Market information

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Yesterday, the Greek Government announced additional measures for € 4.8 billion to close the budget deficit this year. Because this amount was greater than was expected by the market, the interest on Greek government bonds decreased. Interest on the pieces maturing in ten years fell yesterday for the first time in weeks below 6%. The euro and the AEX-index benefited from the news. The euro rose 0.8% to $ 1,372. The AEX index closed 1.1% in the plus and that meant the fourth higher end of day closing in the last four days.

In the second half of 2009 Fortis Bank Nederland showed a net loss from ordinary activities of € 23 million. This was partly caused by the provision that the bank recorded for bad loans for an amount of € 220 mln. The bank, together with ABN Amro Nederland owned by the State, can however report a positive result for 2009 due to a one time windfall. This benefit stems from the settlement of a subordinated loan it received from former parent company Fortis Holding. It is still uncertain whether Fortis Bank can benefit from this arrangement, because Fortis Holding challenges the payment related to this arrangement in court.

The 6M Euribor remained unchanged at 0.96%. The 10Y Swap interest rate increased 2 basis points to 3.37%.

In the attachment below, market data of today on money and capital market rates as well as other rates are presented. For more history of these rates or other rates feel free to ask Zanders: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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