US data provides excuse for move up in equities
Strong pending home sales data and good durable goods orders from the US have given Wall Street and European markets a boost today.The FTSE is currently up 68 points to 5,514 and the Dow Industrials are up 80 at 12,615. The Dow is at its highest level in a month or so.
Contract signings on US home sales increased in May by 5.9% to the highest level in two years and 13.3% above the levels 12 months ago, according to the the National Association of Realtors. Sales increased right across the breadt of the United States.
Reports from Germany that Chancellor Angela Merkel was suggesting that a sharing of European debt might be possible if sufficient controls on the financial affairs of Eurozone countries was put in place also helped sentiment. All eyes are on the EU summit being held on Thursday and Friday.
Here is the text of the invitation sent to European leaders by European Council President, Herman Van Rumpoy:
“It is my pleasure to invite you to the meeting of the European Council on 28 and 29 June 2012 in Brussels.
The challenge for this European Council is, more than ever before, to signal, in a clear and concrete manner, that we are doing everything required in response to the crisis. This means endorsing the country-specific recommendations to guide our policies and budgets, adopting the “Compact for growth and jobs”, launching the final phase of work towards a new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) mobilised in support of growth and jobs, and, last but not least, setting our Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) on a new path.
We will begin our meeting focusing on the MFF. Given the role of the European Parliament in this negotiation, I have invited its President for a one-hour meeting with the members of the European Council, from 15.00 till 16.00, so that he has ample opportunity to present the views of his institution on this topic.
Following the family photo, we will continue our discussion on the MFF. After the intensive work conducted by the Polish and Danish Presidencies, Member States’ positions are well-known. This is why I propose that we focus in particular on two issues: how can the different policies in the new MFF best contribute to the creation of growth and jobs and enhance the quality of EU spending, and how should we prioritise spending among the different policy areas and better align it with the Europe 2020 strategy. This is also why I shall ask you to strictly limit your interventions to no more than two to three minutes.
After the discussion on the MFF, and by 18.00 at the latest, I will ask the European Council to examine the proposed “Compact for growth and jobs”. Given the very good work undertaken in preparation of this European Council, I propose that we structure our discussion on the basis of the conclusions and the text of the Compact and adopt it already on Thursday, leaving however aside the elements directly related to the EMU.”
Here’s hoping there is something in their bag of tricks that puts a boot up the Aim Oilers!
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