OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS
March E-mini S&Ps (ESH15 +0.16%) this morning are up +0.12% and European stocks are up +0.79% at a 6-3/4 year high ahead of today’s ECB meeting where ECB President Draghi will announce details of the ECB’s bond-buying program. Increased M&A activity is also supportive for stocks after Abbvie agreed to buy Pharmacyclics for $21 billion. As expected, the BOE kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.50% and left its asset purchase target at 375 billion pounds. Asian stocks closed mixed: Japan +0.26%, Hong Kong -1.11%, China -0.98%, Taiwan -0.28%, Australia +0.04%, Singapore -0.59%, South Korea -0.06%, India +0.23%. Chinese stocks fell after Premier Li Keqiang lowered China’s 2015 GDP target to 7.0%, the lowest in more than 15 years, from 7.5% in 2014, and said “the difficulties we are to encounter in the year ahead may be even more formidable than those of last year.” Commodity prices are mixed. Apr crude oil (CLJ15 +0.80%) is up +1.01% at a 1-1/2 week high after Libya’s National Oil Corp. declared force majeure on oil supplies from 11 Libyan oil fields due to attacks on oil infrastructure from Islamic militants. Apr gasoline (RBJ15 -0.22%) is down -0.24%. Apr gold (GCJ15 +0.02%) is down -0.11%. May copper (HGK15 +0.15%) is up +0.17%. Agriculture prices are weaker. The dollar index (DXY00 +0.22%) is up +0.25% at an 11-1/3 year high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.23% at an 11-1/2 year low. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is up +0.39%. Jun T-note prices (ZNM15 -0.05%) are down -2 ticks.
German Jan factory orders fell -3.9% m/m, weaker than expectations of -1.0% m/m and the biggest monthly decline in 5 months. On an annual basis, Jan factory orders unexpectedly fell -0.1% y/y, weaker than expectations of +2.6% y/y.
UK Feb Halifax house prices fell -0.3% m/m and rose +8.3% y/y, weaker than expectations of -0.2% m/m and +8.5% y/y.
