Good morning New York,
FT ALPHAVILLE
My not so precious...: The gold and silver rout continues on.
A digital solution to the repo squeeze: Izzy suggests the Fed and other central banks should respond to the repo market disruption by offering to issue digital cash -- a.k.a zero yielding reserves -- directly to consumers and money market funds in digital file form.
Iron pyrite – Australian edition: Neil notes most of Australia's listed junior miners are being spanked, but also the country's biggest gold producer by market value – Newcrest Mining – a A$15bn company.
NEWS
China's Q1 GDP growth was 7.7%, missing estimates. The country reported 7.7% year-on-year growth while median economist forecasts were for 8% according to a Reuters poll. Industrial production grew 9.5%, compared to 10% for the same period in 2012 and retail sales rose 12.4% in the quarter, 1.9 percentage points lower than last year. (Financial Times)(Reuters)
Gold, silver prices tumble: Gold for immediate delivery dropped as much as 3.9% to $1,425.75 an ounce, the lowest level since April 2011, while silver fell 5% to its lowest level since November 2010. (Bloomberg)
Global economy in a rut: "The global economy is stuck in a rut, unable to sustain a decent recovery and susceptible to a sudden stall, according to the latest Brookings Institution-Financial Times tracking index of recovery." (Financial Times)
Thermo Fisher nears $13bn Life Tech deal: "Thermo Fisher Scientific is nearing a deal to buy genetic testing equipment maker Life Technologies Corp for close to $13bn, according to four people familiar with the matter, in what would be one of the year's biggest corporate takeovers." (Reuters)
Troika officials arrive in Lisbon today to assess a new round of austerity measures as the government struggles to keep the country's €78bn rescue programme on track and avoid a second bailout. The mission will determine payment of the next €2bn installment of Portugal's bailout loans and final approval of an agreement to give Lisbon seven more years to pay them back. (Financial Times)
Dovish Rosengren sees brighter outlook: Eric Rosengren, Boston Fed president and FOMC voting member, tells the WSJ he is feeling less pessimistic. (Wall Street Journal)
Hopes of full payout for Lehman Europe creditors rise: Creditors of the European arm of the bank may receive payment with interest. "In a report sent out to creditors on Friday, administrators PwC said there was a "reasonable chance" of repayment in full of the £15bn in unsecured claims, following a string of legal victories against other defunct Lehman entities in recent months." (Financial Times)
Markets: Concerns about global growth were hitting stocks and commodities after China's economy expanded less than expected in the first quarter, compounding recent disappointing data out of the US. Investors were dumping gold, pushing the price to its lowest in two years and leaving the precious metal nearly 25 per cent below its peak of $1,920 an ounce. The dollar was attracting funds, though there is no sign of a mass movement into "haven" Treasuries. The FTSE All-World equity index was down 0.2 per cent after the Asia-Pacific region slid 0.8 per cent and as the FTSE Eurofirst 300 slipped fractionally. US index futures suggested the S&P 500 would shed 5 points to 1,584. The Wall Street barometer last week hit a record close of 1,593, helped by recent signs of improvement in the world's two biggest economies and ongoing asset purchase programmes from the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan. (Financial Times)
