This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.

Daily US Opening News And Market Re-Cap: February 13

Tyler Durden's picture




 

From RanSquawk

  • Markets are exhibiting risk appetite following the approval of Greek austerity measures late last night.
  • Iranian President Ahmadinejad has said that Iran will soon unveil “very big new achievements” in its nuclear programme.

Market Re-Cap
 
Stocks advanced today after Greek lawmakers finally approved a new austerity package aimed at averting a default. As a result, it now looks like that the country will get the next bailout tranche and avoid failing to meet debt redemptions in March. The draft legislation published by the Greek government showed that the EFSF may provide EUR 35bln to help Greece buy back bonds held by euro-area central banks as collateral, while Greek finance minister said that EUR 70bln in bonds are to be issued in the swap and Greece needs to make debt swap offer by Friday Feb 17th at the latest. Credit metrics such as Euribor and Euribor/OIS spreads continued to improve, which in turn supported financial sector.
 
Looking elsewhere, comments from Iranian President Ahmadinejad over the weekend who said that Iran will soon reveal "very big new achievements" in its controversial nuclear programme, together with comments from China’s Wen who said the country will begin to fine tune its economic policies in the Q1 of this year supported both Brent and WTI crude prices today.

Going forward, there are no major macro-economic releases this afternoon, but both the BoE and the Fed are due to conduct another round of Asset Purchases.
 
US Headlines
 
North American markets are looking forward to President Obama’s presentation of the US budget, with analysts expecting Obama to show an increased tax burden on the rich and spending aimed at spurring growth in the labour market. Following Obama’s State of the Union address, today’s presentation is unlikely to unveil any new government strategies.
 
Leading GOP candidate Mitt Romney won the Maine vote to recover from a string of three losses earlier this week. Mr. Romney was supported by 39% of the state's Republican caucus-goers in a nonbinding preference poll and Texas Rep. Ron Paul came in second with 36% of the vote. (WSJ)
 
A PBOC Adviser has said that US Treasuries are to remain the Chinese FX investment of choice. (Sources)
 
Asian Headlines
           
A PBOC adviser has warned that a slowdown in Chinese economic growth is a certainty, due to weakening external demand taking an effect on the domestic economy. (Sources)
 
China’s Wen has said the country will begin to fine tune its economic policies in the first quarter of this year, giving a strong indication that the country will engage in further easing of monetary policy. (RTRS)
 
Japanese GDP (Q4 P) Q/Q -0.6% vs. Exp. -0.3% (Prev. 1.4%, Rev. 1.7%) (Sources)
-Japanese Economy Minister Furukawa has said upward movements in the Japanese economy are continuing and he expects exports to increase due to the mild global economic turnaround, however, the economy should be mindful of downside risks.
 
EU and UK Headlines
 
Greek austerity package backed 199-74 as Athens erupts in violence. (FT-More) Greek lawmakers have approved a new austerity package aimed at averting a chaotic default. PM Papademos has said that “The social cost of this package is limited in comparison with the social and economic disaster that would follow if it is not adopted.” The agreement should clear the path for a EUR 130bln bailout and finalise a voluntary restructuring of EUR 200bln of sovereign debt.
 
The EFSF is to fund Greek bond buybacks via the ECB according to draft legislation. The draft legislation published by the Greek government shows that the EFSF may provide EUR 35bln to help Greece buy back bonds held by euro-area central banks as collateral. (Sources)
 
The UK economy will avoid a technical recession and the recovery will gain momentum this year, avoiding further QE, according to the CBI Director-General Cridland. (Sources)
 
German Finance Minister Schaeuble said the first assessments of the reports about Portugal by the Troika have been encouraging. (Expresso)
 
EQUITIES
 
European equity markets are currently trading in positive territory following renewed risk appetite after news that the Greek parliament have approved a set of austerity measures that should secure a bailout and thus, avoid a disorderly default.
 
European Financials are one of the best performing sectors ahead of the North American open following a further decline in the Euribor 3-month rate fixing and risk appetite prompted by the signing of the Greek austerity measures.
Today’s Euribor 3-month rate fixed at 1.057%, easing liquidity constrictions further for European financial institutions.
 
The Basic Materials and Utilities sectors have advanced ahead of the North American open possibly due to comments from the Chinese Premier Wen, hinting towards monetary expansion in China by the end of Q1 this year.
 
