Archive - Apr 15, 2014 - Story

Following last night's protest in front of the Kiev parliament by Maidan faithful and others who had gotten sick and tired by their government doing absolutely nothing to preserve the cohesion of the Ukraine - both west and east - this morning acting president Turchynov, realizing he is between a rock and a hard place and suddenly his position is quite precarious, finally announced that he had issued an order to the country's military to begin operations to retake government buildings seized by pro-Russia separatists in eastern areas.  Oleksandr Turchynov, also the parliament speaker, said the deployment had begun in the Donetsk region, where many of the approximately 10 towns affected by the protests are located.

• Ukraine forces move against separatists (FT)
• China GDP Gauge Seen Showing Deeper Slowdown (BBG)
• China Is Losing Its Taste for Gold (WSJ)
• Regulators Weigh Curbs on Trading Fees (WSJ)
• Obama, Putin Talk as Unrest Roils Eastern Ukraine (WSJ)
• Japan PM talks with BOJ chief, does not push for easing (Reuters)
• BRICS countries to set up their own IMF (RBTH)
• IMF Members Weigh Options to Sidestep U.S. Congress on Overhaul (WSJ)
• Zebra to Buy Motorola Solutions Unit for $3.45 Billion (BBG)
• Chinese Thunder God Herb Works as Well as Pain Therapy (BBG)

One can see that while the traditional 6:00 AM USDJPY buy program is just duying to resume aggressive upward momentum ignition, futures are still leery and confused by the recent post-open high beta selloffs. Then again, things like yesterday's ridiculous no news 3:30pm ramp happen and confused them even more just as momentum is about to take a downward direction. Stocks in Asia (ex-China) advanced amid a reversal in sentiment after Citigroup (+4.15%) inspired positive close on Wall Street, however Shanghai Comp (-1.4%) underperformed as concerns over GDP data on Wednesday following weak money supply data weighed on sentiment. Stocks remained on the back foot (Eurostoxx50 -0.42%), with Bunds supported by the release of lower than expected German ZEW survey and also ongoing concerns surrounding the stand-off between Ukraine/Russia. Short-Sterling bear steepened after UK CPI fell to its lowest level since October 2009, but house prices across Britain posted its biggest rise since June 2010, reviving concerns over an overheating market.