The U.S. toxic asset plan is improving risk appetite, with global equities performing well while US treasuries slip lower. In the forex markets the improved sentiment is resulting in losses for the JPY and USD. EUR/USD is up at 1.3700 compared to a North American close Friday around 1.3565, while USD/JPY is up at 96.20 from around 95.90.
U.S Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is to speak at 12:45 GMT, but details of the plan have already been flagged. The US government is to put $75-$100 bln from its bailout fund, together with private investor contributions, to buy up toxic assets.
For today, there is not too much in the way of economic data releases:
08:00 GMT: Swiss money supply M3 (Feb)
10:00 GMT: Euro zone trade balance (Jan)
10:00 GMT: Euro zone construction (Jan)