The Corner | May 19, 2015 | Copper prices were back above $6,300/t in April for the first time in 2015. Since this commodity is used in so many industries, it is crucial to know if this move will be sustained and send a positive signal to global manufacturers or it is only driven by a speculative market.
LONDON | May 1, 2015 | By Asoka Wöhrmann, Chief Investment Officer at Deutsche AWM | The stock markets in India and China both still have potential. But arguments for investing in India are currently more convincing.
ATHENS | April 28, 2015 | By Nick Malkoutzis via MacroPolis | Such has been the impasse between Greece and its lenders over the last three months (add a few more on if you want to look beyond just this government’s shortcomings) that markets reacted with some joy to the news on Monday that one inexperienced economics professor is replacing another as the central figure in Athens’s negotiations with creditors.
The Corner | March 26, 2015 | The German economy is leading the way in yet more positive news for the eurozone, as consumer confidence reaches its highest level for 14 years. In Spain, business confidence is at it’s highest level for eight years, while concern about weak GDP figures in France may be offset by a recent improvement in consumption and exports.
MADRID | February 27, 2015 | J.J Fernandez-Figares| Link Securities | Efforts by the ECB to inject money into the euro zone are already showing signs of impact as positive M3 figures offer encouragement ahead of March purchases of sovereign bonds.
Via www.macropolis.gr | By Yiannis Mouzakis & Nick Malkoutzis | With talks surrounding a bailout extension ongoing, it is time to set the record straight about some of the myths that surround the Greek narrative.
MADRID | The Corner | Maximum uncertainty shook the global markets today, after the Swiss National Bank unexpected double move of removing the controverted minimum exchange rate to the EUR of 1.20 and lowering interest rates to –0.75%. Volatility will continue in the coming weeks “as unhedged Swiss companies may start hedging and the SNB may come up with additional measures like enforcing the use of negative interest rates to strengthen other currencies against the CHF,” explained UBP’s Swiss equities expert Martin Moeller. Some analysts believe the strategy might be too radical and “counterproductive for the ECB.” Stocks in Switzerland fell about 10 percent, while broader European indexes rose modestly.
MADRID | By J.P. Marín Arrese | The Spanish Justice Department has launched a thorough investigation into the accounts which were submitted prior to the original BANKIA share issuance back in 2011. Experts from the Bank of Spain have delivered a devastating report implying these accounts did not provide a fair elucidation of the balance sheet. Should the final ruling follow that line, it could open the way for multi-billion euro claims from investors. Even though BANKIA has announced it can cope with such losses, with taxpayers footing two-thirds of the bill, the impact on Spanish financial market credibility could wreak havoc.
Japan’s descent into recession has prompted questions of what the country must do to right itself — and many agree that “Abenomics” will not be enough. Most Japan watchers and economists, and even Abe himself, say that to restore sustainable growth, Japan needs sweeping deregulation and structural reforms. But pushing through such changes is proving daunting, despite Abe’s pledges to “drill deep into the bedrock” of Japan’s vested interests.
ATHENS | By Nick Malkoutzis via MacroPolis | When Greece returned to international bond markets in April this year after a four-year exile, it was trumpeted by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras as another step towards the crisis exit door. “Confidence in our country was confirmed by the most objective judge – the markets,” he said after investors snapped up three billion euros of five-year bonds with a coupon of 4.75 percent. Exactly seven months later, though, the yield on those bonds shot up to almost 10 percent. Suddenly, the markets do not seem so confident. So, what went wrong?