Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/499233
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 22 APRIL 2015 11 Business Today www.creditinfo.com.mt info@creditinfo.com.mt Tel: 2131 2344 Your Local Partner for Credit Risk Management Solutions Supporting you all the way Money Market Report for the week ending April 17, 2015 ECB decisions On Wednesday, April 15, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided that the interest rates on the main refinancing operations (MRO), on the marginal lending facility and on the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.05%, 0.30% and -0.20% respectively. ECB Monetary Operations On Monday, April 13, the ECB announced its weekly MRO. The auction was conducted on Tuesday, April 14, and attracted bids from euro area eligible counterparties of €96.56 billion, €11.70 billion lower than the bid amount of the previous week. The amount was allotted in full at a fixed rate equivalent to the prevailing MRO rate of 0.05%, in accordance with current ECB policy. On Wednesday, April 15, the ECB conducted a seven-day US dollar funding operation through collateralised lending in conjunction with the US Federal Reserve. This operation was carried out at a fixed rate of 0.62% and once again did not attract bids from euro area eligible counterparties. Domestic Treasury Bill Market In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 181-day maturing on October 15, 2015. Bids of €55.05 million were submitted for the bills, with the Treasury accepting €20.05 million. Since €24.00 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills decreased by €3.95 million, to stand at €201.19 million. The yield from the 181-day bill auction was 0.00%, unchanged from the bids with a similar tenor issued on April 10, 2015, representing a bid price of 100.00 per 100 nominal. During the week under review, there was no trading on the Malta Stock Exchange. On Tuesday the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day bills, maturing on July 24, 2015. Market commentary: Greek crisis appears to deepen yet stocks opened higher Running out of options to keep his country afl oat, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ordered local gov- ernments to move their funds to the central bank. With negotiations over bailout aid deadlocked, Tsipras needs the cash for salaries, pensions and a repayment to the International Mon- etary Fund. Greek bonds declined after the move, pushing three-year yields to the highest since the nation's debt restructuring in 2012. The decree to confiscate reserves now held in commercial banks and transfer them to the central bank is said to raise about two billion euros. A default on the country's 313 billion euros of obligations and a euro exit would be traumatic for the currency area and plunge Greece into a major crisis. Credit-default swaps suggested about an 81 per cent chance of Greece being unable to repay its debt in five years, compared with about 67 per cent at the start of March. European leaders want Greece to do more to revamp its debt- burdened economy, with progress to be reviewed on April 24 in Riga, Latvia, when finance ministers from the currency bloc meet. European Commission vice president Valdis Dombrovskis said in an interview in Washington that creditors might need to wait until mid-May to see what Greece can deliver. Greek officials remained defiant over the weekend, saying the government will not betray its electoral promises and worsen the pain that came from previous austerity measures. Officials are accusing its various creditors of wanting to "blackmail" Greece into adopting measures that would hurt the working class; thus going against the mandate by which they were elected. US, European stocks rebound US stocks rebounded from the worst slide in three weeks, while commodity producers led European equities higher on speculation Chinese policy makers will take more steps to support growth. International Business Machines Corp. jumped 3.42 per cent after reporting its first quarter earnings, as the Nasdaq 100 Index rallied the most in a month. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.8 per cent after its worst week of the year. Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp. report their first quarter results later this week. China, the world's biggest consumer of energy and industrial metals, lowered the amount of cash lenders must set aside as reserves by the most since 2008 to support the economy amid the slowest expansion in six years. Among US shares moving Monday, Morgan Stanley added 1.3 per cent after reporting the highest adjusted revenue in more than five years, although paring some of the gains toward the end of the session. Hasbro Inc. jumped 12.55 per cent as the toymaker posted better-than- estimated quarterly results. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd slumped 8 per cent as the company cut its forecast for the full year. Technology shares in the S&P 500 closed up 0.92 per cent, with Apple Inc., Microsoft and Facebook rising at least 2 per cent. Miners posted the best performance among 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600, which has climbed 19 per cent this year. BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Group gained at least 2.4 per cent. This article was issued by Simon Psaila, Trader/Analyst at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, views and opinions provided in this article are being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri & Co. Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website. YOUR FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY www.maltatoday.com.mt