What Are Traders Chatting About This Morning? Greece And The Fed ...
Good morning! While the S&P futures are only slightly higher, Nasdaq is up 1% as Apple reports the largest corporate profit in history (AAPL up 8%). European markets are showing some angst on Grexit Fears - Shares in all four of the big Greek banks lost more than 10% for a second day running - Athens Main stock exchange is off 4%+ to 2Y lows. A nice rally in Consumer shares is helping the DAX offset continued losses in big German Industrial plays, but heavy headwinds persist from those European banks (Grexit/ECB capital increase demands). Over in Asia, the Russian market is up slightly ahead of economic data - Nikkei gained small, but Shanghai lost 1.4% as more margin accounts were scrutinized. India was off small, while Aussie was flat despite a bounce in the miners.
Greek Angst is evident in the credit markets, where Greek yields are out 1% to Bunds, dragging all the other PIIGS debt along with it. Both Bunds and treasuries have seen a persistent bid building since the Asian session, and we saw heavy buying pressure alleviated at the EU close yesterday - so yields may be under pressure till lunchtime. Singapore joined the FX wars, unexpectedly cutting rates, while the Euro and Yen crosses to the greenback are basically unchanged. Every major Financial Paper this morning talking impact of Strong $ on US Multinationals. The Oil complex is under pressure - a combo of Saudi increasing output 300k bpd, and a massive build in US inventories - DOE estimates are for a build of 3.85mln barrels - API last night showed a build of 12.7mln. Natty is retreating 3%, while the metal complex is mixed. Copper showing a bounce (dead cat variety), and Gold off small. At 8am, we get Russian Wages, Unemployment, Retail Sales, and CPI, then focus shifts to the Oil patch and DOE data at 10:30. We have a 2Y Floater auction at 11:30, followed by a $26B auction at 1. BOE's Carney speaks at 1:50, then we get the FOMC announcement at 2pm (no Presser). Natty contracts expire at the close of NYMEX trading at 2:30.