Dow-0,10% S&P-0,03% Nasdaq+0,14% Russell+0,24% VIX -2,21% (15,45)
US Market closed near flat line, For the second day in a row, stocks opened with slim losses and drifted inside narrow ranges until the early afternoon. The S&P 500 spiked off its low and made a brief appearance in the green following the FOMC minutes from the January meeting, but the index was back near its low just 30 minutes later. A second effort in the late afternoon propelled the S&P 500 back to its flat line ahead of the close. The FOMC minutes overshadowed afternoon reports from the Wall Street Journal indicating the European Central Bank will extend Greece's Emergency Liquidity Assistance allowance by EUR3.50 billion to EUR68.50 billion for two weeks. However, that may not be enough next week when Greece's government runs out of cash, according to Kathimerini. German ECB members have recently opposed using ELA funds to finance governments, which may explain the limited scope of the increase. energy sector weighed as crude oil returned to yesterday's intraday low, falling 2.7% to $52.12/bbl.Volume conitune to be light @ 716mil shares...The yield on the US 10-year note was down nearly 10bps, reversing some of the 50bp rise of the past 2 weeks, and greenback sank while gold rallied in the wake of surprisingly dovish FOMC policy meeting minutes. Some of the market chatter went as far as to opine that Fed chair Yellen waded into the global currency war, with the meeting pointing directly at the US dollar strength as posing a headwind to US exports and growth. External concerns, specifically slowdown in China and global disinflationary pressure, were also increasingly more visible in the language perceived to be rather cautious by the markets.Electronic trade in the energy markets was particularly volatile after API showed crude oil inventories jumping by over 14 million barrels - the biggest build in years and well above 3.7M expected. WTI Apr crude contract fell nearly 3% below $51/brl before a modest bounce. Spot gold traded up over $15 to $1,217 from levels seen just before the minutes release.News flow was extremely light in Asia with much of the region closed for Lunar New year. Japan dominated headlines, posting the smallest trade deficit on adjusted basis in nearly three years. Exports were up 17% - a 15-month high and well above 13.5%e - as shipments to US, China, and broader Asia all rose by double digits. Exports to Europe were up by a more modest 7.4%, though still impressive given the economic malaise in the area. Imports were also down 9% - the biggest decline in years - with volume shipments of oil also down 7%...Separately in Japan, Sankei press speculated the BOJ may consider formally delaying the timing of achieving 2% inflation target beyond the FY15/16 year, potentially rephrasing its stance with a more vague objective
Nikkei +0.36% Hang Seng +0.19% Shanghai Closed
RUB $ 61.68 WTI $50.62 (-2.92%) EurCHF 1.0749
EUR$ 1.1410 S&P -0.08% EuroStoxx+0.09% DAx-0.05% SMI +0.21%
Macro :
- Fed Ready to Keep Rates Low for Longer as Yellen Set to Testify
- Greece Pressure Mounts as ECB Shows Caution With Emergency Cash
- ECB Set to Unveil QE Conflicts as Meeting Summaries Go Public
Keep an eye on :
- ACS SM : ACS Plans Holding Co. to Merge Dragados, Hochtief: Confidencial
- AERL LN : Aer Lingus Sale Unlikely to Happen Before Election: Irish Times
- AF FP : Air France-KLM 2014 Ebitda EU1.59b vs Est. EU1.58b
- AGN NA : Aegon 4Q Net Beats, Underlying Pretax Rises 19%; Div. In Line
- ARCAD NA : Arcadis 4Q Ebita Rises, Sees Revenue and Profit Growth in 2015
- ATO FP : Atos 2014 Rev. Beats Est.; Net Misses, Atos Says Client Orders Show Start of Europe Economic Recovery
- BAMNB NA : BAM Posts 2014 Loss of EU108m on Dutch, Irish Impairments
- CAP FP : Cap Gemini 2014 Organic Growth Up 3.4%; 2014 Net Beats Est.
- CNP FP : CNP Assurances 2014 Net Rises 4.8% to EU1.08b; Est. EU1.11b
- DB1 GY : Deutsche Boerse Full-Year Net EU762.3m vs GAAP Est. EU687.7m
- DLG GY : Dialog Semiconductor Sees 1Q Sales Rise; 4Q Adj. Ebit Beats Est.
- ELE FP : Euler Hermes Full-Yr Net EU302.1m vs Est. EU309.6m
- EI FP : Essilor Predicts Comparable Sales Growth Exceeding 4.5% in 2015
- HEIA NA : Heineken to Spend EU750m on Share Buyback After Mexican Sale
- ING FP : Ingenico Sees 2015 Organic LFL Growth of 10% as 4Q Sales Beat
- MC FP : Biver Says LVMH’s Smartwatch to Debut Before Year’s End: HZ
- MERL LN : Merlin Signs Loan Contract With Allianz Real Estate for EU133.6M
- KN FP : Natixis 4Q Net Misses; Plans Extra Dividend From Coface IPO, Plans to Buy Leonardo’s French M&A Midcap Advisory
- NESN VX : Nestle 2014 Organic Sales Growth In Line With Ests., Aims to Achieve 2015 Organic Growth of Around 5%
- NOK1V FH : Nokia Networks in Talks With Carriers for India 4G Tech Deal: ET
- OMV AV : OMV Petrom 2014 Profit Falls 56% After 4Q Loss on Low Oil Price, OMV Petrom, Exxon Find New Gas Deposit in Black Sea, ZF Says
- PCI LN : Dragon Oil Says It Has No Intention to Bid for Petroceltic
- PSM GY : ProSieben Considering Takeover of Verivox, Sueddeutsche Says
- RAND NA : Randstad 4Q Sales Match Est., Net Rises; Jan. Growth Encouraging
- RBI AV : Moody’s Downgrades Raiffeisen Bank International
- RECIB SS : Recipharm 4Q Net Sales SEK873m vs SEK573m Y/y; Div. SEK1.25
- REX LN : Ball Corp, Rexam Deal May Be Announced This Week, WSJ Says
- RHM GY : Rheinmetall Says Order Backlog Reaches Record Level
- RIO LN : Rio Tinto Alcan May Expand Canada Smelters on Price Rebound: CP
- SAB LN : SAB’s Largest Holder Altria Says Keeping Stake in Best Interests
- SU FP : Schneider FY Net In Line, 2015 Ebita Margin Seen at 14%-14.5%
- SREN VX : Swiss Re 4Q Net Income Misses; Plans Buyback of Up to CHF1b
- TEN IM : Tenaris 2014 Ebitda Beats Est., Rev. Matches
- TCH FP : Technicolor Proposes Dividend, Sees Small Divestments in 2015
- TFI FP : TF1 2014 Rev. Matches Est., To Pay Special Dividend on Eurosport
- TKTT FP : Takkt 2014 Rev., Ebitda Beat, Sees 2015 Organic Rev. Growth
- TTI LN : Tom Tailor 2014 Recurring Ebitda Up 13% to EU87.2m