The euro hit an eight-week high and European shares rose on Wednesday as markets priced in a successful outcome to Greek debt talks, buoyed by hopes of further pro-growth moves by major central banks. "The financial markets appear to be increasingly turning a blind eye to developments in Greece, assuming that further external aid will soon be transferred to Greece helping to avoid a more disorderly default in the near term," Lee Hardman, currency economist at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi in London said. The Greek coalition government has yet to reach a deal on the tough austerity measures required to release the next batch of bailout funds needed to meet bond redemptions due in March, but hopes are high agreement will come when they meet again in Athens later. Meanwhile investors look keen to move on and focus on the improving outlook for global economic growth and the signals from the world's major ... Read More

Yesterday, Greece missed another deadline for debt deal. Adrian Foster of Rabobank doesn't think there will be a very tidy conclusion to the Greek situation soon. According to him, liquidity is going to continue to be a positive backdrop for equity markets, for risky assets around the world. However, he expects equity markets to be flat in February and March. "Investors will remains cautious even with the generous liquidity backdrop that has boosted confidence," he adds. Below is the edited transcript of his interview with Latha Venkatesh and Reema Tendulkar.  Q: Is the Greek situation beginning to look extremely troublesome now? Will we have a clean solution at all or will it remain a lot of toing and froing? A: A lot of toing and froing is certainly the most likely outcome. I do think that if we talk in a year's time, we will probably still be talking about Greece. I don't think that ... Read More

Europe will again be at the center of investors' focus next week as the US earnings season passes the halfway mark and there is little on the economic calendar to give the market direction. Economic data expected next week includes weekly initial jobless claims, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index and international trade figures. Improving data helped push the S&P 500 index up nearly 7% for the year, highlighted by Friday's stronger-than-expected jobs report. "It's the old ping pong game. Today it is the US, tomorrow it is Europe again," said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey. "Normally in this type of tape when there is no economic news, it seems like the bias goes to the upside." But Europe and whether European bond yields spike or other news from Europe emerges will be the wild card for the markets, Saluzzi said. Greece remains at the forefront ... Read More

The US markets ended narrowly mixed in a lackluster session following a handful of mixed earnings reports, decline in weekly jobless claims and ahead of the government's monthly employment report due today. Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.09% or 11.05 points at 12705.41. Nasdaq Composite was up 0.4% or 11.41 points at 2859.68. Standard & Poor's 500 was up 0.11% or 1.45 points at 1325.54. In economic data, weekly claims for unemployment benefits fell 12,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 367,000, signaling some optimism in the nation's weakened jobs market. Meanwhile, non-farm productivity, increased at a slower-than-expected 0.7% annual rate. In key data to watch out in the US today, all eyes will be on the non-farm payrolls data which is expected to add 150,000 jobs for January. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate level is expected to remain unchanged at 8.5%. Factory orders could drop to 1.5 % for December. Also the ISM non-manufacturing index may rise to ... Read More