“On the basis of some current economic and fiscal trends in France… we wouldn’t expect to downgrade France this year”
– Ed Parker, head of EMEA sovereign ratings
Fitch Raings does not plan to downgrade France’s top notch AAA credit raing in 2012, while raings of Spain and Italy as well as other countries under review could be cut by one or two notches this year, said Ed Parker, head of EMEA sovereign raings at Fitch on Tuesday.
“Demand has been pretty good in the fourth quarter, though the momentum peaked early in the quarter”
– Aneta Markowska, a senior U.S. economist at Societe Generale
U.S. month-on-month wholesale inventories barely grew in November, suggesing the economy is recovering at a moderate pace.
“A better-than-hoped for December closed a relentlessly tough year for retailers”
– Stephen Robertson, director general of the BRC
U.K. retail sector expanded in December 2011, compared to the same period last year as retailers offered generous discounts to lure shoppers. Retails sales rose 2.2 per cent, after declining 1.6 per cent the previous year, said the Briish Retail Consorium on Tuesday.
CHF
“At the beginning of this new year there seems to be more opimism than pessimism toward coordinated poliical efforts to solve the euro crisis”
– Alessandro Fezzi, senior market analyst at LGT Capital Management AG
Swiss stocks closed higher for the fi rst ime in four days as a meeing of German Chancellor Angela Merkel with Internaional Monetary Fund Chief Chrisine Lagarde boosted opimism that law makers are searching for new soluions to solve the sovereign debt crisis.
JPY
“Asia and the U.S. are being hit less by Europe than expected, which is posiive for Japan’s stocks”
– Shintaro Takeuchi, porfolio investment group manager at Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co.
Japanese stocks closed higher on Tuesday, snapping two days of losses after the U.S. economy added more jobs than it was expected and unemployment fell to 8.5 per cent in December.
“Watch $1.28 as this level will set the tone going forward and whether this retracement has legs. So far the $1.28-test has been a tepid one.”
– Global-View.com (based on CNBC)
Succeeding a recovery up to 1.2820/60 or 1.2974, the pair should recommence falling.
“It’s difficult for investors to bet on riskier assets just relying on positive economic data from the U.S. There’s tension in the market regarding Europe’s debt issue”
– Industrial Bank of Korea (based on Bloomberg)
EUR/JPY currency pair should be capped for now by resistances located at 98.45, 99.45 and 100.77.
“We still see more downside in euro/sterling, and it will probably be the same story in Cable”
– Commerzbank (based on Reuters)
After testing a strong support level situated at 1.5363/47, the Cable is likely to bounce off it and advance.
“The reason the yen is appreciating is because the yen is seen as the least unattractive currency in the financial crisis”
– Masaaki Shirakawa, BoJ Governor (based on Bloomberg)
Being that the currency pair’s movement is limited by strong levels from above and below, current bias is neutral.
“Swiss franc being a safe haven, any time there’s uncertainty it strengthens. Now is the time to take advantage of this move that we saw”
– CNBC
In case a key support at 0.9450 continues to repel USD/CHF, the currency couple will be perceived as bullish in the long run.
Greek Debt Deal Talks: How Much of a ‘Haircut’?
City analysts have criticised the Bank of England’s handling of the Britain’s banking sector and warned that Bank and Government policies have left major lenders vulnerable if the eurozone debt crisis spreads to the UK.
For those hurting most, Fed’s remedies limited
In the most difficult economy in a generation, middle-income and poor Americans are hurting the worst. Congress is tied in knots, barely able to pass even the most basic measures to help.
Can China avoid a hard landing?
The $64,000 question facing the global economy this year should be more accurately dubbed the 404,163 yuan question: Can China avoid a big slowdown in growth in 2012?