. European shares also looked likely to slump, with financial spreadbetters predicting major European markets .FTSE .FCHI .GDAXI would open as much as 1.5 percent lower. U.S. stock futures were down 0.5 percent. .EU .L .N Shares, commodities, commodity-linked currencies and the euro all slid, while safe-haven demand lifted the dollar index .DXY measured against major currencies up to 81.830, its highest since September 2010. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS slumped 2.0 percent. It had risen 1.1 ...

(Reuters) - Copper fell on Tuesday as the dollar firmed and uncertainty about Europe's ability to resolve its debt crisis outweighed reports that top metals consumer China will fast-track infrastructure investment. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange touched a week-high of $7,816 a metric ton (1.1 ton) in the session, before erasing gains to $7,712 at 5:37 a.m. EDT (0937 GMT), down 0.2 percent from Monday's $7,731 close. One of the price supports for copper on Tuesday was a report in the state-backed China Securities Journal that Beijing will fast track its approval of infrastructure investments to combat slowing growth and a sluggish property sector. Copper is used extensively in construction. Premier Wen Jiabao has also called for additional efforts to support growth, ...

(Reuters) - European shares joined a global rally in riskier assets on Tuesday and German bond prices fell as hopes grew that European leaders would agree on fresh action to tackle the debt crisis while promoting growth. Sentiment also improved after reports emerged from China that Beijing will accelerate infrastructure investment to combat slowing growth. The FTSE Eurofirst .FTEU3 index of top European shares opened up 0.5 percent at 979.55 points, extending a recovery from five-month lows hit on Monday. MSCI's global equity index .MIWD00000PUS rose 0.5 percent to 302.89 and back into positive territory for the year. But while market participants were using the improved tone to hunt for bargains, sentiment remained fragile due to concerns about the impact of a possible exit by Greece ...

(Reuters) - Copper extended gains on Monday, rising from four-month lows hit last week despite investors' concern about the risk of contagion if Greece defaults on its debt and leaves the euro. Leaders of G8 major industrialized nations meeting at the weekend vowed to take steps to combat financial turmoil and revitalize a global economy threatened by Europe's debt crisis, but they offered no specific prescription for debt-crippled Greece which is to hold elections on June 17. Recent opinion polls show Greek voters are returning to the establishment parties that negotiated its bailout, offering potential salvation for European leaders. But deepening banking sector instability in Spain heightened concerns about contagion from Greece's political turmoil, meaning investors will likely stay ...

Equities and risky FX bounce after G8 commitment to Greece and China hints of easing Economic Data (JP) JAPAN MAR ALL INDUSTRY ACTIVITY INDEX M/M: -0.3% V -0.1%E (3rd consecutive decline) (NZ) NEW ZEALAND APR NET MIGRATION: -850 V 230 PRIOR (NZ) NEW ZEALAND APR CREDIT CARD SPENDING M/M: 0.2% V 0.4% PRIOR; Y/Y: 3.7% V 5.3% PRIOR (TH) THAILAND Q1 GDP Q/Q: 11.0% V 10.0%E; Y/Y: +0.3% V -0.5%E (UK) UK MAY RIGHTMOVE HOUSE PRICE M/M: 0.0% V 2.9% PRIOR (4-month low); Y/Y: 2.0% V 3.4% PRIOR Markets Snapshot (as of 04:30GMT) Nikkei225 +0.7% S&P/ASX +0.3% Kospi +0.9% Shanghai Composite +0.2% Hang Seng -0.1% Jun S&P Futures +0.5% at 1,297 June gold +0.4% at $1,599/oz June Crude +0.5% at $91.90 Overview/Top Headlines Asian equity markets, commodities, and risk-on FX opened the new week ...

Markets focus to see whether the ECB paves the way for further easing Economic Data (RU) Russia Gold & Forex Reserve w/e Apr 27th: $523.3B v $519.5B prior (IN) India Apr Markit Services PMI: 52.8 v 52.3 prior (UK) Apr Nationwide House Prices M/M: -0.2% v +0.5%e; Y/Y: -0.9% v -0.3%e (IE) Ireland Apr NCB Services PMI: 52.2 v 52.1 prior (CH) Swiss Q1 UBS Real Estate Bubble Index: 0.95 v 0.80 prior (HU) Hungary Feb Final Trade Balance: €691.2M v €690.1M prelim (TR) Turkey Apr Consumer Prices M/M: 1.5% v 1.4%e; Y/Y: 11.1% v 11.0%e; Core CPI Y/Y: 0.1% v 7.9% prior (TR) Turkey Apr Producer Prices M/M: 0.1 v 0.4% prior; Y/Y: 7.7% v 8.2% prior (BR) Brazil Apr FIPE CPI: 0.5% v 0.2% prior (UK) Apr PMI Services: 53.3 v 54.1e (HK) Hong Kong Mar Retail Sales Value Y/Y: 17.3% v 14.0%e; Retail Sales ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR "It is looking more and more likely that Spain is going to have some form of a bailout" - Lyn Graham-Taylor, Rabobank strategist Spain's cost of borrowing on the international debt markets breached the level of 6 per cent for 10-year bonds on Monday, mounting pressure on the European Central Bank to conduct new round of bond purchases. USD "There is no sign that higher fuel prices have damaged consumer sentiment and spending" - Jeremy Lawson, a senior U.S. economist at BNP Paribas U.S. month on month retail sales rose by more than expected in March, said the Census Bureau on Monday. Total retail sales increased 0.8 per cent the previous month after increasing 1.0 per cent in February. GBP " is not a universal signal of a housing-market recovery" - Miles ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR Spanish banks are likely to need additional funds as economic state of the country has continued to deteriorate, announced Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez from bank of Spain. Spanish banks are facing next round of increase in bad loans as country enters the second wave of crisis in the last three years. Experts predict Spain to apply for a new bailout in the nearest future. USD US wholesalers outperformed their sale forecasts in February, as they tried to keep up with the growing demand. Wholesale inventories rose 0.9% - slightly higher than the 0.5% forecast. The Sales grew by 1.2%, unchanged from January. GBP Bank of England reported that recent monetary policy easing by the ECB is not expected to improve the labour market in the region. The rate of ...