Dow rose 89, but decliners slightly ahead of advancers & NAZ gained 15. The Financial Index went up 1 to the 245s. The MLP index slipped a fraction to the 453s & the REIT index was up 1+ to the 288s. Junk bond funds fluctuated & Treasuries were lower. Oil prices did little & gold lost 24.
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif)
Photo: Bloomberg
The unemployment across the 17 EU countries has struck 12% for the first time since the currency was launched in 1999. Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said the rate in Feb was unchanged at the record high after the figure for Jan was revised up to 12% from 11.9%. Spain & Greece have mass unemployment & many other countries are seeing their numbers swell to uncomfortably high levels as govs across the region enact tough austerity measures to get a handle on their debts. The eurozone, which is made up of a little more than 330M people, is one of the world's major economic pillars & the turmoil surrounding it has been one of the main reasons why the global recovery has been muted. Over 19M were officially out of work in Feb, nearly 2M more than the year before. For the 27-country EU, of which the eurozone is a large part, the unemployment rate was 10.9%. "Such unacceptably high levels of unemployment are a tragedy for Europe and a signal of how serious a crisis some eurozone countries are now in," said EU Employment Commissioner Laszlo Andor. The 33K increase in the number of unemployed in Feb was the smallest monthly rise since Apr 2011 & way down on the 222K recorded in Jan. Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has an unemployment rate of only 5.4%, better than the US rate of 7.7%. However, the Feb figures came before the recent Cyprus crisis. The worry in the markets is that the chaos surrounding the country's bailout has reignited concerns over the € & may have further dented confidence across the eurozone, hardly conducive to job creation, economic recovery & European stability.
Euro area unemployment at record 12 percent AP
Home Depot, a Dow stock, sold $2B of bonds in a 2-part offering to help fund share repurchases. The company, which boosted its quarterly div 34% to 39¢ & announced a $17B stock buyback in Feb, issued $1B of 2.7% securities due 2023 that yield 85 basis points more than similar-maturity Treasuries & an equal amount of 4.2%, 30-year debt with a spread of 110 basis points. Proceeds will be used for general corp purposes including share repurchases. The stock rose 1.33.
Home Depot Raises $2 Billion in Bonds to Fund Share Repurchases
Photo: Bloomberg
Russia's central bank took the biggest step toward easing monetary policy since raising all interest rates in Sep as the economy continued to slow. Rates on loans backed with gold & non-market collateral were cut by a quarter point, as were the costs of some longer- term repurchase operations, the central bank said. The refinancing rate was held at 8.25%, half a point above the record low, in line with forecasts. The decision shows policy makers responding to gov criticism that high interest rates are stifling growth as other central banks cut borrowing costs. Inflation was 7.2% as of Mar 25, above this year’s target range of 5-6%, even as economic growth decelerates to the slowest pace since a recession in 2009. Overnight & one-week auction-based repurchase rates, the main instruments used to provide banks with cash, will stay at 5.5% & the deposit rate will remain at 4.5%. GDP expanded just 0.1% in Feb from a year earlier, slowing from a 1.6% pace in Jan, according to the Economy Ministry, after the economy probably grew 2% in Q4.
Russia Holds Main Rates for 7th Month, Takes Easing Steps
Excitement in the AM cooled & market breadth was weak. Even the MLP index pulled back from setting another record high. Auto sales were good, but that was expected. Good news on factory orders was less impressive than suggested by headlines. While Dow may be at record levels, there is a lot of nervousness in the markets. Mar data will reflect the first impact of federal budget cuts.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Treasury yields:
U.S. 3-month |
0.068% | |
U.S. 2-year |
0.244% | |
U.S. 10-year |
1.863% |
| CLK13.NYM | ...Crude Oil May 13 | ...97.14 |  ...0.07 | (0.1%) |
Photo: Bloomberg
The unemployment across the 17 EU countries has struck 12% for the first time since the currency was launched in 1999. Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said the rate in Feb was unchanged at the record high after the figure for Jan was revised up to 12% from 11.9%. Spain & Greece have mass unemployment & many other countries are seeing their numbers swell to uncomfortably high levels as govs across the region enact tough austerity measures to get a handle on their debts. The eurozone, which is made up of a little more than 330M people, is one of the world's major economic pillars & the turmoil surrounding it has been one of the main reasons why the global recovery has been muted. Over 19M were officially out of work in Feb, nearly 2M more than the year before. For the 27-country EU, of which the eurozone is a large part, the unemployment rate was 10.9%. "Such unacceptably high levels of unemployment are a tragedy for Europe and a signal of how serious a crisis some eurozone countries are now in," said EU Employment Commissioner Laszlo Andor. The 33K increase in the number of unemployed in Feb was the smallest monthly rise since Apr 2011 & way down on the 222K recorded in Jan. Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has an unemployment rate of only 5.4%, better than the US rate of 7.7%. However, the Feb figures came before the recent Cyprus crisis. The worry in the markets is that the chaos surrounding the country's bailout has reignited concerns over the € & may have further dented confidence across the eurozone, hardly conducive to job creation, economic recovery & European stability.
Euro area unemployment at record 12 percent AP
Home Depot, a Dow stock, sold $2B of bonds in a 2-part offering to help fund share repurchases. The company, which boosted its quarterly div 34% to 39¢ & announced a $17B stock buyback in Feb, issued $1B of 2.7% securities due 2023 that yield 85 basis points more than similar-maturity Treasuries & an equal amount of 4.2%, 30-year debt with a spread of 110 basis points. Proceeds will be used for general corp purposes including share repurchases. The stock rose 1.33.
Home Depot Raises $2 Billion in Bonds to Fund Share Repurchases
Home Depot (HD)
Photo: Bloomberg
Russia's central bank took the biggest step toward easing monetary policy since raising all interest rates in Sep as the economy continued to slow. Rates on loans backed with gold & non-market collateral were cut by a quarter point, as were the costs of some longer- term repurchase operations, the central bank said. The refinancing rate was held at 8.25%, half a point above the record low, in line with forecasts. The decision shows policy makers responding to gov criticism that high interest rates are stifling growth as other central banks cut borrowing costs. Inflation was 7.2% as of Mar 25, above this year’s target range of 5-6%, even as economic growth decelerates to the slowest pace since a recession in 2009. Overnight & one-week auction-based repurchase rates, the main instruments used to provide banks with cash, will stay at 5.5% & the deposit rate will remain at 4.5%. GDP expanded just 0.1% in Feb from a year earlier, slowing from a 1.6% pace in Jan, according to the Economy Ministry, after the economy probably grew 2% in Q4.
Russia Holds Main Rates for 7th Month, Takes Easing Steps
Excitement in the AM cooled & market breadth was weak. Even the MLP index pulled back from setting another record high. Auto sales were good, but that was expected. Good news on factory orders was less impressive than suggested by headlines. While Dow may be at record levels, there is a lot of nervousness in the markets. Mar data will reflect the first impact of federal budget cuts.
Dow Jones Industrials
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