-Italian DMO head says current bond yield levels manageable
-PIMCO (Balls) says Spain will ask for aid relatively shortly -Bbg
-PIMCO (Balls) says no longer underweight Spanish debt

FTSE-100: 0.65%
Dax-30: 0.90%
Cac-40: 0.72%
FTSE Mibtel 30: 0.82%
Ibex 35: 0.71%
Stoxx 600: 0.58%

The main European equity benchmarks are now registering moderate gains, reversing yesterday´s price action. That as New York equity futures resumed trading overnight, and are now pointing to just moderate falls when trading resumes.

More important, of course, millions have been left without power, but some reports indicate that floodwater in parts of New York City were already expected to start receding last night. Perhaps for that reason insurers are now amongst the best performers on the Continent. As an aside, but worth monitoring, some of the first estimates available are putting the cost of the storm at approximately $20bn.

Acting as a back-drop, overnight the Bank of Japan approved a ninth consecutive increase in the size of its asset repurchase program. That following the release of very weak data on industrial production, consumer spending and the labour market.

Shares of Deutsche Bank are now rising after reporting third quarter net profits of €747m, which came in well ahead of the €564m consensus forecast.

Shares of UBS are this morning tacking on another 5% after confirming plans to pursue cost cutting measures with an aim to lifting its return on equity -or on the funds its shareholders have invested- to at least 15% by 2015.

Allianz has raised its full-year operating profit target.

From a sector stand-point the best performance can now be seen in the following industrial groups: Oil (1.53%), Basic resources (1.13%) and Insurance (1.1%).

German unemployment rises for first time in 3 years

German unemployment increased by 20,000 in October, ahead of consensus forecasts for a rise of 10,000. The unemployment rate came in at 6.9%, as expected, but the previous month´s level was revised up by a tenth of a percentage point. Last month´s increase was the first in three years.

Spanish gross domestic product contracted at a 0.3% quarter-on-quarter rate in the third quarter, less than the 0.4% contraction that had been foreseen.

The Eurozone´s economic sentiment indicator for the month of October will be released at 10:00.

Single currency holding above 1.29
The euro/dollar is now is now rising by 0.26% to the 1.2938 dollar mark.

Front month Brent crude futures are down by 0.064 dollars to the 109.37 dollar level.



AB

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