- Eurozone periphery bonds rebound modestly
- Investors looking to Fed meeting tonight
- ECB to continue to support Cyprus

FTSE-100: -0.07%
Dax-30: 0.40%
Cac-40: 0.47%
FTSE Mibtel 30: 0.56%
Ibex 35: 0.87%
Stoxx 600: 0.18%

European equities are holding on to their modest gains on the back of optimism that an agreement on Cyprus will eventually be reached.

Also helping sentiment is news that the European Central Bank, which is meeting in Frankfurt, will continue to support the Mediterranean nation´s financial system, albeit within the framework of the current rules.

For his part, Luxembourg´s Finance Minister, Luc Frieden, has called on Eurozone finance ministers to work together to reach a new agreement.

Meantime, and in Italy, President Napolitano will begin consultations on forming a new government.

Acting as a backdrop, the US Federal Reserve will announce its latest policy decision tonight. Markets will be extremely attentive to any guidance or hints regarding about the future size of its program of asset purchases.

Portugal´s Treasury has today held a successful auction of billsLight company news-flowDeutsche Bank is bouncing back despite having unveiled a 33% increase in its litigation reserves to €2.4bn.

Shares of Nokia are only slightly higher after a favourable German court ruling.

From a sector stand-point, and on the company front, the best performance is now to be seen in the following sectors: Construction (0.68%), Healthcare (0.67%) and Banks (0.67%).

Dutch consumer confidence rebounds

The Dutch consumer confidence index for the month of March has improved to a reading of -41 from -44 in February.

The Eurozone´s current account surplus improved to €14.8bn in January from €16bn in the previous month.

Other asset classes edge higher

The euro/dollar is nudging higher by 0.50% to 1.2920 dollar level.

Front month Brent crude future are rising by 0.620 dollars to the 108.12 dollar mark on the ICE.

AB

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