Global mkts jittery ahead of earnings, on Spain

By Gautam Broker, Research Analyst at CNBC-TV18

Global markets were jittery on Monday ahead of earnings and on Spain bailout delay. European Stability Mechanism (ESM) formally unveiled yesterday and commentary from the sidelines led to some worry. German Finance Minister says Spain was not asking for help and does not need it at the moment. Most other EU officials reiterate that Spain taking steps to address deficit, may not need aid. Spanish PM however says, will need aid if borrowing costs spike beyond a point. IMF head Christine Lagarde speaks on Greece; says Greece has stepped up on efforts but more action needed. Divergences on opinion between IMF and EU commission officials on Greece led to volatility yesterday. Trading was extremely light in the US as government offices and bond markets were shut yesterday. IMF cut global growth forecast to 3.3 percent from 3.5 percent and China's to 7.8 percent from 8 percent. US forecast raised mild from 2 percent to 2.2 percent. India's forecast cut to 4.9 percent from 6.1 percent earlier. US markets at close: Dow Jones was down 0.2 percent at 13,583.7 and S&P 500 Index fell 0.35 percent to 1,455.9. Nasdaq Composite declined 0.8 percent European markets at close on Monday: CAC plunged 1.5 percent and DAX lost 1.4 percent while FTSE went down 0.5 percent. Spain slipped 0.8 percent and Italy tumbled 2 percent Today, SGX Nifty was up 0.6% at 5729. Among Asian markets, Shanghai and Hang Seng were up 1-2 percent while Nikkei fell 0.4 percent. Currencies Euro was firmly below 1.30 to the US dollar and settled at 1.296 yesterday. It was close to 1.30 to the US dollar today. US dollar slightly strengthened on Euro weakness, but it has not seen substantial gain yesterday. Dollar index was at 79.5 today as against 79.4 level yesterday. Commodities Crude was under some pressure on economic forecast cuts yesterday. Brent crude hit a session low of USD 110.5 a barrel yesterday, but continued to find support at lower levels on Middle East concerns. Brent crude recovered to settle at USD 111.8 a barrel, down 0.2 percent yesterday. It was up 0.8% at USD 112.7 a barrel today WTI crude was down 0.7% yesterday to close at USD 89.3 a barrel, which was above USD 90 a barrel today. Gold hit a low of USD 1766 an ounce yesterday, which was today at around USD 1780 an ounce. What to watch out for UK Industrial Production, Trade Balances US NFIB Business Optimism Index ICSC Chain Stores Sales ECB president Mario Draghi to testify in Brussels (Economic committee)