The March quarter earnings season hit its stride this week, and just about half of the S&P500 components have released quarterly results. Global indices remain at or near all-time highs: in Asia, a PBoC RRR cut helped neutralize fears of a Chinese selloff after last Friday's regulatory crackdown (although there was another round of similar fears regulators would be tightening the screws), while in the US a few rounds of strong earnings propelled the Nasdaq above its March 2000 all-time closing high and kept the S&P near its March all-time highs. In Europe, Greece missed another deadline to present its European partners with reforms to unlock funding, but equity and bond markets seem to be reacting much less severely to the story. Leading manufacturing indicators in Asia showed a difficult start for Q2, as advance PMIs for China and Japan saw significant deterioration. Beyond the unending Greek drama, Europe was looking slightly better, with a 10-month high in the Germany April IFO survey and another month of expansion in the preliminary Eurozone manufacturing PMI data. For the week, the DJIA added 1.4%, the S&P500 rose 1.7% and the Nasdaq surged 3.2%.
Macro :
- U.S. Money Managers Less Optimistic, See 4Q Rate Hike: Barron’s
- Nepal Earthquake Kills Hundreds, Triggers Everest Avalanche
- According to a Greek press survey, over 70% of respondents are in favor of a deal agreement with EU creditors; Only 23% would support a split with EU
Keep an eye on :
- ABE SM : oros Bids for EU250m of Cellnex Shares in IPO, Expansion Says (127,4mil shares price Range E12/E14) - Abertis selling
- AIR FP : Airbus’s Leahy Sees Strong A380 Demand From 2020: WSJ
- AER LN : Decision on €1.4bn takeover of Aer Lingus set to drag into May , meeting next tuesday
- AAPL US : iPhone 6s, Apple's next-generation iPhone, coming fall 2015 - MacRumors http://bit.ly/1b0UMgO
- ACS SM : ACS May Win EU4b Contract on Toronto Light Train: Cinco Dias
- ARI US : Ariad in talks to end proxy battle, CEO would retire,Sarissa Cap. will nominate 3 board members - Deal Reporter
- ATL IM : Atlantia close to sell minority(30 to 40%) stake in Aeroporti di Roma, Adia, Temasek cited as pot. buyers - Il Sole 24 Ore
- BA/ LN : FT : BAE Systems considers sale of US consultancy unit- FT http://bit.ly/1b0UMgO
- BAYN GY : Bayer hires Goldman Sachs to find buyer for Bayer Garten unit (Plant protection) Price Range (100/150mil for 220mil revenues) - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
- BP/ LN : U.K. Government Said to Tell BP It Would Oppose Any Takeover: FT
- CELLNEX IPO (SPAIN) : Soros Bids for EU250m of Cellnex Shares in IPO, Expansion Says (127,4mil shares price Range E12/E14) - Abertis selling
- GSZ FP : GDF Suez Seeking to Grow Spanish Wind Power Business: Expansion
- GE US : Reportedly Suntrust and Apollo among potential bidders for GE's sponsored finance unit
- MS IM : Mediaset Premium was approached by Sky Italia, Al Jazeera mentioned http://reut.rs/1ECsua1
- MYL US : Teva seeks Mylan shareholder support for bid, sources say - Deal Reporter
- NOK1V FH : Nokia Says Has No Plans to Manufacture, Sell Consumer Handsets
- RSA LN : Cevian Capital May Vote Against RSA’s Remuneration Report: Sky
- RYA LN : Ryanair Prices to Fall by 10%-15% Over Next Two Years: CEO
- SIK VX : Sika Founders File Complaint to Overturn Board Elections
- VOW3 GY : VW chair. Piech still planning to oust CEO Winterkorn; undermines position as chairman http://bit.ly/1I8QYHK
- VOW3 GY : Volkswagen Says Chairman Piech and Wife Resign From Posts