| HY Markets Official blog

September 2013

Euro Dragged Lower By Italy’s Turmoil

The euro currency declined 0.2% against the US dollar on Monday, as it was dragged down by the Italian political turmoil with the Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta facing a confidence vote on Wednesday as Silvio Berlusconi’s party resigned from the cabinet.

The euro declined 0.21% to $1.3494 against the US dollar as of 7:56am GMT, while against the Japanese yen; the euro fell 0.73% to ¥132.19 against the yen and edged down 0.30% lower to £0.8360 versus the pound sterling at the same time.

“Several European Central Bank (ECB) members stressed that they are ready to offer another LTRO (long-term refinancing operations) if needed. Read more

European Equities In Red As US Government Shutdown Weighs

European equities started the trading week in red as market traders continue to worry over the US budget.

The European Euro Stoxx 50 was seen 1.17% lower at 2,882.56 points, while the German DAX dropped 1.14% lower at the market open. At the same time the French CAC 40 lost 1.18% to 4,138.89 points, while the British FTSE 100 declined 1.14% opening at 6, 44.57 points.

European Equities – US Government Shutdown

There is a high chance that the largest economy in the world could face its first government shutdown since 1996. President Barack Obama’s healthcare law has been postponed by the Republican dominated house by a year. Read more

WTI Heading Towards Third Weekly Drop

WTI  crude  oil headed to its third weekly loss and is expected to end up in red for the sixth session out of seven on Friday as thee easing tensions in the Middle Eastern region continues to drag the crude lower.  The UN Security Council will vote on a resolution for Syria later in the day.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures for November delivery eased 0.40% to $102.62 per barrel on New York’s Nymex at the time of writing, while the European benchmark crude Brent was seen edging 0.22% lower at $108.98 a barrel at the same time in London.

The North American sweet crude closed the previous session in green, as it rose 0.35% following the highly volatile trading. Crude advanced footing on a string of positive US macroeconomic data. Read more

European Equities In Green; Italy’s Turmoil In Focus

European Equities futures were seen advancing on Friday, while talks in the US over the country’s budget and debt ceiling still weigh and the situation in Italy is also in the spotlight.

Futures for the European Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.15% higher at 2,914 at the time of writing, while German’s DAX futures edged 0.13% higher to 8,671.80 at the same time. Futures for the French CAC 40 advanced 0.07% to 4,191.80 and UK FTSE 100 futures gained 0.04% to 6,533.30. Read more

Retail Sales In Italy Drops, Exceeding Analysts’ Forecasts

Retail sales in Italy declined for the second month in July, with a fall of 0.3% month-on-month in July, compared to previously recorded 0.2% fall in June and exceeding analysts’ forecast of 0.1%, according to reports from the National Institute of Statistics (Istat).

Retail sales edged 0.9% lower on an annual basis, after a 3% drop in June while analysts estimated a 2.8% drop.

Retail Sales – Consumer Prices

In Italy, inflation rose to 0.4% in August, Istat reported on September 12. While on an annual basis, inflation advanced 1.2% in August.”The stability of Italian inflation was mainly the result of opposite movements,” Istat reported. Read more