The European bourses are mixed on Thursday as the EU Summit takes place in Brussels in the buildings of the Council of the European Union. Speculation about aid to Spain provide risk appetite. Germany's Merkel said there has been progress in Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Spain and called for invervention power on national budgets to the EU, also with more common economic policies. Der Spiegel has reported that the next aid tranche for Greece has already been decided: a €130B loan by the end of November. Officially, Germany is still waiting for the new Troika report.
Earlier in the Asian session, China signaled a surprising rebound in its economic indicators, although seeing its annualized Q3 GDP softening as expected. The quarterly Q3 GDP grew from +1.8% to +2.2%, instead of remaining unchanged at +1.8%. Industrial Production (YoY) has beaten consensus, from +8.9% to +9.2% (consensus of +9.0%). Retail Sales (YoY) came in higher from +13.2% to +14.2%, while analysts expected an unchanged figure. Urban Investment was up from +20.2% to +20.5%, also beating the unchanged consensus.
Switzerland saw its Trade Surplus widening from CHF 1.608B (revised down from CHF 1.733B) to CHF 2.015B in September, as exports (from CHF 15.479B to CHF 16.491B) grew stronger than imports (from CHF 13.872B to CHF 14.477B).
The Spanish sovereign sold a total of €4.614B – above the targeted €4.5B - of 3 (€1.637B), 4 (€1.464B) and 10-year (€1.513B) bonds at lower yields, averaging at 3.227% (from 3.676%) for 2015, at 3.977% (from 4.603%) for 2016, and 5.458% (from 5.666%) for 2022.
The German DAX 30 gains +0.38% and the French CAC 40 trades flat, while the Spanish IBEX 35 and the Italian FTSE MIB are down by -0.80% and -0.40%, respectively. The Greek ATHEX is up by +1.00%.
UK Retail Sales came in higher than expected in September, with both monthly headline and ex-fuel figures rising by +0.6%, instead of the +0.4% expected, and coming from a declining pace. The annualized figures remained unchanged at +2.5% (headline) and +2.9% (ex-fuel), beating consensus estimates of a drop to +2.1% and +2.4%. The British FTSE 100 edges higher by +0.12%.
Futures for the American S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones 30 are mixed ahead of the NY opening in earnings season, between -0.07% and +0.07%, two hours from the US jobless claims release, at 12:30 GMT. Last week, initial claims dropped unexpectedly by 30K to 339K, and now consensus expects a snap-back to 365K. WTI crude oil is flat at $92.58 and Gold a little lower by -0.04%, at $1748.
Earlier in the Asian session, China signaled a surprising rebound in its economic indicators, although seeing its annualized Q3 GDP softening as expected. The quarterly Q3 GDP grew from +1.8% to +2.2%, instead of remaining unchanged at +1.8%. Industrial Production (YoY) has beaten consensus, from +8.9% to +9.2% (consensus of +9.0%). Retail Sales (YoY) came in higher from +13.2% to +14.2%, while analysts expected an unchanged figure. Urban Investment was up from +20.2% to +20.5%, also beating the unchanged consensus.
Switzerland saw its Trade Surplus widening from CHF 1.608B (revised down from CHF 1.733B) to CHF 2.015B in September, as exports (from CHF 15.479B to CHF 16.491B) grew stronger than imports (from CHF 13.872B to CHF 14.477B).
The Spanish sovereign sold a total of €4.614B – above the targeted €4.5B - of 3 (€1.637B), 4 (€1.464B) and 10-year (€1.513B) bonds at lower yields, averaging at 3.227% (from 3.676%) for 2015, at 3.977% (from 4.603%) for 2016, and 5.458% (from 5.666%) for 2022.
The German DAX 30 gains +0.38% and the French CAC 40 trades flat, while the Spanish IBEX 35 and the Italian FTSE MIB are down by -0.80% and -0.40%, respectively. The Greek ATHEX is up by +1.00%.
UK Retail Sales came in higher than expected in September, with both monthly headline and ex-fuel figures rising by +0.6%, instead of the +0.4% expected, and coming from a declining pace. The annualized figures remained unchanged at +2.5% (headline) and +2.9% (ex-fuel), beating consensus estimates of a drop to +2.1% and +2.4%. The British FTSE 100 edges higher by +0.12%.
Futures for the American S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones 30 are mixed ahead of the NY opening in earnings season, between -0.07% and +0.07%, two hours from the US jobless claims release, at 12:30 GMT. Last week, initial claims dropped unexpectedly by 30K to 339K, and now consensus expects a snap-back to 365K. WTI crude oil is flat at $92.58 and Gold a little lower by -0.04%, at $1748.
