Daily Market Report 15/10/12 Last week saw two notable announcements; both illustrated the serious situation in Europe, yet they had diverging effects on the single currency. Last week saw two notable announcements; both illustrated the serious situation in Europe, yet they had diverging effects on the single currency. The perception of Spain’s ability to pay its creditors was downgraded two notches by S&P, this caused an irrational strengthening of the euro as investors felt it might result in Rajoy’s government hastening the request for a bailout. However fears of slowing growth in the single union, and broadly across the world, caused the markets to react a bit more conventionally, weakening the euro. The volatile period could well continue this week as investors look to Thursday and Friday’s EU summit, with finance ministers discussing the best practice going forward for the euro. Rumour has it Greece will be announcing a fresh tranche of bailout funds prior to the meeting as talks resume with the troika. If this happens the euro could see reassurance and gain ground against the pound through the week. Despite last week’s downgrade, and with another potential relegation from Moody’s on the cards, any hope of an imminent Spanish bailout is just wishful thinking. The required fiscal stringency would be inimical to the government’s popularity in the upcoming regional elections, whilst the 10year bond auction this week is expected to show yields remaining at manageable levels for the struggling nation. Once again the dollar’s role in global currency as the safe haven will decide its direction this week. All ears will be pressed against the walls of the EU summit, should announcements or rumours be of a buoyant nature, the euro’s short-term bullish view will be realised causing the dollar to weaken off against its counterparts. However waiting on the euro finance ministers to make impacting decisions is an all too familiar feeling, investor’s concerns over the slowing global growth could cause euro weakness until a substantial announcement is made. Key Announcements Today 13.30pm – USD – Core Retail Sales m/m: Slow growth of 0.6% expected 13.30pm – USD – Empire State Manufacturing Index: improved yet still negative sentiment expected at -4.5