Opening Comments
September Housing Starts in Japan came in at -44% year-over-year, while
Construction Orders fell 16.3% year-over-year. The Bank of Japan voted 8-1
in favor of holding the Japanese benchmark at 0.5%. The Japanese central
bank has previously expressed desire to raise its extremely low benchmark at
a gradual pace. The BOJ voted against a rate hike today as the collateral
effects of the US subprime mortgage meltdown have yet to fully manifest. The
Nikkei gained 86 points finishing at 16737 and the Hang Seng fell 285 points
to 31352. The yield on the 10yr JGB fell 0.1 to 1.6% overnight while
Japanese Yen is lower vs. most major currencies, falling .37% vs. the USD at
115.06.
Deutsche Bank reported Q3 net income at $2.34 bln, which helps ease concerns
over the German banks exposure to US subprime. The Euro-Zone annualized
unemployment rate in September came in higher than expected at 7.3% as did
Euro-Zone CPI year-over-year at 2.6%. Oct. Consumer confidence also came in
lower than expected at -6, while economic confidence came in just below
estimates. The DJ EuroStoxx is up 12 points to 4475; the FTSE 100 is up 13
points to 6672 and the DAX is up 12 points to 7990.
Nationwide House prices in the UK came in higher than expected at 1.1%,
evidence the housing market in the UK has yet to slow down. Cable hit
another record high overnight at 2.0743 ahead of today�s FOMC rate
announcement.
MBA Mortgage Applications came in at 3.8% vs. a 0% reading last week. ADP
Employment change comes out at 8:15 and is expected to come in at 58k vs.
58k prior. Q3 GDP comes out at 8:30, expected to be at an annualized rate of
3.1%; the employment cost index also comes out at 8:30. At 10:00 we�ll bring
you Sept. Construction spending, expected to be at -0.5 vs. 0.2% prior. At
2:15 we�ll bring you the FOMC rate announcement, where the FED is expected
to cut 25 BPS.