Daily Overview of Global Markets & the SEE Region (Wednesday, April 8, 2015)

Dr. Platon Monokroussos, Chief Market Economist, Deputy General Manager, Eurobank Ergasias S.A

HIGHLIGHTS

GLOBAL MARKETS: The two-day BoJ policy meeting concluded earlier today with the Central Bank keeping its monetary policy on hold on the view that rising wages and improving domestic economic activity will accelerate inflation toward its 2% target around this fiscal year ending March 2016. However, the prospect of further BoJ monetary easing ahead cannot be ruled out completely.

GREECE: Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow later today. According to a statement issued by the Greek Premier’s press office, talks will concentrate on several subjects of bilateral interest including commercial and financial cooperation, investments, energy, tourism and cooperation in matters of education and culture. In other news, the two-day Euro Working Group meeting starts later today to assess, among other, the progress that has been made so far in ongoing official discussions between Greece’s negotiating team and the institutions’ technocrats in an effort to prepare the ground for the next Eurogroup scheduled for April 24.

CYPRUS: Russian Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov reportedly said on Tuesday that the government is considering of lifting a ban on food imports from Greece, Cyprus and Hungary.

ROMANIA: According to final estimates, real GDP rose by 2.7%YoY in Q4 2014, a tad above a preliminary reading of +2.6%YoY, bringing the full-year increase to 2.8%. The later compares with a previously reported 2.9% rise and growth of 3.5% registered in 2013.

SERBIA: The Public Debt Administration sold on Tuesday RSD 5.422bn of the planned RSD 7.980bn amount in a re-tap of the March 17, 2016 T-bills, at an average accepted yield of 8.14%.

CESEE MARKETS: In line with the broadly positive trend in major European and Asian bourses on Wednesday,  emerging stock markets extended their recent gains, while CESEE currencies broadly firmed in European trade. The upcoming release of the Fed’s March 17-18 meeting minutes lures market attention today.