- Pyongyang: North Korea official says preparations for long-range rocket launch to be complete by end of Tuesday
- Rumour Chinese Premier Wen to announce measures to stimulate economy
- Bank Of Spain’s Ordonez: Spain has to recover competitiveness
- More Ordonez: Spanish reforms done so far insufficient
- Spain/German 10 year govt bond yield spread widens out to 424 bps from 402 early
- Italy/German 10 year govt bond yield spread widens out to 391 bps from 371 early
- BOJ’s Shirakawa: No preset idea on policy moves at next rate review
- Eurozone sentix index falls to -14.7 in April vs -8.2 in March, demonstrably weaker than Reuter’s median forecast of -8.1
- Swiss March unadj jobless rate 3.2%, slightly better than Reuter’s median forecast of 3.3%
- German February s.a trade surplus 13.6 bln euros, in line with Reuter’s median forecast. Down from 15.1 bln in January. Seasonally adjusted exports +1.6% m/m, imports +3.9% m/m
- Bank of France March business climate indicator for industrial sector unchanged at 95. Bank of France confirms estimate for flat Q1 GDP growth
- French February industrial output +0.3% m/m, -1.2% y/y compared to median forecasts +0.3%, -1.5% respectively
- Spain Budget Minister: VAT tax hike would be a mistake. Hike would hurt growth
- Spanish minister questions free healthcare in search for cuts - The Telegraph
- Greek dockworkers to go ahead with strike - WSJ
- Threat of oil price spike on a par with eurozone debt crisis - ITEM club
European stocks, gold, oil all down.
EUR/USD has given ground, presently at 1.3080 from early 1.3130. Eurozone sovereign/bank concerns remain to the fore, with periphery/German government bond yield spreads widening out further this morning.
Barrier option interest remains down at 1.3000, with protective buy orders clustered from 1.3030 to 1.3000.
USD/JPY down at 81.20 from early 81.40 after BOJ held monetary policy steady overnight. Buy orders seen clustered 82.00/10, sell stops below there.
Cable down at 1.5830 from early 1.5920, undermined by general risk off environment.