Greece paid the IMF. The troubled country met its 460 million euro ($495.82 million) debt obligation to the International Monetary Fund. According to HSBC, the real 'crunch point' will occur on May 12, when 767 million euro payment to the IMF is due. Greece's 3-year yield is lower by 58 basis points at 20.41%.
The Bank of England took no action at today's meeting. The central bank held its Official Bank Rate at 0.50% and its asset purchase program at 375 billion pounds. Both were expected. Great Britain's pound is off 0.3% at 1.4820.
The Bank of Korea kept policy on hold. South Korea's central bank held its benchmark interest rate at a record low 1.75%, as expected. Following the announcement, the BOK lowered its 2015 growth forecast to 3.1% (3.4% previous) and its 2015 inflation outlook to 0.9% (1.9% previous). South Korea's won is down 0.2% at 1092.60 per dollar.
German data disappointed. Industrial production posted a surprise drop, slipping 0.3% year-over-year. The country's trade surplus edged up to 19.7 billion euros (19.6 billion euros previous), but missed the 20.3 billion euro estimate as imports rose 1.8% YoY and exports climbed 1.5% YoY. Germany's 10-year yield is off 2 basis points at a record low 0.15%.
UK Oil and Gas Investments made a huge oil discovery. The exploration company says it discovered approximately 100 billion barrels of oil in the South of England. However, the company admitted only 3% to 15% was likely to be recovered. The company's stock was up as much 325% on the news.
JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon released his annual later to shareholders. Dimon said recent action in fixed income and foreign exchange markets is a "warning shot across the bow," and that the the bond 'flash crash' that occurred on October 15 is something that happens 'once in every 3 billion years or so.'
Alcoa kicked off earnings season with mixed results. The aluminum maker announced earnings of $0.28 per share, topping the $0.26 per share that was expected. Revenues were light at $5.82 billion, missing analyst expectations of $5.94 billion. The company upped its global demand forecast, noting, "Given final 2014 worldwide aluminum demand, Alcoa has upwardly revised its view of global aluminum demand growth in 2015 to 9 percent, an increase from the prior forecast of 7 percent. This results in global consumption of 54 million metric tons, or 1.2 million metric tons higher than previously forecast."
PetroChina is the world's largest oil company. PetroChina's market cap reached $352.8 billion, surpassing Exxon Mobile ($352.6 billion) for the first time in five years. The Chinese energy giant has rallied 61% over the past year, but has vastly underperformed the Shanghai Composite which sports a gain of almost 90% over that time.
Global stock markets are mixed. France's CAC (+0.8%) leads European markets higher after Hong Kong's Hang Seng (+2%) led the way in Asian trade. China's Shanghai Composite (-0.8%) was a notable laggard.
US economic data is light. Unemployment claims are due out at 8:30 a.m. ET and wholesale inventories will cross the wires at 10 a.m. ET. The Energy Information Administration will release the latest natural gas storage data at 10:30 a.m. ET. Treasury reopens $13 billion 30-year bonds at 1 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is on session lows, down 3 basis points at 1.88%