OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS
March E-mini S&Ps (ESH15 -0.23%) this morning are down -0.26% and European stocks are down -1.06%, both at 2-week lows. Energy producers are leading the overall market lower after crude oil fell to a 5-1/2 year low. Also, Greek sovereign-debt concerns have undercut European stocks with Greece’s ASE Stock Index down over 4% to a 2-year low after Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine reported that German Chancellor Merkel is ready to accept Greece’s exit from the Eurozone. The Greek opposition party Syriza is leading in polls ahead of the Jan 25 elections and Greek Prime Minister Samaras warns that a victory by Syriza would cause default and Greece’s exit from the Eurozone. Asian stocks closed mixed: Japan -0.24%, Hong Kong-0.57%, China +3.05%, Taiwan -0.36%, Australia +0.26%, Singapore -1.26%, South Korea -0.22%, India -0.16%. China’s Shanghai Stock Index jumped to a 5-1/2 year high as investors bought shares of China’s largest companies and developers amid speculation the government will take more steps to bolster economic growth. Commodity prices are mixed. Feb crude oil (CLG15 -2.79%) is down -2.39% at a 5-1/2 year low on signs of ample global supplies after Russian Dec oil production rose +0.3% to a post-Soviet record of 10.667 million bpd and after Iraq Dec oil exports climbed to 2.94 million bpd, the most since the 1980s. Feb gasoline (RBG15 -2.82%) is down -2.07% at a 5-1/2 year low. Feb gold (GCG15 +0.29%) is up +0.19%. Mar copper (HGH15 -1.77%) is down -1.72%. Agriculture prices are higher. The dollar index (DXY00 +0.63%) is up +0.64% at a 9-year high. EUR/USD (^EURUSD) is down -0.77% at an 8-3/4 year low on speculation the ECB is moving closer to large-scale sovereign-bond purchases. USD/JPY (^USDJPY) is down-0.23%. Mar T-note prices (ZNH15 +0.09%) are up +0.5 of a tick.
The Eurozone Jan Sentix investor confidence rose +3.4 to 0.9, a bigger increase than expectations of +1.5 to -1.0 and the highest in 5 months.
