Asian stocks were mostly higher, the yen was poised for its first weekly gain in four weeks and the NZ dollar was higher on trade surplus figures. Investors are looking to the Bank of Japan's forecasts of inflation and GDP today, from its first meeting since announcing a big stimulus programme, and US Q1 GDP data is also due later today. The MSCI Asia Pacific was 0.3% higher and the Nikkei rose 0.2%. (Bloomberg)
Samsung Electronics' Q1 earnings slightly exceeded expectations, but its shares slipped as the world's biggest technology group by sales reiterated its cautious outlook for the global smartphone market. Despite heavy spending on marketing, it gave a restrained forecast for its performance in smartphones. It said it expects sales to stay flat in the second quarter but to pick up in the second half of the year, while alluding to a growing competitive threat from low-cost Chinese manufacturers. (Financial Times)
Japanese consumer prices fell the most in two years in March. Consumer prices excluding fresh food fell 0.5% from a year earlier, compared to economists' consensus expectations of 0.4%. (Bloomberg)
Merkel's interest rate comments highlight European divide: Germany in isolation probably needed higher interest rates, Angela Merkel said, in an unusual intervention just a week before many expect the ECB to cut its main interest rate. German officials normally avoid talking about interest-rate decisions to avoid the appearance of interfering with the ECB's independence. (Financial Times)(Wall Street Journal)
Spain expected to turn away from austerity: Mariano Rajoy's government is expected to lay out an agenda that tilts away from austerity, with less-stringent deficit targets and more emphasis on spurring growth." (Wall Street Journal)
ADM to buy GrainCorp for A$3bn: GrainCorp, the largest crop handler in eastern Australia, has agreed to a sweetened A$3bn (U$3.1bn) takeover offer from US-based Archer Daniels Midland after a six-month courtship. News of the deal sent GrainCorp shares to a record high in Sydney on Friday. The latest offer was the third since ADM's initial approach in October last year. (Financial Times)
CBOE outage lasts several hours: "A software glitch knocked out trading on the largest US options exchange for more than three hours Thursday, raising fresh questions about the reliability of critical elements of the financial market." (Wall Street Journal)
SFO launches criminal probe into ENRC: The announcement came days after founding shareholders said they were weighing up plans to take the Kazakh-based miner private. "People familiar with the investigation told the Financial Times that the agency had first begun an official probe into ENRC before its potential restructuring was announced last week." Two internal investigations were already under way after whistleblower allegations about assets in Kazakhstan and Africa. (Financial Times)
Some US banks support Europeans against capital rules: European banks have won support from some US rivals, including JP Morgan, in fighting the Fed's proposal to force US subsidiaries of large foreign banks to hold more capital. However Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley have told US officials that they support the moves, despite concerns about a breakdown in regulatory harmony. (Financial Times)
US regulators want swift replacement of Libor: Regulators including the Fed and the Treasury said on Thursday that alternative rates "anchored in observable transactions" should be identified "promptly" by international officials and market participants. (Financial Times)
Research suggests Google searches predict markets: People do more searches on terms such as "stocks", "portfolio" and "economics" when they are worried about the state of the markets. (Financial Times)(Paper)
COMMENT AND CURIOS:
- Philip Stephens: This is a chance to rethink austerity orthodoxy. (Financial Times)
- Martin Wolf: The pros and cons of a floating currency. (Financial Times)
- Japan's investment banks are among the first and biggest Abenomics beneficiaries. (Bloomberg)
- What Apple could learn from Warren Buffett. (Bloomberg)
- Video: Draghi not such a rock star after all. (Wall Street Journal)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS: MIXED
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 up +27.40 (+0.20%) at 13,953
Topix down -4.89 (-0.42%) at 1,168
Hang Seng up +197.80 (+0.88%) at 22,599
US markets
S&P 500 up +0.01 (0.00%) at 1,579
DJIA up +24.50 (+0.17%) at 14,701
Nasdaq unchanged 0.00 (0.00%) at 3,290
European markets
Eurofirst 300 up +8.82 (+0.74%) at 1,201
FTSE100 up +10.83 (+0.17%) at 6,443
CAC 40 down -2.47 (-0.06%) at 3,840
Dax up +73.83 (+0.95%) at 7,833
Currencies
€/$ 1.30 (1.30)
$/¥ 99.12 (99.25)
£/$ 1.55 (1.54)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) down -0.46 at 102.95
Light Crude (Nymex) down -0.46 at 93.18
100 Oz Gold (Comex) up +9.60 at 1,471
Copper (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 323.80
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 1.71%
UK 1.74%
Germany 1.24%
CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe +0.61bps at 96.43bp
Markit iTraxx Europe -0.77bps at 105.51bp
Markit iTraxx Xover -3.88bps at 428.11bp
Markit CDX IG -1.02bps at 79bp
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
