Dr. Platon Monokroussos, Chief Market Economist, Deputy General Manager, Eurobank Ergasias S.A
HIGHLIGHTS
WORLD ECONOMIC & MARKET DEVELOPMENTS
GLOBAL MARKETS: In FX markets, the EUR/USD continued to consolidate in European trade at the time of writing while the GBP retained a positive tone favored by the less dovish than expected tone of the BoE MPC minutes of the 8-9 April meeting. Elsewhere, the CHF remained under pressure across the board after the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced y-day that it will reduce the number of sight deposit accounts that are exempt from negative interest rates.
GREECE: Local press reports quoted an unamend EU high level official as saying that at y-day’s Euro Working Group (EWG) euro area deputy finance ministers acknowledged some improvement in the pace and quality of official discussions between the Greek authorities and the representatives of the Institutions noting though that further work is needed before a final agreement is reached. Euro area finance ministers will convene tomorrow (Friday, April 24) with Germany’s Finance Ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger saying to reporters y-day that there are “very limited expectations” from that meeting regarding the Greek issue.
SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE
SERBIA: Public Debt Administration (PDA) sold at an auction on Wednesday €41.896mn of 3-year EUR-denominated T-bonds at an average accepted yield of 3.9%.
CESEE MARKETS: Emerging stock markets broadly extended Tuesday’s gains yesterday, on the prevailing view that the Fed is not in a rush to embark on a rate-tightening cycle, which is expected to incept later in the year. Additionally, economic stimulus measures adopted by the People’s Bank of China a few days ago and ECB President Mario Draghi’s comments last week that QE tapering talk is premature, continued to provide a positive impact. On the flipside, the majority of CESEE currencies and government bonds broadly weakened as uncertainty prevailed over official negotiations between Greece and the Institutions.
Viewers can read the full report herebelow:
