Dr. Platon Monokroussos, Chief Market Economist, Deputy General Manager, Eurobank Ergasias S.A
HIGHLIGHTS
WORLD ECONOMIC & MARKET DEVELOPMENTS
GLOBAL MARKETS: Wall Street firmed overnight ending a five-session losing streak, on positive Q2 earnings reports and speculation that the Fed may signal at its FOMC policy meeting today a delay in the first interest rate hike until December. Elsewhere, most Asian bourses closed in the black today and European bourses opened mildly higher on upbeat Q2 corporate earnings releases. In FX markets, major currencies consolidated near yesterday’s levels ahead of the FOMC policy statement due at 21:00 EEST, which lures market attention today.
GREECE: Talks between domestic authorities and the technical teams of the four institutions (i.e. EC, ECB, IMF and ESM) on a new 3-year ESM loan began yesterday in Athens, with the technical teams reportedly starting their work from the State General Accounting Office in order to assess the current state of the Greek economy and, in particular, the State budget execution, the State’s arrears towards private entities and the evolution of GDP.
SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE
BULGARIA: Gross external debt totaled €38.2bn, equivalent to 88.9% of projected GDP at end-May 2015, marking a €1.59bn decrease from end-2014 when gross external debt stood at €39.8bn, or 94.7% of GDP. On an annual basis, gross external debt rose by €975.4mn (+2.6%YoY).
SERBIA: The Public Debt Administration sold on Tuesday €76.77mn of July 30, 2025 EUR-denominated T-bonds at an average accepted yield of 4.5%, 100bps below a yield achieved at a prior auction of paper of the same maturity held last November.
CESEE MARKETS: CESEE assets were mixed in early trade on Wednesday, with caution prevailing ahead of the conclusion of the 2-day FOMC meeting later on the day.
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