News and Views: 03 July, 2009Indices:European markets:Markets in Europe were in red yesterday after the European Central bank did not change the interest rate from 1%. In a statement President of the bank, Jean-Claude Trichet said: "The current rates are appropriate. We did not decide today that this was the lowest level we would attain under any circumstances.” (source: sharecast.com). Other economic news indicated rise in unemployment level in the eurozone at 9.3%. Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight highlighted the situaton by saying: "Although there are mounting signs that the rate of economic contraction across the Eurozone has moderated substantially since the first quarter and business confidence has risen from the record low levels widely seen in March, this is unlikely to prevent unemployment from rising markedly higher.” (source: sharecast.com). Britain's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC-40 fell between 2.5 and 3.8 percent. (source: reuters.com). US markets: There was a fall in the US stocks too due to poor jobs data. Sashe Kostadino, portfolio manager at Shaker Investments in Ohio, said: "Quite frankly, rising unemployment is bad for the entire economy. It's not positive for discretionary stocks. It's not positive for financials because there's direct correlation between the high uneployment rate and charge-offs and dlinquent payments." (source: reuters.com). The Dow Jones index tumbled 223 points to 8,280. Nasdaq sank 49 to 1,796. The broader S&P 500 fell 26, or almost 3%, to 896. (source: sharecast.com).
Asian markets: Japanese stocks also declined on Thursday ahead of the US non-farm payrolls. The Hang Seng was also in the negative after Wednesday's national holiday. (source: sharecast.com). The Nikkei 225 was 63 points lower at 9,876. The Hang Seng eased 222 points to 18,156. (source: sharecast.com).Currencies:With markets worldwide declining, investors went for the safe of the dollar taking it higher against the euro. The euro was also lower after the European Central Bank kept the interest at 1% unchanged. (source: sharecast.com). Commodities:Oil:Oil continued its fall with poor jobless data raising concerns over oil's demand. (source: sharecast.com). US crude settled down $2.58 to $66.73 a barrel. (source: sharecast.com). Gold:With dollar gaining investors attention at this time of uncertainty, gold fell weaker. (source: sharecast.com). August gold ended down $10.30 at $931 an ounce. (source: sharecast.com). Bonds: Yields move inversely to bond prices US Treasuries:Equties saw a bad day yesterday, giving investors the option to go for the safety of government bonds. (source: sharecast.com). Yield on 10-year benchmarkfell by 5 basis points. (source: sharecast.com). European Bonds:Bonds in Europe rose after the European Central Bank kept the interest rate unchanged at 1%. President of the bank, Jean-Claude Trichet said in a press confrence : "The current rates are appropriate. We did not decide today that this was the lowest level we would attain under any circumstances.” (source: sharecast.com). Ten-year benchmark bunds tumbled 9 basis points to 3.32%. (source: sharecast.com).
Economic Calendar - 03 July 2009: 07:15 am Consumer Price Index (MoM) (Jun) - European Monetary Union: The Consumer Price Index, issued by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, measures the average price change for all goods and services purchased by households for consumption purposes. CPI is the main indicator to measure inflation and changes in purchasing trends.The purchase power of CHF is dragged down by inflation. A high reading is positive for the CHF, while a low reading is negative. Previous Rate: 0.2%. Consensus Rate: 0.0%. (Medium Volatility).
09:00 am Retail Sales (MoM) (May) - European Monetary Union: The Retail Sales released by the Eurostat is a measure of changes in sales of the German retail sector. It shows the performance of the retail sector in the short term. Percent changes reflect the rate of changes of such sales.The changes are widely followed as an indicator of consumer spending. The positive economic growth anticipates "Bullish" for the EUR, while a low reading is seen as negative, or bearish, for the EUR. Previous Rate: 0.2%. Consensus Rate: -0.1. (Medium Volatility).
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(percent changes based on previous day underlying market data for indication only) Sources include: Bloomberg.com , Reuters.com, Fxstreet.com, Economicnews.ca and FT.com (Any opinions expressed in these updates do not reflect the views of the company, and as such should not be taken as trading advice.) |
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