Dr. Platon Monokroussos, Chief Market Economist, Deputy General Manager, Eurobank Ergasias S.A
HIGHLIGHTS
WORLD ECONOMIC & MARKET DEVELOPMENTS
GLOBAL MARKETS: Trailing gains in Wall Street overnight, major Asian equity indices advanced on Thursday helped by a second day of gains in oil prices. Elsewhere, major European bourses traded mixed at the time of writing, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index losing 0.2% on disappointing earnings’ results after hitting a two-week high earlier in the session. In FX markets, higher global oil prices favoured the Canadian dollar. In the absence of new hints in the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting which were released yesterday, the US dollar was little changed against its major currency peers. Looking at today’s calendar, EU two-day summit begins while ECB publishes minutes of last policy meeting. In terms of macro data releases, the Philadelphia Fed index, the US Conference Board leading indicator, as well as initial and continuing jobless claims, are due later today.
GREECE: The Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met yesterday the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and discussed developments on the 1st review of the Third Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece and the refugee crisis. With regard to the review, the Greek PM has reportedly stressed his government’s commitment to implementing the programme and the importance of the swift completion of the review. According to the Bank of Greece, the Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) ceiling for Greek banks was at 71.4 bn decreased by ca 0.1 bn on February 17 2016 compared with February 2 2015.
SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE
BULGARIA: The current account deficit narrowed to €227.1 from €289.7mn in December 2015, compared to a deficit of €85.6mn in December 2014. As a result, the current account surplus as a percentage of GDP remained unchanged at 1.2% in 2015 vs. 2014 (€541.6mn in 2015 compared to €495.2mn or in 2014).
CESEE MARKETS: Trailing a rally in Wall Street overnight, emerging stock markets broadly firmed earlier on Thursday thanks to recovering global oil prices. Meanwhile, CESEE currencies were little changed earlier on Thursday, though broadly holding on to yesterday’s gains, while the majority of government bonds firmed.
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Daily Overview February 18 2016
