Europe midday: Slight falls on the entire continent
Thu 18 Oct 2012
LONDON (SHARECAST) - -Germany insists next tranche of Greek aid be deposited in escrow account -Handelsblatt
-Merkel says legal basis for banking supervision not enough to activate ESM
-Samaras to give report at summit
European equities have now turned slightly lower, ahead of the expected release of a smattering of macroeconomic indicators, expected on Wall Street this afternoon. That despite better than expected data overnight in China –although some observers seem to be taking those statistics with a grain of salt- and today’s EU summit, where no major decisions are expected to be taken.
Perhaps best expressing current market sentiment, analysts at Unicredit this morning commenting that: “Investors do not seem eager to ride an EUR-USD rally above 1.3169 peak, as there is no full solution in the current Spanish and Greek debate. A good result of today’s auctions in Spain could offer support.”
Spain’s Treasury today auctioned up to €4.61bn in medium and long-term debt, with significant drops in yields seen in all maturities.
To be had in account, yesterday the troika stated that it agreed with the Greek authorities on the core measures of the austerity package and expects a full agreement in the coming days. Financing issues will then be discussed between the official lenders and Greece.
No more drinks for Remy Cointreau
Nestle is retreating after the company reported nine-month sales growth that missed analysts’ estimates.
Likewise, Remy Cointreau -France’s second-biggest distiller- posted an improvement in first-half sales that fell short of forecasts.
From a sector stand-point the best performance is now to be seen in the following industrial groups: Automobiles (1.20%), Technology (0.75%) and Construction&Materials (0.65%). Food&Beverage stocks are leading losses, down by 1.52%.
Weak Dutch data
Dutch consumer confidence index worsened to -32 points in September, after -29 in the month before (Consensus: -27).
The Swiss trade balance improved to €2.01bn in September, after €1.73bn in the previous month.
Single currency shy this morning
The euro/dollar is now off by just 0.08% to the 1.3110 dollar mark.
Front month Brent crude futures are declining by 0.426 dollars to the 112.74 dollar level on the ICE.
