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ISEQ lower as Central Banks meet

Thursday, October 04 09:04:09

The ISEQ is lower this morning at 3,296, down 14 points as European markets are generally ahead a little as The ECB and Bank of England meet. Little is expected from either according to Dolmen Stockbrokers:

Asian stocks advanced overnight in the run up to meetings by global central bankers today. Both the Bank of England and European Central Bank are set to announce rate decisions for October. In respect of the ECB, we expect no fresh measures today when it meets at 12.00, however the markets will be interested to gauge Mario Draghi's views on the recent uptick in inflation and the failure of Spain to request formal assistance as of yet, when he holds his press conference at 13.30. We again maintain our view that no aid request will be made until after key regional elections on the 21st of this month.

With regard to the BOE, similarly we expect no change to monetary policy today with rates to be maintained at 0.50pc its asset purchase programme at £375bn, however another cash injection later in the year looks a safe bet with expectations that an additional £50bn could be announced next month. In the US, at 13.30, Initial Jobless Claims are released with 370K (Prior: 359K) providing a modest readthrough to the crucial Non-Farm Payrolls, which are expected to come in at 111k (Prior: 96K) when they are released tomorrow. Factory orders in the US are also released today at 15.00 with -2.2pc expected (Prior: 2.8pc) and will be particularly closely watched following strong ISM data earlier in the week. Finally, at 19.00, the Fed will release minutes for its most recent policy meeting in which QE3 was announced according to Dolmen Stockbrokers