HERE'S OVERNIGHT DATA AND EVENTS (market expectations, last observation):
• GE Manufacturing Orders m/m SA (Oct) declined unexpectedly by 2.1% (0.8%, 0.9%), for the first time in eight months, as exports receded because of a stronger euro and due to gradual withdrawal of government stimulus measures. Export orders sank 3.5% in October and domestic sales eased 0.5%. Orders for investment goods dropped 4.5%.
• GE Manufacturing Orders y/y NSA (Oct): -8.5% (-6.2%, -13.1%)
• CA STCA Value of Building Permits m/m SA (Oct) surged by 18.0% (1.0%, 1.6%) driven by work on single-family homes and non- residential projects, adding to signs of recovery in the country. The total value of permits issued by municipalities rose to C$6.1bn. Permits for single-family dwellings increased 10.0% to C$2.4bn.
• US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the US economy: “The economy confronts some formidable headwinds that seem likely to keep the pace of expansion moderate…Despite the general improvement in financial conditions, credit remains tight for many borrowers and the job market remains weak… The Federal Reserve is committed to keeping inflation low and will be able to do so.”
• ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said in Paris: “It is necessary to find more efficient restructuring measures for troubled banks…It would be necessary to review these procedures for financial institutions…We will need courts and surveillance authorities to work together as closely as possible.”
• ECB President Jean- Claude Trichet commenting on the euro-area economy at Brussels: “The economic situation and the outlook have continued to improve since my previous hearing. In 2010, we expect to see a moderate recovery…The recession has produced a lot of potential unemployment and we see unemployment augmenting even if we’re now in black figures. We trust that the appropriate labor reforms in a number of countries would be extremely important to foster growth…We see no sign in our opinion of the fact that we would have a significant supply-of-credit problem.”
• ECB Council Member Guy Quaden on interest rates: “There’s absolutely no need to start a tightening cycle given the low inflationary pressures…Many financial indicators have improved in the last months and some of our non-conventional measures are no longer needed to the same extent as was the case in the recent past…The sequencing of the exit isn’t pre-defined.”
• Irish Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan said: “The whole process of National Asset Management Agency purchases, careful evaluation of the capital needs of banks, capital injections, I expect that to roll out over the next number of months…Irish banks are going to leave this situation well capitalized… In due course, there will be private capital scrambling to get into Irish banks because they will be so strong.”
• The Dubai Government has announced that it will not be selling any assets to meet Dubai World debts, emphasising that the Government and Dubai World are not the same.
