-Equities lower on fiscal cliff worries
-Banks deposited 232.5bn euros overnight at ECB

FTSE 100: -0.02%
Dxa-30: -0.13%
Cac-40: -0.12%
FTSE Mibtel 30: -0.26%
Ibex 35: -0.26%
Stoxx 600: -0.01%

The main European equity benchmarks were registering small losses in early trading following the seemingly less constructive rhetoric and posturing that could be seen and heard on Capitol Hill yesterday.

That ahead of the release of a bevy of macroeconomic indicators, later in the day, Stateside.

UBS again moving lower

Ericsson was lower after the mobile-phone network builder wrote down the value of its subsidiary ST-Ericsson.

UBS was falling as it surfaced that it is now facing scrutiny in Hong Kong.

French nuclear energy group Areva was down after cutting its earnings forecast for 2013, due to delays at some clients´ renewable energy projects.

From a sector stand-point the largest gains are to be seen in the following industrial groups: Travel (0.56%), Basic resources (0.52%) and Financial services (0.32%).

Weak Italian sales data for November
Italian retail sales contracted at a 1.0% month-on-month pace in October (Consensus: 0.0%).

Total Spanish housing permits rose by 5.8% month-on-month in October.

German import prices remained flat in November versus last month (Consensus: -0.2%).

German producer prices dropped by 0.1% month-on-month in November (Consensus: -0.2%).

The gauge for Dutch consumer confidence worsened to -39 points, after -37 in the month before.

Unemployment in the Netherlands increased to a 7% rate in November, after 6.8% in the month before.

Small slide in other asset classes
Front month Brent crude futures were off by 0.391 dollars to the 109.93 dollar level.

The euro/dollar was up by 0.22% to the 1.3230 mark.



AB

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