Chinese inflation figures for January, released Thursday morning, showed a higher-than-expected annual inflation rate of 4.5 percent, which could dampen the stock market rally by raising concerns about a hard landing in China.
Euro Stoxx 50 Index futures added 0.5 percent as of 7:01 a.m. in London. The euro strengthened 0.3 percent and the Swiss franc rose 0.3 percent against the dollar.
Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, who is meeting European policy makers today, said he hoped they would make a “positive decision” on a new loan package. He said there is still uncertainty on the terms of a 130 billion-euro ($172 billion) rescue agreement. Chinese consumer prices rose 4.5 percent in January from a year earlier, exceeding all 33 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey of economists.
Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said late Thursday night that the main Greek political parties had settled all other issues apart from pensions, and would aim to overcome the remaining hurdle before euro zone finance ministers meet in Brussels Thursday evening.
The European Central Bank is widely expected to leave interest rates on hold on Thursday, ahead of a second round of long-term refinancing operations (LTROs) from the bank on February 29.
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee is also expected to keep rates on hold at its monthly meeting Thursday morning.
The markets will be watching ECB President Mario Draghi’s press conference after the meeting for any signs of whether the central bank will take a haircut to the value of the Greek government bonds it holds.
There are a slew of earnings results expected, with full-year results from Credit Suisse, Diageo, Rio Tinto, Dassault Systemes, Publicis and ING Group amongst others. Credit Suisse will spark particular interest after UBS’s disappointing results earlier this week.
In the U.S., weekly jobless claims are awaited anxiously after a better-than-expected January employment report. Traders will be watching for any signs that the U.S. economy is rebounding. For the latest updates on the stock market, visit Stock Market Today For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
Related Post:
European Stocks market
- Stoxx Europe 600 index Forecast 2013
- European Stock Market Forecast 2013
- European stock market and Italian bonds down dec 11 2012
- Europe stock markets advanced october 17 2012
- European stock market will open down october 12 2012
- Mario Draghi ECB Press Conference october 4 2012
- European stock markets higher october 2 2012
- european stock futures down october 1 2012
- European stock market rose september 28 2012
- impact protests in Greece and Spanish on stock market
- Effect Spanish recession on stock market
- European stock market drop 9-26-2012
- European Stock markets september 21 2012
- European stock markets 9/18/2012
- European stock markets lower september 17 2012
- European stock futures down 9/10/2012
- German constitutional court decision prediction
- Euro govt Bonds fall before ECB meeting 9/6/2012
- European stock markets sept 6 2012
- European Stock markets rose september 3 2012
- Eurozone Purchasing Managers PMI report 3 september 2012
- ECB President Mario Draghi will speech at Brussels sept 3 2012
- Europe economic forecast September 2012
- European stocks market august 31 2012
- Expectations ECB will bond buying plan
No comments:
Post a Comment