6 Things To Read Before Trading Today

From the Desk of Lou Brien

1. The Hang Seng lost one percent on the session, Australia and Shanghai were down a half percent and the Nikkei was down about one third of a percent. But Europe is up across the board; the Dax is among the strongest this morning with a gain of 1.4%, the Footsie is currently higher by 0.9%. US stock futures are fractionally higher as I write.
2. The February reading of Japan's All Industry Activity Index was -2.3%, bigger fall than the -1.6% that was expected.
3. Greece has formally requested aid from the EU. Yields on Greek debt have fallen a bit, spreads have narrowed and the euro has bounced off its low, but the reaction has been relatively muted at this point.
4. The April reading of Germany's IFO index of the Business Climate was stronger than forecast; it jumped to 101.6 from 98.1, only a fractional increase had been expected.
5. The Q1 reading of the UK GDP was less than expected, it was +0.2% on a quarter on quarter basis, half of the forecast; the year over year result was -0.3%, the estimate was -0.1%.
6. The IMF/World Bank and G20 finance ministers and central bankers are meeting this weekend in Washington.