European markets mixed as EU Summit takes place

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - The German DAX 30 (+0.14%) and the Italian FTSE MIB (+0.09%) are edging higher while the French CAC 40 (-0.54%) and the Spanish IBEX 35 (-0.71%) fall on Friday as the EU Summit is at its last day, looking for solutions for the bailed out countries and to agree on a bailout deal to Cyprus, also with talks of growth measures. In regard to Cyprus, “leaders are trying to limit the cost of the government bailout by putting some of that cost on to bank depositors so if they have reached this compromise there is at least some risk we have the Cyprus bailout announced today”, wrote TD Securities analyst Tim Davis.

EMU CPI rose 0.4% as expected in February, retracing part of the -1.0% drop, with annualized data easing from 2.0% to 1.8%, also in line with consensus. Core data stayed at 1.3% (YoY). Labor cost eased from 1.8% (revised from 2.0%) to 1.3% in Q4.

Futures for the American S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones 30 are signaling a mixed but quite flat opening ahead of the US CPI, industrial production, Reuters/Michigan consumer sentiment and NY Empire State manufacturing index.

Mar 15, 2013

Forex Flash: EU leaders summit continues, aims to address growth – Deutsche Bank

According to Macro Strategy Analysts J. Reid and C. Tan at Deutsche Bank, “With the EU leader's summit continuing today in Brussels, the news flow has so far been focused on the around the growth vs. austerity debate. A draft conclusion prepared for the EU leaders summit appeared to offer some flexibility on budgets, saying there should be an appropriate mix of expenditure and revenue measures, including short-term targeted measures to boost growth.”

Forex Flash: Old EU institutional framework is inadequate – Goldman Sachs

It is now almost universally acknowledged that the Euro crisis is proof that the original institutional set-up for the currency union was inadequate. Where there is less agreement is on the kind of institutional change needed to achieve long-term stability for the Euro area. According to the Economics Research Team at Goldman Sachs, “One school of thought argues that only further fiscal and political integration, which would also include permanent risk-sharing and fiscal transfers between countries, can guarantee the long-term survival of the monetary union.”