In individual equity news, Vodafone have announced they in the early stages of evaluating an offer for Cable & Wireless Worldwide, Cable & Wireless shares are now performing strongly and are trading up just under 30% ahead of the North American open. Vodafone have said they are required to report their intentions concerning the takeover by March 12th, company shares currently trade up 0.5%. (Sunday Times/RTRS)
 
The EBA may ease capital buffer requirements if a drop in sovereign-debt yields proves lasting according to EBA’s Enria. This could act as a relief for the Financials sector. (Il Corriere della Sera)
 
Top performing sectors in the BE500: Basic Materials (+1.36%), Utilities (+1.10%), Financials (+1.08%)
Worst performing sectors in the BE500: Technology (-0.16%), Consumer Services (+0.17%), Telecommunications (+0.21%)

FX
 
EUR-led risk appetite fuelled by the signing of the Greek austerity measures has moved the major pairs into positive territory. The following weakness in the USD index has pushed GBP/USD into positive territory also. However, the pairs are currently coming down off their highs of the day.
 
Japanese Finance Minister Azumi has said his previous comments concerning JPY intervention were not specific to a certain level, but he has not changed his stance on taking action against excessive and disorderly moves in the JPY. (Sources)
 
COMMODITIES
 
Brent and WTI Crude futures have come off a three day low following renewed market optimism and risk appetite prompted by an approval of Greek austerity measures late last night. This increase in demand was coupled with concerns over supply restrictions after a group of companies controlling over 100 super tankers announced last week they will stop loading cargoes from Iran.
 
Oil & Gas News:

•  Russia needs to spend USD 11.7bln on pipelines for oil product delivery to match production increases and avoid a deficit in the domestic market, according to the Energy Ministry.
•  Two of Mexico's three main oil export hubs in the Gulf of Mexico were closed on Saturday due to poor weather.
•  Iraq opened a new sea terminal that would boost the country’s oil export capacity by 900,000BPD from the Persian Gulf.
•  A natural gas pipeline has exploded in the Pride area of Louisiana, according to the fire department.
•  Total’s CEO has said that oil would remain above USD 80/BBL through the end of 2012.
•  Iran cannot sell its oil in currencies other than the USD and the EUR and should look to replace them with the currencies of its trading partners while seeking more barter deals in order to circumvent sanctions on its financial dealings, a member of parliament's energy committee has said.
 
Geopolitical News:

•  Sanctions on Iran are tightening after Overseas Shipholding Group, Frontline Ltd. and other owners (together controlling over 100 super tankers) announced late last week they would stop loading cargoes from the country.
•  Iran will soon reveal "very big new achievements" in its controversial nuclear programme, President Ahmadinejad has announced.
•  China has urged Iran to co-operate more closely with the global nuclear watchdog and rejoin talks on its nuclear program.
•  According to the commander of the US Navy, Iran are preparing boats that could be used in suicide attacks, but the Navy can prevent it from blocking the Strait.
•  According to sources, Gulf countries have not formally considered a contingency plan if Hormuz is closed. Furthermore, Kuwait has not been contacted by customers for extra oil to replace Iran's output and that Kuwait's current oil output stands at 2.9MBPD which can be sustained for long period.
•  Iraqi Deputy PM for Energy has said his understanding was that Iran would not carry out a threat to close down the Strait of Hormuz because Iranian oil supplies also relied on the shipping lane and closure would not benefit Tehran.
•  Iranian President Ahmadinejad is planning to visit Pakistan to boost mutual ties, a former Pakistani official was quoted as saying.

 

- advertisements -

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Mon, 02/13/2012 - 09:29 | 2153096 Mercury
Mercury's picture

Please, what are Zero Hedge's plans for coverage of  Westminster today?

Just asking...

Mon, 02/13/2012 - 09:30 | 2153109 LongSoupLine
LongSoupLine's picture

Daily opening:

 

Low volume market ramping by Central Bank fueled HFT algobots, while supported with endless MSM disinformation headlines to ensure any selling pressure is crushed under the weight of complete lies.

Mon, 02/13/2012 - 10:23 | 2153217 MFL8240
MFL8240's picture

MORE OF THE SAME

Tue, 02/14/2012 - 03:44 | 2156673 Cara
Cara's picture

A good blog always comes-up with new and exciting information and while reading I have feel that this blog is really have all those quality that qualify a blog to be a good one
Pass4sure CSSBB
Pass4sure 1Y0-A21
Pass4sure 7003.1
Pass4sure 350-040
Pass4sure E20-018
Pass4sure PW0-104
Pass4sure 642-736
Pass4sure 642-188

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!