Archive - Oct 2, 2013

No surprise this morning from the ECB, which keeps its benchmark rate at 0.5% and the deposit rate at 0.00%.

At today’s meeting, which was held in Paris, 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 0.50%, 1.00% and 0.00% respectively.

The President of the ECB will comment on the considerations underlying these decisions at a press conference starting at 2.30 p.m. CET today.

More at the press conference in 45 minutes when Draghi may or may not announce yet another forced LTRO, at a time when all of Europe is deleveraging at a record pace.

• U.S. Government Shut Down With No Quick Resolution Seen (BBG)
• 12 House Republicans now say they’d back a ‘clean’ CR (WaPo)
• Republicans’ 2014 Senate Edge Muddied by Shutdown Message (BBG)
• Obama Shortens Asia Trip Due to Government Shutdown (WSJ)
• Fed Said to Review Commodities at Goldman, Morgan Stanley (BBG)
• Foreign Firms Tap U.S. Gas Bonanza (WSJ)
• Behind Standoff, a Broken Process in Need of a Broker (WSJ)
• Japan Awaits Abe’s Third Arrow as Companies Urged to Invest (BBG)
• Microsoft investors push for chairman Gates to step down (Reuters)

If yesterday was the paradoxical government shutdown "relief rally" pushed higher by a last minute VIX smashing ramp, today reality is starting to set in and global stocks and US futures are set to open lower. The FTSE MIB remains the only European bourse to trade in positive territory in today’s session, having touched upon 2 year highs as it is expected the political tumult that threatened to cause a collapse of the Italian government will be resolved today even as the latest news indicate Berlusconi's PDL will support the Bunga godfather after all. Other European equities have failed to benefit from this as market participants remain cautious ahead of the ECB rate decision today when Draghi may or may not (most likely) announce a new LTRO.