Good Morning fellow market junkies. Today there is a glut of economic data that should and could potentially give the equity markets some type of direction. Today we will see interest rate decisions from BOE and ECB. I will be looking for any type of details on winding down QE programs. Hence, I want to know when liquidity will start to drain from the system. Also, I want to hear ECB commentary on the sovereign debt problems in Greece and elsewhere. Trichet will probably speak to these issues specifically.
Other Notable Economic Data today:
•05:00 Euro Zone GDP (QoQ)
•08:30 ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet Speaks
•08:30 U.S. Initial Jobless Claims- Forecast (475,000 lost)
•08:30 U.S. Nonfarm Productivity (QoQ)- Forecast 6.2%
•10:00 Canadian Ivey PMI- Forecast 55.00
•10:00 U.S. Pending Home Sales- Forecast 1.7%
•10:30 U.S. EIA Natural Gas Report
BOE Rate Decision
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £200 billion.
Not too much of a surprise here. Minutes will be released on March 17th.
ECB Rate Decision (Update1)
At today’s meeting the Governing Council of the ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 1.00%, 1.75% and 0.25% respectively.
The President of the ECB will comment on the considerations underlying these decisions at a press conference starting at 08.30 EST today.
I am waiting for some clarity from Trichet before I digest.
Update:
link to full Trichet opening comments: http://www.ecb.int/press/pressconf/2010/html/is100304.en.html
Euro Zone GDP
GDP increased by 0.1% in both the euro area1 (EA16) and the EU271 during the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with the previous quarter, according to first estimates released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the third quarter of 2009, growth rates were +0.4% in the euro area and +0.3% in the EU27.
Compared with the fourth quarter of 2008, seasonally adjusted GDP declined by 2.1% in the euro area and by 2.3% in the EU27, after -4.1% and -4.3% respectively for the previous quarter.
GDP was the weakest in Latvia (-3.2%) and Romania (-1.5%). Estonia had the most robust growth (+2.6%).
Full details: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/eurostat/home/
U.S. Jobless Claims (update 2)
In the week ending Feb. 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 469,000, a decrease of 29,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 498,000. The 4-week moving average was 470,750, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average of 474,250.
U.S. Non-Farm Productivity (QoQ) (update 4)
Both productivity and costs were revised better than expected for the fourth quarter. Businesses clearly are focusing on cutting labor costs to try to boost profits or cut losses. Nonfarm business productivity was revised up to a sharp 6.9 percent boost from the initial estimate of 6.2 percent. This followed a revised 7.8 percent surge in the third quarter. Today's report includes annual revisions which raised the Q3 figure. The consensus had called for a 6.3 percent revised gain for the latest period. Unit labor costs fell an annualized 5.9 percent in the fourth quarter, compared to an initial estimate of minus 4.4 percent and a revised third quarter plunge of 7.6 percent. The market forecast was for a 4.5 percent drop in costs.
U.S. Pending Home Sales Index (Update5)
The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in January, fell 7.6 percent to 90.4 from an upwardly revised 97.8 in December, but remains 12.3 percent higher than January 2009 when it was 80.5.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said weather is likely to impact housing data. “January pending sales, though still higher than one year ago, remain much lower than expected given that a large number of potential buyers are eligible for the expanded home buyer tax credit. Moreover, the abnormally severe and prolonged winter weather, which affected large regions of the U.S., hampered shopping activity in February,” he said.
Nat Gas Inventories (Update 7 last one)
Working gas in storage was 1,737 Bcf as of Friday, February 26, 2010, according to EIA estimates. This represents a net decline of 116 Bcf from the previous week. Stocks were 71 Bcf less than last year at this time and 21 Bcf above the 5-year average of 1,716 Bcf. In the East Region, stocks were 9 Bcf below the 5-year average following net withdrawals of 74 Bcf. Stocks in the Producing Region were 24 Bcf below the 5-year average of 604 Bcf after a net withdrawal of 27 Bcf. Stocks in the West Region were 54 Bcf above the 5-year average after a net drawdown of 15 Bcf. At 1,737 Bcf, total working gas is within the 5-year historical range.
Natural Gas sold off after this report was released.
Quotes
Foreign Exchange
-EUR is down -0.2775% against the USD @ $1.3657 as of 9:36 EST.
-EUR is up 0.4666% against the JPY at 121.66.
-USD is strengthening against the JPY by 0.6327% @ 89.0650.
-GBP is up against the USD by 17 basis point at $1.5124.
Commodities
-Gold is down $3.70 sitting at 1139.00/troy ounce
-Silver is off 37 bp @ $17.265/t oz.
-WTI Crude is down $0.56 this morning to $80.31/barrel
-Nat Gas is down @ $4.72/MMbtu
Equities
Asia (closed)
-Nikkei 225- off -1.05% @ 10,145.72
-Topix- down 8.01 points to 897.64
-Hang Sang- off -1.44% to 20,575.78
-S&P/ASX 200- down 14.80 point @ 4750.50
-CSI 300- down 84.51 points to 3250.57
Europe
-FTSE 100- 5521.31 off -.22%
-CAC 40- 3833.06 down -.25%
-DAX 30- negative by 21.40 points @ 5796.48
United States
-Dow Jones- up 25.32 points @ 10,422.08 (as of 09:30 EST)
-NASDAQ- up .14% @ 2283.94
-s&P 500- up 2.9% to 1121.99
Bonds
-UST 10 Y- Price: off .035 to sit at 99 30/32 Yield: 3.63%
-Bunds 10 Y- Price: off .047 to 100.89 Yield: 3.14%
-JGB 10 Y- Price: rallied .044 to 100.57 Yield: 1.34%
I will try and Update this throughout the trading day
Good luck trading
Patrick M. Ambrus
Managing Partner
Analyze Capital LLC
ambrus.anlzgroup.gmail.com
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