Market information Wednesday 4th of May, 2016

The negotiations about a free trade agreement between the European Union and Japan are well under way. Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of the European Commission, says that the agreement should be in place before the end of this year. After China, Japan is the most important trade partner of the EU in Asia.

The European Commission has lowered its expectations for economic growth in the Eurozone and in the EU as a whole. In a new forecast, BBP growth expectations are lowered with ten basis points to 1.6% for the Eurozone and 1.9% for the entire EU. The European Commission states that all countries of the EU contribute to the growth.

The PMI-index of the British industry fell below the neutral value of 50 in April. The PMI in the United Kingdom was 49.2 in April, compared to 50.7 a month before. It is the first time in three years that the PMI index in the United Kingdom is negative. The negative producer confidence is mainly caused by the decrease in employment and a weak trend in new orders for the British industry, that reflects the uncertainty around the EU referendum.

The 6M Euribor remained unchanged at -0.14%. The 10Y Swap decreased with 7 basispoints at 0.59%.

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