Japan revised up Q1 growth to annual 4.1%: "Japan has revised up its first quarter economic growth to 1 per cent, giving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a boost as he seeks to strengthen his grip on power in next month's upper house elections. Government data released on Monday showed that the economy expanded at an annualised rate of 4.1 per cent between January and March, lifted by strong household spending and a pick-up in private residential investment. That was much higher than the preliminary estimate of 3.5 per cent, which was already the fastest rate recorded by any Group of Seven economy." (Financial Times)
Backlash over US snooping intensifies: "The Obama administration came under mounting bipartisan pressure on Sunday to scale back electronic surveillance following revelations last week that have raised new questions about government intrusion into citizens' privacy. The calls came as the UK's Guardian newspaper revealed that the whistleblower who leaked information about US surveillance activities was Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former CIA employee who has taken refuge in Hong Kong, setting up a potentially delicate political issue with the Chinese authorities about his fate." (Financial Times)
SEC counsel faces whistleblower's claims: "The new chief counsel to the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman is the subject of a discrimination complaint from a former colleague at Deutsche Bank, who claims he was fired for blowing the whistle on fraud.
Robert Rice joined the SEC last week, working directly for Mary Jo White, the new SEC chairman. He moved from Deutsche where he was head of governance, litigation and regulation for the Americas." (Financial Times)
US jobs report lifts Asia markets but China data limit gains: "Asian shares rebounded as investors were encouraged by a better-than-expected US jobs report, but gains were limited by poor economic data from China." (Financial Times)
Bank reforms spur BNP Paribas to merge US units: "BNP Paribas is planning a full-blown merger of its US operations as it attempts to offset the impact of threatened US regulatory reforms for foreign banks, according to people familiar with the project. The French bank, which is one of the world's largest by assets, has drawn up detailed plans to combine BancWest, its US retail banking subsidiary, with its US corporate and investment banking operations in a move intended to improve its capital and funding efficiency in the country." (Financial Times)
Hearing pits German monetary heavyweights against each other: "One of the bitterest fights in monetary policy lands in court this week as Germany's highest legal authority hears evidence over whether the European Central Bank's pledge to save the euro last year undermined the constitution. The hearing comes as crisis-weary Germans prepare to vote in a September general election that for the first time includes a eurosceptic party. But also of note are the star witnesses, two longstanding friends who have risen through the ranks to become arguably Germany's most powerful unelected officials. Both have been instrumental in framing the response to the eurozone crisis but are now fighting from opposing corners." (Financial Times)
COMMENT AND CURIOS
- Apple designer to showcase new vision for mobile devices.
- Booz Allen grew rich on government contracts.
- Hail the honesty about Greece's bailout.
- If the NSA trusted Edward Snowden with our data, why should we trust the NSA?
- Economic dynamism is still needed.
- Do US tech companies have legal troubles in the EU?
OVERNIGHT MARKETS
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 up +504.31 (+3.92%) at 13,382
Topix up +48.96 (+4.63%) at 1,106
Hang Seng up +95.99 (+0.44%) at 21,671
US markets
S&P 500 up +20.82 (+1.28%) at 1,643
DJIA up +207.50 (+1.38%) at 15,248
Nasdaq up +45.17 (+1.32%) at 3,469
European markets
Eurofirst 300 up +15.67 (+1.33%) at 1,194
FTSE100 up +75.88 (+1.20%) at 6,412
CAC 40 up +58.31 (+1.53%) at 3,873
Dax up +155.87 (+1.92%) at 8,255
Currencies
€/$ 1.32 (1.32)
$/¥ 98.05 (97.48)
£/$ 1.55 (1.56)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) unchanged 0.00 at 104.56
Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.04 at 96.07
100 Oz Gold (Comex) up +2.80 at 1,386
Copper (Comex) unchanged 0.00 at 3.27
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.16%
UK 2.07%
Germany 1.55
CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe +1.41bps at 87.66bp
Markit iTraxx Europe -8.56bps at 104.28bp
Markit iTraxx Xover -34.63bps at 436.66bp
Markit CDX IG -3.01bps at 81.06bp
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
