Spain sells 2495 mln 2021 bonds, 724 mln 2041 bonds

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• Spain sells 2495 mln 2021 bonds, 724 mln 2041 bonds
• UK DATA: APr car production -12.2% y/y – SMMT……..
• Talk of……
• UK Analysis: Warm Weather Helps To Boost April Retail Sales
• UK DATA: Apr Retail Sales +1.1% m/m; +2.8% y/y; 0.8%.
• UK April retail sales +1.1% m/m, +2.8% y/y
• EFSF and EFSM to raise funds for Portugal and Ireland on market between May 23 and July 15
• USD/JPY ticking higher
• It’s scuttlebutt time
• ECB Stark:Greece Restruct. Would Hurt ECB Collat. Eligibility
• Dutch FinMin: Cannot let Greece return to the drachma, it would not be ableto pay back debt
• Japan PM Kan: Expects BOJ to take appropriate, flexible monetary policy action – Kyodo
• ECB’s Stark: “Sovereign debt restructuring would undermine eligibility of Greek government bonds”
• Apparently…..
• Details on the US investment bank stuff I mentioned earlier
• Japan Apr Dept Store Sales Drop Shrinks As Quake Impact Eases
• Time to get worried about the household squeeze
• Japan Econ Set For 3rd Straight Qtrly Fall on Quake Impact
• Hard time for pound as hawks leave the nest
• Moody’s: New Zealand has taken measures that will get budget back on track

Spain sells 2495 mln 2021 bonds, 724 mln 2041 bonds Posted: Combined, at the bottom end of the Treasury’s 3-4 bln target range 2021 bid to cover ratio 1.8, down from last 2.1 2041 bid to cover ratio 2.0, down from last 2.1 2021 average yield 5.395%, down from last 5.472% 2041 average yield 6.002%, up from last 5.875%

UK DATA: APr car production -12.2% y/y – SMMT…….. Posted: UK DATA: APr car production -12.2% y/y – SMMT

Talk of…… Posted: Demand today for 1 month USD calls with 85.00 strike in USD/JPY. We’re at 81.90 presently. Only another three and a bit big figures to go. Seems like a million miles away……

UK Analysis: Warm Weather Helps To Boost April Retail Sales Posted: –Apr Retail Sales +1.1% m/m; +2.8% y/y; median +0.8% m/m; +2.4% y/y –Apr Retail Sales ex fuel +1.2% m/m; 2.7% y/y; median 0.6% m/m;2.1% y/y LONDON (MNI) – Retail sales volumes rose sharply in April as the warm weather boosted sales at food and clothing stores, figures released by National Statistics Thursday showed. The volume [...]

UK DATA: Apr Retail Sales +1.1% m/m; +2.8% y/y; 0.8%. Posted: UK DATA: Apr Retail Sales +1.1% m/m; +2.8% y/y; median 0.8% m/m;2.4% y/y –Apr Retail Sales ex fuel +1.2% m/m; +2.7% y/y; median 0.6% m/m;2.1% yy ———————————————————————— Retail sales volumes rose sharply in April by 1.1% m/m, the largest increase since Jan. Food sales rose sharply by 2.2% m/m, with NS citing the warm weather [...]

UK April retail sales +1.1% m/m, +2.8% y/y Posted: Stronger than median forecasts +0.8%, +2.5% respectively. Biggest April rise since 2002. ONS says warm weather, Royal Wedding holiday boosted clothing, food sales. So much for the market rumour. Cable having rallied strongly post release has run into some decent selling interest from a large US bank. We’re presently at 1.6170.

EFSF and EFSM to raise funds for Portugal and Ireland on market between May 23 and July 15 Posted: Should be in standard benchmark maturities of 5-10 years Should raise total of 15.3 bln euros

USD/JPY ticking higher Posted: Presenty at 81.87. Being told system funds seen buying in recent trade.

It’s scuttlebutt time Posted: Talk in the market UK retail sales going to be weaker than expected. As usual these rumours come with a government health warning. Taking notice of them could eventually be hazardous to your financial well being. Just soe’s you know the talk’s out there. No specific number mentioned. All rather vague. Cable down at 1.6140 from [...]

ECB Stark:Greece Restruct. Would Hurt ECB Collat. Eligibility Posted: FRANKFURT (MNI) – If Greece were to restructure its sovereign debt, its bonds would cease to be accepted as collateral by the European Central Bank, Executive Board member Juergen Stark said Wednesday, according to an ECB spokesman on Thursday. “A sovereign debt restructuring would undermine the eligibility of Greek government bonds. A continuation of liquidity [...]

Dutch FinMin: Cannot let Greece return to the drachma, it would not be ableto pay back debt Posted: If Greece goes bankrupt, it would have a domino effect in euro zone Reiterates Greece must take all necessary measures to reform Is it me, or does EUR/USD go up a lot quicker than it goes down? It’s questions like this that keep me awake at night. We’re down at 1.4245. Greek worries to the fore. [...]

Japan PM Kan: Expects BOJ to take appropriate, flexible monetary policy action – Kyodo Posted: Law prohibits BOJ from directly underwriting JGBs

ECB’s Stark: “Sovereign debt restructuring would undermine eligibility of Greek government bonds” Posted: “Continuation of liquidity provision would be impossible” There you go. Echoes FTDeutschland story mentioned earlier. Oh-eh missus. EUR/USD down at 1.4260.

Apparently….. Posted: There’s an article in FT Deutschland Cites unnamed officials as saying Trichet warned euro zone finance ministers Monday, that ECB would no longer accept Greek government debt as collateral should there be a decision to lengthen Greece’s debt maturities. You tell em Jean Claude!!

Details on the US investment bank stuff I mentioned earlier Posted: Goldman Sachs have changed their forecasts to project more dollar weakness They now see EUR/USD at 1.4500 in 3 months, 1.5000 in 6 months and 1.5500 in 12 months. See USD/JPY at 82, 82 and 86 respectively over same three periods.

Japan Apr Dept Store Sales Drop Shrinks As Quake Impact Eases Posted: TOKYO (MNI) – Department store sales in Japan fell only 1.5% from a year earlier to Y475.0 billion in April, posting the second consecutive monthly y/y drop but improving from the 14.7% plunge in March, as rolling power outages in eastern cities were called off a few weeks after the March 11 disaster, the Japan [...]

Time to get worried about the household squeeze Posted: My barber could have told you that months ago.

Japan Econ Set For 3rd Straight Qtrly Fall on Quake Impact Posted: By Yasuhiko Seki TOKYO (MNI) – The Japanese economy is now poised for a third consecutive contraction in the current quarter, as both the public and private sectors are struggling to repair quake-ravaged supply chain networks in northeastern Japan, analysts said. The economy contracted 0.9% quarter-on-quarter in the January-March quarter, worsening from the downwardly revised [...]

Hard time for pound as hawks leave the nest Posted: Not too sure about that headline, but I guess people in glasshouses shouldn’t throw stones. It’s a subscription piece, so if you want to read it take headline and google search it. Cable sits at 1.6160, effectively unchanged from where it closed out Wednesday in North America. UK data out today: 08:30 GMT: Retail sales for April [...]

Moody’s: New Zealand has taken measures that will get budget back on track Posted: NZ debt is marginally higher than earlier projected but “not a great concern,” in line with AAA rating New Zealand’s stable outlook unchanged NZ in “very good position” to support borrowing programme due to demand for non-European and non-US assets Reminds me, I really must get over there for a visit.