Euro, Greek stocks slip as bailout talks halted; ruble advances
By Bloomberg
The euro weakened as talks between Greece and its creditors broke down after the nation rejected European proposals to stick to the existing terms of its bailout. Russia’s ruble gained as fighting eased amid the Ukraine truce.
The 19-nation euro lost 0.4 percent to $1.1349 by 4:38 p.m. in New York while Greece’s ASE Index fell 3.8 percent, sliding with the country’s sovereign debt. Future contracts on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index slipped 0.4 percent after the Stoxx Europe 600 Index declined 0.1 percent. The ruble climbed to a one-month high against the dollar. Brent crude was little changed at an almost two-month high after earlier surging as much as 1.7 percent. U.S. markets were closed for a holiday.
Talks in Brussels ended abruptly Monday as an official from Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s government said the euro area’s recommendation to extend the current bailout conditions was unacceptable. Finance ministers from Germany to France insisted that an extension of the existing program was the only short-term option for Greece. Failure to strike a deal by Feb. 28, when the current rescue package expires, risks putting Greece’s membership of the euro region in jeopardy.
Indications “the gap between the Eurogroup and the Greek administration is still wide” have weighed on the euro, said Josh O’Byrne, a foreign-exchange strategist at Citigroup Inc. in London.
The euro slid as much as 0.7 percent Monday to $1.1320, and lost at least 0.2 percent against 14 of its 16 major peers, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
Greek Bonds
Yields on Greek three-year notes rose 174 basis points, or 1.74 percentage points, to 17.58 percent, after tumbling 220 basis points on Friday. Greece’s bonds rallied last week as officials negotiating the future of the signaled a willingness to compromise. Germany’s 10-year bunds, Europe’s benchmark sovereign securities, were little changed with the yield at 0.33 percent.
The Stoxx 600 gauge declined after posting a second straight week of gains.
Altice SA rose 2.7 percent in Amsterdam after people familiar with the matter said Patrick Drahi’s company is stepping up plans for a potential takeover of mobile carrier Bouygues Telecom. SABMiller Plc added 1.9 percent after a report that a consortium led by 3G Capital Partners is considering a bid for the brewer.
Conwert Immobilien Invest SE jumped 8.5 percent after Deutsche Wohnen AG, Germany’s second-largest residential landlord, said it will bid for its Austrian competitor.
Cease-fire Holding
The ruble advanced 0.5 percent to 63.1840 per dollar, while one-month forwards on the currency gained 0.6 percent to 64.0244. The Micex Index slipped 2 percent in Moscow, dropping from its highest close since 2011. Ukraine’s hryvnia weakened 1.2 percent.
Fighting subsided along most of the front line in Ukraine as world leaders urged all sides to adhere to an agreement signed last week in Minsk, Belarus.
While the cease-fire showed signs of holding, the European Union went ahead with plans announced last week to impose restrictions on an additional 19 people and nine organizations in Russia. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov was the highest-ranking official to be included on the expanded blacklist.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose for a sixth day, climbing 0.6 percent, amid trading volumes 28 percent below the 30-day average before the start of Lunar New Year holidays Feb. 18. China’s broadest measure of new credit rose for a third straight month, data showed on Friday, suggesting stimulus measures are cushioning the slowdown in Asia’s largest economy.
Oil Markets
Brent added 0.1 percent to $61.59 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose as much as 1.7 percent to $53.69 a barrel in electronic trading in New York, after rising 3..1 percent Feb. 13 to $52.78. WTI floor trading was suspended Monday for the Presidents’ Day holiday, with transactions to be booked Tuesday for settlement purposes.
Crude has rallied the past three weeks as U.S. drillers cut the number of rigs in service to the fewest since August 2011, according to data from Baker Hughes Inc. The slowdown in U.S. drilling is still not sufficient to achieve the slowdown in production growth required to balance the oil market, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in an e-mailed report Monday.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major counterparts, rose 0.2 percent, while the yen appreciated 0.2 percent to 118.47 per dollar in a third day of gains.
Japan GDP
Japan’s currency has been rallying with central bank policy makers said to view further monetary easing as counterproductive for now. More stimulus could trigger losses in the currency that would damage confidence, people familiar with the central bank’s discussions said last week.
The country’s gross domestic product grew at an annualized pace of 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter, less than the 3.7 percent increase forecast by economists. Nominal GDP, which isn’t adjusted for price changes, climbed an annualized 4.5 percent from the previous quarter.
The New Zealand dollar added 0.6 percent to 74.98 U.S. cents after data showed an unexpected acceleration in the nation’s retail-sales growth. The currency strengthened to a record 1.0333 versus the Australian dollar.
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