GREECE SET TO SECURE DEAL WITH PRIVATE SECTOR BOND HOLDERS - Strong signals are emerging that Greece will successfully cut a deal with private sector bond holders that would result in more than €100 billion of its private sector debts being cancelled. Losses being imposed on debt holders are hand in glove with the €130 billion second bail-out for Greece. Affected holders of Greek debt, mainly banks, insurers and investment institutions, have to reveal their intentions by Thursday night.
The head of research at Hargreaves Lansdowne in London is Richard Hunter. He says he is confident a deal will be reached on Thursday with 75% of bond holders agreeing to the deal. He predicts the market will react with quiet calm on Friday after the deal as it is so widely expected. Describing the euro zone crisis as a long term jigsaw, he says the Greek bond holders deal is just another piece. He says a lot more pieces have yet to fall into place, with Portugal still a problem and the recent weak economic news from the euro zone.
On China, Mr Hunter says the revised growth outlook issued yesterday took a bit of steam out of the markets. But he points out that the country has previously cut its growth forecasts and then actually achieved a higher outcome. But he says the 7.5% growth predicted by China is see being looked on enviously by other countries.
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MORNING BRIEFS - Aer Lingus has said the number of passengers it carried last month - including on the Aer Lingus Regional operations operated by Aer Arann - increased by 8.8% to 658,000. The airline said its passenger numbers in February totalled 599,000, an increase of 7.5% compared to February 2011. And a new three times daily service between Dublin and London Southend had been announced from mid-May. The service is being operated by Aer Arann.
*** American International Group, or AIG, was the USA's biggest insurance company when it had to be bailed out by the US government to the tune of $182 billion during the 2008 financial crisis. It has raised $6 billion by cutting its stake in its former Asian arm in a sale at the lower end of the insurer's expectations.
*** The US Senate has voted to uphold Washington's ability to impose duties on subsidised goods from China and Vietnam. There are concerns the measure will heighten tensions between the two countries while others say it protects American jobs from artificially cheap imports.
*** On the currency markets, the euro is worth $1.3206 and 83.28 pence sterling.
