European markets down on EMU GDP, US futures pressured ahead of US NFP

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - The German DAX 30 (-1.90%), the French CAC 40 (-1.50%), the Italian FTSE MIB (-0.26%) and the Spanish IBEX 35 (-0.88%) are down on Friday after the release of the first reading for GDP Q1 2013, coming at -0.6%. EMU retail sales contracted by -0.3% in February, more than the -0.2% expected and after a +1.2% rise in the previous month. The annualized figure rebounded from -1.9% (revised from -1.3%) to -1.4%, while market consensus was pointing to -1.8%. German Factory orders came in at +2.3% (MoM) and 0.0% (YoY) from -1.6% and -2.1%, respectively, surprising investors that were expecting +1.2% and -1.5%. The ECB announced LTRO repayments of €8.064bn from 20 banks, with the amount split roughly evenly between the first and second LTROs.

Futures for the American S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones are signaling a lower opening by -0.50%/-0.60% ahead of the US NFP report. “The positive momentum in US labor market activity should be sustained in March, with the economy adding a further +195K jobs”, wrote TD Securities analysts. “While this will be a slowdown from the robust 236K pace in February, it is in line with the 6m trend”, they continued, adding that growth should be broadly-based, reflecting the improved tone in economic growth performance in Q1. “Notwithstanding this constructive view, and believe the recent initial claims/ADP report suggest downside in the coming months, risks are tilted to the downside reflecting the uncertainty on the impact from sequestration”, they concluded.