- Buba's Weidmann calls for bail-in of creditors in Cyprus
- Banks deposited 124.3bn euros overnight at the ECB

FTSE-100: 0.04%
Dax-30: -0.16%
Cac-40: 0.07%
FTSE Mibtel 30: -0.09%
Ibex 35: -0.62%
Stoxx 600: 0.04%

European equities have begun the session trading on a mixed footing ahead of the results of the G-20 meeting of finance ministers and a still rather convoluted news flow as regards developed countries' true intentions regarding currency markets.

For his part, and speaking in Moscow, ECB President Mario Draghi said recent sparring over currencies was "inappropriate, fruitless and self-defeating."

Worth taking note of, oil futures are on track for their first weekly loss in five and those for gold for their largest weekly retreat since December.

As regards the 'yellow metal', there was quite a bit of 'market chatter' earlier on regarding the potential for price declines this year.

Also likely weighing on markets in the early going were the remarks out of Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, in an interview with Bloomberg TV, regarding the need for a 'bail-in' of creditors in Cyprus.

Acting as a backdrop, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) comments on the potential for greater investors interest in sovereign bonds from the likes of Ireland (who's debt already trades better than Italy's).

Yet not everybody is quite so optimistic. Thus, economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch today write that "Our analysis suggests that the crisis has irreversibly damaged Europe's capacity to grow, unless economic reforms can boost investment and productivity again (...)." In that same vein, Merrill Lynch's Chief European economist this morning described Spain's pace when implementing reforms as lacking.

Bankia looks to divest holding in IAG

The French luxury and sports outfit PPR has posted better than expected annual operating profits.

Spanish lender Bankia has hired Rothschild as an adviser for part of its industrial holdings, including its stakes in Mapfre and Iberia (owned by IAG).

On Thursday Standard & Poor's cut its rating on the French automaker Peugeot's debt by a notch to BB-.

US funds invested in European equities snapped their longest net inflow streak since 2006 this week as they suffered net redemptions for the first time since October, Reuters reports, citing data from Lipper.

From a sector stand-point the best performers today are: Media (0.68%), Technology (Healthcare (0.60%) and Technology (0.55%).



Higher than forecast Spanish CPI


The Eurozone's foreign trade surplus rose to €12bn (Consensus: €11.5bn) from €10.5bn in the previous year.

Spanish consumer prices rose by 2.7% year-on-year in January (Consensus: 2.6%).

Other asset classes slightly lower
The euro/dollar is now lower by 0.31% to the 1.3320 level.

Front month Brent crude futures are sliding slightly lower, by 0.323 dollars to the 117.62 dollar level on the ICE.



AB

Related share prices