- Ifo German business climate 106.9 in May, demonstrably weaker than Reuter’s median forecast of 109.4
- Ifo economist Wohlrabe: Uncertainty about euro zone crisis is hitting big firms
- German May flash manufacturing PMI 45.0, down from 46.2 in April and demonstrably weaker than Reuter’s median forecast of 47.0
- French May flash manufacturing PMI 44.4, down sharply from Aprils’ 46.9 and demonstrably weaker than Reuter’s median forecast of 47.0
- Euro zone May flash composite PMI 45.9, down from 46.7 in April and lowest read since June 2009
- French May manufacturing industry morale falls to 93 from unrevised 95 in April
- Dutch April adj unemployment 6.2%, up from 5.9% in March
- Dutch May business confidence -5.0 pts after -3.3 pts in April
- German Q1 GDP (final) confirmed at +0.5% q/q, +1.7% y/y (nsa)
- UK Q1 GDP (second read) revised down to -0.3% q/q, -0.1% y/y from previous -0.2%, flat respectively. Due to weaker construction output
- French/German 10 year govt bond yield spread narrows sharply to 119 bps from 135 first thing
- ECB’s Nowotny: ECB measures helped flow of credit to economy
- More Nowotny: Some euro members have problems (no, really)
- BOJ’s Shirakawa: Fiscal sustainability is very important
- More Shirakawa: Will conduct powerful monetary easing
- Greece will leave euro in early 2013 - Citigroup forecast
EUR/USD sits at 1.2575, effectively unchanged on the day. But inbetween the single currency came under sustained selling pressure at one stage, weighed down by a succession of very poor economic data releases (see above)
Decent-sized barrier option interest was rumoured at 1.2500 and defensive buying in the 1.2500/20 area proved robust and we bounced back quickly from the lows.
USD/JPY fractionally easier at 79.38 from early 79.50. Talk of barrier option interest lined up down at 79.00. There has also been talk (rumour) of yen cross sell interest lined up for this afternoon’s London fix (16:00 BST/15:00 GMT)