|
 Greece's debt crisis remained at the forefront of investors' minds.
But a gathering of European finance ministers this week won't be the
crunch meeting it had been billed as, giving Greek markets, euro
zone bonds and the euro some breathing space.
Europe's FTSE EuroFirst 300 index of leading shares was down 0.3
percent, Germany's DAX was down 0.8 percent and Britain's FTSE
100 down a half of one percent.
U.S. futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street of about a third
of one percent .
Richemont warned its net profit for the year would drop by 36
percent and Kering's Gucci posted a bigger-than-expected drop in
sales, and both luxury groups were among the worst performers.
Shares in Britain's largest retailer Tesco <TSCO.L> initially rose
more than 2 percent but were last down 2 percent, a roller coaster
ride after the company announced a record 6.4 billion pound loss.
Despite this, Germany's DAX remains near record highs and the
FTSEurofirst 300 is near its highest level in more than 14 years.
"Flows are starting to wobble a bit but this is more of a pause for
breath in the middle of earnings season," said Francois Chaulet,
fund manager at Montsegur Finance in Paris. "The rally is not yet in
doubt."
In Asia, China's leading index rose 2.4 percent to a seven-year high
and Japan's Nikkei closed above the 20,000 point level for the first
time in 15 years.
Asian stocks continued to draw support from Chinese measures to spur
lending and combat a slowing economy. On Sunday, China's central
bank cut the reserve requirement ratio for the country's lenders for
the second time in two months.
The Shanghai Composite Index was also spurred by comments from state
media which declared the bull market "has just begun."
GREEK WOES
The Greek government's looming cash crunch initially weighed on
local markets as Greek stocks hit a three-year low and the two-year
bond yield hovered around 30 percent. But by midday both stocks and
bonds were higher.
European finance ministers meet in Riga to discuss Greece this week.
The deadline for agreement will be pushed back, however, and the
market remained cautious after Greek finance minister Yanis
Varoufakis cited signs of convergence on Tuesday.
European Central Bank board member Benoit Coeure said the ECB will
continue to fund Greek banks as long as they were solvent and
dismissed the growing talk that Greece might ditch the euro.
[to top of second column] |
In core bond markets, Germany's benchmark 10-year yield was
unchanged at 10 basis points, and the 10-year U.S. yield held steady
at 1.91 percent.
Spanish, French and Italian yields fell, with investor cash to be
plowed back into these countries' bonds between now and the end of
the month reaching as much as 65 billion euros, according to Citi
analysts' estimates.
The euro rose a third of a percent to $1.0770.
"At the margin, the commentary from the EU/Greek talks was hopeful,
though not hopeful of any resolution this week," said SocGen's
currency analysts, noting that as long as $1.0850 resistance held
the trend could still be lower.
The Australian dollar was the biggest currency mover. It gained 1
percent to $0.7790 after core inflation rose 0.6 percent in the
first quarter, higher than a forecast of 0.5 percent and possibly
taking a rate cut next month off the table.
In commodities, crude oil extended losses as Middle East tensions
eased after Saudi Arabia announced an end to air strikes against
Iran-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen, though residents reported a
further strike on Thursday.
Brent crude was down 0.5 percent at $61.73 a barrel <LCOc1> after
tumbling more than 2 percent overnight, and U.S. crude futures were
down 0.9 percent at $56.13 a barrel <CLc1>.
(Reporting by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Toby Chopra; To read
Reuters Global Investing Blog click on http://blogs.reuters.com/globalinvesting;
for the MacroScope Blog click on http://blogs.reuters.com/macroscope;
for Hedge Fund Blog Hub click on http://blogs.reuters.com/hedgehub)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
