Global equities felt the pull of gravity this week as indices in Asia, Europe, and the US came off recent all-time highs. Meanwhile, in a development that caught investors' attention, European and US sovereign bonds sold off hard on a confluence of factors. Talks between Greece and its creditors continued at a frustratingly slow pace. The first reading on US Q1 GDP was quite disappointing. The Fed acknowledged the weak first quarter by downgrading the economic conditions commentary in the FOMC policy statement, but continued to attribute the slow growth to transitory factors. Despite oil prices continuing to rebound, the BOJ reigned in its inflation outlook, pushing back the timing of achieving 2% inflation until early 2016. Speculation about more extraordinary Chinese stimulus that helped fuel recent rallies couldn't stem the selling this week. For the week, the DJIA slipped 0.3%, the S&P500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq lost 1.7%.
Macro
- Icahn Says BlackRock’s Fink Makes Fixing Bad Businesses Harder
- Greek Aid Talks Gain Urgency as Breakthrough Remains Elusive
- Greece Willing to Consider Single VAT Rate in Debt Talks: FAS
- Iran Expects First Draft of Nuclear Deal Within Days
- Buffett Says Euro in Its Present Form Won’t Work
- Buffett Says Berkshire Will Buy German Co. in Next Five Years
Keep an eye on :
- ADS GY : Adidas CEO Opposes Selling Off Reebok as Separate Company: FAS
- ALV GY : Allianz to Join Bid for London Sewer Project, Sunday Times Says
- AMS SM : Japan Airlines to Use Amadeus Cloud Computing System: Nikkei
- AREVA FP : Areva Weighs Selling Stake to Chinese Energy Companies, JDD Says
- BRE IM : Brembo May Consider Acquisitions in Automotive, Aerospace: Sole
- DGE LN : Diageo Considering sale of portions of its wine operations - Sky News - Has been approached by potential buyers of its global wine operations, including Blossom Hill and Sterling Vineyards. Wine brands only account for 4% of Diageo's sales.
- F US : Ford Abandons Plans for Car Seats That Detect Heart Attacks: FT
- HSBA LN : HSBC May Set Aside Funds for Additional Fines, Telegraph Says
- IBM US : IBM - Warren Buffett: bought more IBM during Q1 - CNBC Buffett declines to say how much more he bought but said the exact numbers will be in the company's SEC quarterly holdings filing (as of the end of Q1) due around the middle of this month. Berkshire held 7.8% as of Dec 31, making it the top institutional holder.
- KPN AN : KPN Is Logical Takeover Target in the Long Run, CEO Tells FD
- OCR US : Omnicare attracts interest of Walgreens Boots Alliance
- ORA FP : Orange Will Need to Give Up Jazztel ADSL Network, El Pais Says
- RNO FP : Nissan U.K. Plant at Risk if Country Quits EU: Sunday Times
- REP SM : Repsol Announces New Natural Gas Discovery in Bolivia
- SAP GY : SAP denies press report about talks with CRM; says never considered acquiring Salesforce.com
- SIE GY : Siemens Investigated in China for Alleged Bribery: Reuters
- SKG LN : Smurfit Kappa CEO says company open to takeover; International Paper looking at making bid
- STL NO : Statoil interested in acquisitions - Dagens Naeringsliv
- TSCO LN : Tesco turns down GBP 4bn offer for South Korean operations from Carlyle
- TETY SS : Tethys Petroleum hires advisor, expands strategic review
- UBSN VX : UBS to Pay Up to CHF1b in FX Probe This Month: Sonntagszeitung