Asian stocks rose, following record closes in the S&P500 and Dow. The Nikkei rose 1.7%, helped by strong earnings from companies including Suzuki and Sony yesterday, and the MSCI Asia Pacific was up 0.7%. (Bloomberg)(FastFT)
Today: US non-farm payrolls, factory orders. Fed's Bullard speaks on the economy. UK construction PMI. Companies reporting: RBS, Rentokil, Man Group.
Berlusconi has been definitively convicted for the first time. Italy's supreme court has rejected his appeal against a conviction for tax fraud, upholding a four-year jail sentence, but asking the Milan appeals court to review a five-year ban on the former Italian prime minister holding public office. In a nine-minute video responding to the sentence, Berlusconi no mention of his previous expressions of support for the coalition government, but pledged to go ahead with the proposed relaunch of his party under its original name – Forza Italia (Go Italy). However some senior allies said the ruling would not hit the coalition between Letta's centre-left Democratic Party and Berlusconi's People of Freedom. His lawyers said they would pursue every possible avenue, even in European courts, in an attempt to overturn "this unjust sentence". (Financial Times)
Indonesia's growth rate fell more than expected, with Q2 GDP rising 5.8% year-on-year, compared to consensus forecasts of 5.9%, and a comparable rate of 6.02% in Q1. The country is contending with both slowing investment and rising inflation as energy costs rise. (Bloomberg)
Brazil actually does support IMF's Greek aid: "Brazil reversed its hardline stance on Greece's bailout on Thursday, saying it had not authorised its representative to the International Monetary Fund to withhold support for the latest aid to Athens." Finance minister Guido Mantega said Brazi's abstention from the vote on a €1.8bn tranche of aid was a 'mistake'. (Financial Times)
"Bank of America is facing new legal troubles from US authorities, it disclosed on Thursday, including potential civil charges from the Department of Justice over securitisations of mortgages lent to wealthy borrowers." New threats, including Department of Justice plans to file civil charges over one or two jumbo prime securitisations, and the development of existing cases were announced in a regulatory filing yesterday. (Financial Times)
NIESR raises British growth forecasts: The thinktank raised forecasts for both this year and next by 0.3 percentage points, to 1.2% for 2013 and 1.8% for 2014, citing rising consumer spending growth as the main reason for the revision. (Reuters)
"Australia's budget deficit will widen to A$30.1 billion ($26.8 billion) this fiscal year as the economy slows and unemployment rises, underscoring Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's challenge as he prepares for an election." (Bloomberg)
"Chesapeake's shares jumped 7% Thursday to the highest level in more than a year, as the energy producer reported rising oil output and its new chief executive pledged to close a persistent gap between its spending and cash flow by next year. (Wall Street Journal)
Earlier: Fabrice Tourre found liable for defrauding investors in SEC win. (Reuters) Tourre's decline and fall. (Financial Times)
COMMENT AND CURIOS:
- Newly-created US jobs are disproportionately low-paid. (Wall Street Journal)
- An Apollo mission to harvest the sun. (Financial Times)
European banks shrink cash piles to meet capital requirements, but will regulators be happy? (Wall Street Journal)
- Timing: China's tallest building will reach its highest point tomorrow. (Bloomberg)
- Brazil protests are continuing, they're just getting more targeted. (FT Beyondbrics)
- Peter Tasker: Is Japan about to repeat mistakes of the late 1990s? (Financial Times)
- Gavyn Davies on the new US GDP measures. (FT blog)
OVERNIGHT MARKETS: UP
Asian markets
Nikkei 225 up +251.14 (+1.79%) at 14,257
Topix up +19.22 (+1.65%) at 1,183
Hang Seng up +123.83 (+0.56%) at 22,213
US markets
S&P 500 up +21.14 (+1.25%) at 1,707
DJIA up +128.48 (+0.83%) at 15,628
Nasdaq up +49.37 (+1.36%) at 3,676
European markets
Eurofirst 300 up +13.00 (+1.08%) at 1,221
FTSE100 up +60.92 (+0.92%) at 6,682
CAC 40 up +50.04 (+1.25%) at 4,043
Dax up +134.76 (+1.63%) at 8,411
Currencies
€/$ 1.32 (1.32)
$/¥ 99.28 (99.53)
£/$ 1.51 (1.51)
Commodities ($)
Brent Crude (ICE) up +0.47 at 110.01
Light Crude (Nymex) up +0.71 at 108.60
100 Oz Gold (Comex) down -5.30 at 1,306
Copper (Comex) down -0.01 at 3.15
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.71%
UK 2.42%
Germany 1.67%
CDS (closing levels)
Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe -0.99bps at 90.54bp
Markit iTraxx Europe -3.37bps at 96.62bp
Markit iTraxx Xover -6.16bps at 398.01bp
(CDX IG will return shortly)
Sources: FT, Bloomberg, Markit
