*Stocks were mixed in Asian trade. The Hang Seng was down one and a third percent and Shanghai lost a half percent, but Australia was up a third of a percent and the Nikkei was unchanged. European indexes are generally little changed on the session; the Footsie is up 0.2% and the Dax is currently unchanged. US stock futures are up a fraction.*The Reserve Bank of Australia’s December quarter economic bulletin expects further large increases in utility prices over the next few years.
*The preliminary December reading of Germany’s manufacturing sector Purchasing Managers index was up 2.8 points to 60.9, much better than the one tenth gain that was forecast. The same reading of the service sector PMI was however weaker than expected as it fell almost one point to 58.3, the estimate was for a slight decline to 59.0.
*Spain was able to sell EU2.4 billion in 10 and 15 year bonds today, but they had been set to sell as much as EU3 billion. Additionally, the yields on the paper, 5.446% on the 10 Year and 5.932% on the 15 Year, were at or near a ten year high.
*The Q3 reading of Switzerland’s Industrial Production was up 1.8% on a quarter on quarter basis, double the increase that was expected.
*The Swiss National Bank maintained the target rate for the 3-month Libor at 0.25% as they have since they lowered it there in March 2009.
*The November reading of UK Retail Sales was up 0,.3% on a month on month basis, matching the forecast.
*The November reading of Housing Starts is due out at 7:30am CST. Starts are expected to be 550k at an annualized rate, or +6.0% from the month before. Building Permits are forecast to be 560k annualized, or +1.5% from October. Also due out at 7:30am is the weekly report on Initial Jobless Claims, it is expected to be 425k. The Q3 reading of the Current Account Balance is also set to be released at 7:30am, it is expected to show a deficit of $126.0 billion. The December reading of the Philly Fed Business Activity Index is due out at 9:00am CST, it is forecast to be 15.0, it was 22.5 in November.
*The weekly report on inventories of Natural Gas is due out at 9:30am CST, it is expected to show a decline of 165 bcf.
*The Fed is scheduled to buy Treasuries today that are due to mature between 6/30/13 and 11/30/14; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CST.
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