10 Things You Need To Know Before European Markets Open
Venezeula Is Plunging Even Deeper Into Recession. Venezuela's economy saw its third consecutive quarter of contraction, with a 2.3% drop in output during the three months to September. The oil-producing nation is also recording dramatic official inflation of close to 5% per month.
China Is Slowing. China's HSBC manufacturing PMI fell to 49.6 in December from 50.0 in November. This was just marginally higher than the flash (preliminary) reading of 49.5. This was the first sub-50 reading since May, and any reading below signals contraction.
Jorg Asmussen Has Been Meeting With Syriza Figures In Greece. German chancellor Angela Merkel has been preparing for weeks for a new, radical left-wing government in Athens, according to the Italian newspaper La Stampa. Labour minister and former ECB board member Jorg Asmussen has been visiting Athens for talks with the coalition.
And Greece's Prime Minister Says Greece's Future In Europe Rests On The Upcoming Election. Greece's prime minister, Antonis Samaras, warned Tuesday the financially-stricken nation may be forced out of the eurozone if January's parliamentary election hands hard-left party Syriza power to reverse years of austerity measures.
Regional Fed President Naranya Kocherlakota Says The US Deflation Risk Is Serious. The chance of US inflation falling below 1% in 2015 is at a five-year high, and the risk of deflation is growing more likely, an analysis of market data released by Kocherlakota and the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank showed.
Initial Jobless Claims Are Coming. It's a light day for economic data, but US figures on official jobless claims in the week to December 19 are out at 1.30 p.m. GMT. Economists are expecting 290,000 initial applications for unemployment benefits.
Ukraine Signed A Nuclear Deal With Westinghouse. Westinghouse Electric Company said it signed a deal in Brussels with Ukraine's Energoatom state nuclear power provider "to significantly increase fuel deliveries to Ukrainian nuclear power plants through 2020," which could help to ease the country's energy dependence on Russia.
China's Largest Rail Firms Are Agreeing To A Monumental Merger. The merger of China's top two train makers will create a "world-leading" rail supplier to compete with foreign players, they said, as enthusiastic investors sent their share prices surging Wednesday.State-owned firms China CNR Corp. and CSR Corp. will unite into a single huge conglomerate, preventing in-fighting between the two as China vies for lucrative rail contracts overseas.
Asian Markets Are Mixed. Japan's Nikkei closed down 1.57%, ending the year 8.91% higher than it began in January 2014. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is currently up 0.44%, 5.31% higher than it was in January. China's Shanghai Composite is up another 2.26%, rising by more than 50% in 2014.
BP Is Investigating Whether Its Traders Were Linked To Forex Scandals. According to the FT, the energy giant is investigating its in-house foreign exchange market traders to see whether they were linked to market-rigging attempts which landed multi-billion dollar fines on major banks in December.