Stocks were mixed in Asian trade overnight. The Nikkei was among the best with a gain of 1.1%, Shanghai added almost one percent and the Hang Seng was up about one third of a percent; but Australia lost almost a half percent on the session. European indexes are also mixed this morning, with the Footsie and Dax both currently off by a fraction. US stock futures are lower by a fraction.
*The September reading of Japan’s Coincident Economic Index was 102.0, down 1.3 points from the month before; that is the first monthly decline for this index since March 2009.
*The September reading of Germany’s Current Account was a surplus of EU14 billion; five billion euros more than expected and almost triple the surplus seen in August. For the first time in a couple of months Exports rose from the month before, +3.0%, while the monthly change in Imports was -1.5%.
*The September reading of German Industrial Production was much weaker than expected, it fell 0.8% versus a forecast for an increase of 0.4%.
*The October reading of Switzerland’s Unemployment Rate was down one tenth at 3.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis, matching the estimate.
*Yields for Ireland and Portugal debt continue to widen versus Germany this morning and that could be one of the reasons for dollar/euro weakness; the cross is off by more than 110 pips, at about 1.3925.
*Fed Governor Warsh is in the WSJ today with an opinion piece about his concerns for the economy and the effort to assist its recovery. “Monetary policy also has an important role to play. However, the Federal Reserve is not a repair shop for broken fiscal, trade or regulatory policies. Given what ails us, additional monetary policy measures are poor substitutes for more powerful pro-growth policies. The Fed can lose its hard-earned credibility—and monetary policy can lose its considerable sway—if its policies overpromise or under deliver.”
*Three Fed speakers are on the calendar today. St. Louis Fed boss Bullard will talk about the possibility of a Japanese style deflationary outcome in the US before the New York Analysts Society at 11:30am CST; Dallas Fed’s Fisher will speak on the impact of financial reform on the economic recovery at noon CST, and Fed Governor Warsh is going to address the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association at 2:30pm CST, no topic has been announced.
*The Treasury plans to sell $32 billion 3 Year Notes today, the results of the auction will be announced just after noon CST.
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