Dr. Platon Chief Market Economist, Deputy General Manager, Eurobank Ergasias S.A.,
HIGHLIGHTS
WORLD ECONOMIC & MARKET DEVELOPMENTS
GLOBAL MARKETS: Market focus today is on the FOMC monetary policy meeting where the Central Bank is widely expected to hold its target range for the federal funds rate unchanged at 0.75%-1.00%. Awaiting the accompanying policy statement, the DXY index remained trapped within a narrow range while US Treasury yields edged modestly higher in spite of a bulk of weaker-than-expected data. Later today, the two candidates for the French Presidential election, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, will face each other in a televised debate which will be their last encounter before Sunday’s runoff vote.
GREECE: After the attainment of a preliminary technical agreement yesterday in the context of the 2nd programme review, the focus now turns to the discussions on the sustainability of Greece’s public debt. The issue will be reportedly discussed at an extraordinary Euroworking Group scheduled to convenetomorrow as well as on the sidelines of the G7 Finance Ministers Summit on May 11-13 in Bari. At the same time, the institutions will have to decide the size and the duration of the primary surplus targets that Greece will be asked to attain in the post-programme period. On the data front, Markit released yesterday its Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for Greece, which came in at 48.2 in April signaling an eighth consecutive deterioration in manufacturing sector conditions, albeit at the weakest rate of decline since December 2016.
SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE
CESEE MARKETS: Emerging market assets treaded water earlier on Wednesday as caution prevailed ahead of the FOMC meeting later in the day.
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