Rumours China may help Europe resolve its debt crisis

PUBLISHED: February 9, 2012 at 12:10 pm  •  LAST EDITED: February 9, 2012 at 12:15 pm
Business & Finance  •  4 Comments

YESTERDAY in the UK we saw another reason to potentially expect more quantitative easing from the Bank of England as the shop price index data came in worse than expected.

The anticipation of a further round of quantitative easing later on today weighed heavily on sterling as it weakened across board. It is still highly anticipated that a 50 billion pound increase in the Bank of England’s asset purchases will be announced. Interest rates are expected to remain at 0.5%. The yield on 10 year Government bonds also reached a two month high yesterday. In more positive news, Standard and Poor’s (one of the three main credit rating agencies) said that the UK has benefited from a floating exchange rate suggesting we have faired better thought the global economic crisis by not being part of the euro. Manufacturing data in the UK is released this morning; but, the main focus will remain onGreeceand the Bank of England’s decision on its asset purchase program and official bank rate. Call in now for the latest update and the latest news.

The euro zone yesterday saw yet more delays in Greece as the deadline was once again surpassed on Tuesday night for the Prime Minister to agree terms with the leaders of the other political parties. The Prime Minister also held an unscheduled meeting on Tuesday night with the “Troika”, comprising the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to try and put the final touches on terms required for a 130 billion euro rescue package. We wait to see if these plans can finally be settled today. Alarmingly, Standard and Poor’s stated that there was a 1 in 3 chance of a rating cut in most euro nations; but, this does not include Germany. Rumours yesterday also suggested that China may be looking to “move shortly” to help Europe resolve its debt crisis by providing as much as 100 billion euros. German trade balance came in slightly better than expected and the French central government balance was released as the markets had anticipated. Out today the European Central Bank interest rate decision will be announced. Call in now for the latest update and the latest news.

Little data was released in the US with the world’s focus remaining on Greece. One of the members of the Federal bank was speaking where amongst many things stated that the US doesn’t need to raise tax or to make drastic cuts at present. He also reiterated some of The Chairman of the Federal Bank comments from Tuesday stating that the economy has performed “pretty” well and that job growth was good for the time being; however, he also mentioned that the US is “clearly on unsustainable path” of deficits and that the fiscal issue is the “biggest” long-term challenge that the US faces. Standard and Poor’s also stated that the US has a one-in-three chance of another downgrade due to the government’s failure to agree on a path to reduce its deficit. Out today in the US see’s the release of yet more unemployment data which the market hopes will replicate the positive unemployment data out last Friday. Call in now for the latest update and the latest news.

Elsewhere yesterday saw the Swiss unemployment rate come in as expected. Japanese economic sentiment came in worse than expected; but, the number of new houses that began construction in Canada came in better than forecasts predicted. Out first thing this morning is the release of Chinese Consumer Price Index (CPI) data and household consumer confidence inSwitzerland. Throughout the day there is not much data released apart from more Canadian housing data. Call in now for the latest update and the latest news.

EURO/GBP – 1.1924
US$/GBP – 1.5842
CHF/GBP – 1.4432
CAN$/GBP – 1.5767
AUS$/GBP – 1.4654
ZAR/GBP – 11.991
JPY/GBP – 122.28
HKD/GBP – 12.2834
NZD/GBP – 1.8945
SEK/GBP – 10.5321
AED/GBP – 5.8116
US$/EURO – 1.3280
INR/GBP – 78.12

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