EconomyGreek politicians failed to elect a president in a key vote this morning, paving the way for a snap election in early 2015. The vote could bring the left-wing Syriza party to power, jeopardizing an international bailout. Greece's main stock market fell over 10% on the news, while the country's 10-year bond yields spiked above 9%. Ahead of the vote, the euro slipped to a near-28-month low against the dollar.
Oil advanced for the first time in three days, as an escalating conflict in Libya stoked worries about supply from the OPEC member. A fire caused by fighting at one of Libya's main export terminals destroyed 800K barrels of crude amid clashes between factions battling for control of the nation. Brent crude is up 0.7%, just under $60/bbl. WTI is up 0.9% at $55.23.
Asian stocks rose today buoyed by share gains on Wall Street and new bank rules in China that will help spur lending. Tokyo's Nikkei bucked the trend,sliding 0.5%, as reports of a suspected Ebola case in Japan dampened investor risk appetite but boosted health-related shares. A man who returned to Japan from Sierra Leone on Dec. 23 is suspected of contracting the disease.
Meanwhile, Japan's government authorized a ¥3.5T ($29B) stimulus package on Saturday aimed at boosting the country's lagging regions and households with subsidies, merchandise vouchers and other steps. Japan’s economy contracted for two consecutive quarters after a sales tax increase in April, but the government expects the new stimulus plan to boost GDP by 0.7%.
Germany expects low oil prices to boost its economic growth by 0.2%-0.3% next year, Der Spiegel reported, citing an internal economy ministry memo. The Europe's largest economy expects to expand by 1.3% in 2015 after predicted growth of 1.2% this year. Over the weekend, Germany also announced plans to build out its network of charging stations for battery-powered cars in the nation, with the goal of having 1M electric cars on the road by 2020.
Stocks
The missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 carrying 162 people to Singapore from Indonesia is thought to have crashed into the sea, says Reuters quoting a senior Indonesian rescue official. Shares in AirAsia (OTC:AIABF) fell 7.1% in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, their biggest one-day drop in more than three years. German insurer Allianz (OTCQX:AZSEY) is the lead re-insurer to the missing plane, and was the main re-insurer to flight MH370, which disappeared in March, as well as flight MH17, which was shot down in Ukraine.
The missing AirAsia flight QZ8501 carrying 162 people to Singapore from Indonesia is thought to have crashed into the sea, says Reuters quoting a senior Indonesian rescue official. Shares in AirAsia (OTC:AIABF) fell 7.1% in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, their biggest one-day drop in more than three years. German insurer Allianz (OTCQX:AZSEY) is the lead re-insurer to the missing plane, and was the main re-insurer to flight MH370, which disappeared in March, as well as flight MH17, which was shot down in Ukraine.
Despite service being restored to Xbox Live (NASDAQ:MSFT) on Friday, Sony's (NYSE:SNE) PlayStation Network still suffered connection problems yesterday, marking the fourth straight day of disruptions after both networks were attacked on Christmas Day. Lizard Squad, the group which claimed responsibility for the hacks, also attacked the PlayStation Network in early December and August. Meanwhile, Sony Pictures has announced that the The Interview was purchased or rented online more than 2M times since Dec. 25, generating more than $15M.
The American Apparel drama continues, after the retailer received a letter from Lion Capital stating that it must explore its strategic options including a sale of the company. The hedge fund holds warrants to buy 12% of American Apparel’s (NYSEMKT:APP) stock and has the right to nominate two directors to the company’s board. Lion Capital’s request follows a preliminary takeover proposal from P-E firm Irving Place Capital that valued the retailer at $1.30- $1.40 a share, or as much as $245M.
Responding to an executive order from the Obama administration last week, Visa (NYSE:V) and MasterCard (NYSE:MA) have now halted payment services to Crimea. Earlier this year, the firms stopped processing payments at four key Russian banks in response to U.S. sanctions.
The FDA has approved Roche's (OTCQX:RHHBY) LightMix Ebola Zaire rRT-PCR Test, helping health care authorities fight the current outbreak of the deadly disease. The test can generate results in about three hours and would allow "health-care professionals to quickly detect the virus and start patient treatment as early as possible," said Roland Diggelman, chief operating officer at Roche’s diagnostics division.
Although Gmail’s website had already been blocked, China barred access to Google's (GOOG, GOOGL) e-mail service through third-party applications as of Friday, including the Mail app built into Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhones and iPads. Google search and map functions were blocked in China earlier this year as part of the country's limited access to foreign news and tensions over cybersecurity and hacking. Traffic volume for Gmail dropped about 85% on Dec. 26 before falling further the following day and remains near zero today.
Yahoo is targeting the growth of wearables and other mobile devices to cash in on their expected exponential future growth, FT reports. The company has already broken into the wearable market with its version of Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) News Digest for the Apple Watch. In addition to its development of apps for mobile devices, Yahoo has not ruled out creating its own wearable, says Adam Cahan, senior vice-president of mobile.
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Today's Markets:
In Asia, Japan -0.5% to 17730. Hong Kong +1.8% to 23773. China +0.4% to 3169. India +0.6% to 27396.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.1%. Paris -0.4%. Frankfurt -0.8%.
Futures at 6:20: Dow -0.2%. S&P -0.1%. Nasdaq -0.1%. Crude +0.9% to $55.23. Gold -0.2% to $1192.80.
Ten-year Treasury Yield -3 bps to 2.23%
Today's economic calendar:
10:30 Dallas Fed Manufacturing Outlook
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet
10:30 Dallas Fed Manufacturing Outlook
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet
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