May 09
28
Morning Call by Greg Secker
The London markets managed to inch forward on Wednesday, having flitted in and out of red and green today the FTSE 100 finally finished the day four points up at 4416. Hotel group InterContinental Hotels (IHG) and hedge fund manager Man Group (EMG) leading the day’s climbers – the latter ahead of its full-year results tomorrow. Miners were among the day’s biggest strugglers, with Lonmin (LMI) and Fresnillo (FRES) leading the fallers. On Wall Street the Dow closed down 2% at 8,300, a fall of 173 points. At 02:30 am, Australia’s Private Capital Expenditure (which shows the change in the total inflation-adjusted value of new capital expenditures made by private businesses) came in at -8.9%, forecast at -6.0%. Australian business investment fell for the first time in six quarters, adding to signs that the economy has sunk into its first recession since 1991. This was followed by New Zealand’s Annual Budget Release at 3:00. Swiss Trade Balance numbers came in at 7:15 this morning, forecast at 0.11 billion, with the actual better than expected at 2.56 billion. In Europe, German Unemployment Change comes out at 8:55, forecast at 66K, up from the previous 58K, a key figure for Europe. At 11:00, British CBI Realized Sales is a major figure for the Pound, expected to turn negative, from 3 to -10. Stateside, at 13:30, we have Core Durable Goods Orders m/m, predicted to drop by 0.4%, less than last month’s fall. The non-Core figure including transportation items is expected to rise by 0.1%. Also at 13:30, the US Unemployment Claims figures are published, expected at 628K from the previous 631K. At 15:00, New Home Sales are released, expected to rise to 363K, from 356K last month. At 23:45, New Zealand Building Consents m/m figures are published. At 12:01 am, UK GfK Consumer Confidence is due. Expectations are for an easing from -27 to -25. From 12:15 am we see a raft of figures from Japan. These include Household Spending which is predicted to fall by 0.7%, Tokyo Core CPI, expected at -0.6% from 0.0% last month, the Japanese Unemployment Rate, expected at 5%, from 4.8%, and Prelim Industrial Production m/m, expected at 3.3%, previously 1.6%. At 7:00 am tomorrow morning, the GBP Nationwide HPI m/m figure is released, expected at -0.9%, from -0.4%.
