Equity Indices

	Closing Price	Change			Closing Price	Change
		On Week	YTD			On Week	YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average	17,764.04	-1.38%	-0.33%	FTSE 100	6,753.80	-2.52%	2.86%
S&P 500	2,080.15	-1.40%	1.03%	Nikkei 225	20,096.30	-2.18%	15.16%
Nasdaq Comp	5,013.87	-1.23%	5.87%	Hang Seng	26,989.52	-1.74%	14.34%
DJ Euro Stoxx 50	3,456.79	-2.95%	9.86%	MSE Index	3,970.379	1.42%	19.19%

U.S. stocks declined as investors worried about Greece and mulled the prospect of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates as early as September.  With investors growing more nervous about the timing of the Fed's first rate hike in nearly a decade, the Dow dipped into negative territory for 2015.  Stronger-than-expected May jobs data released on Friday prompted expectations of a Fed rate hike in September, sooner than some expected.

 

Interest Rates

Benchmark Bond Yields

	Current 2yr Yield	Yield Change		Current 10yr Yield	Yield Change			Present Interest Rate	Last Variance
		On Week	Since Dec 12		On Week	Since Dec 12
US	0.73	0.07	0.06	2.46	0.17	0.29	FED	0.00 to 0.25	-0.75  to -1.00	16-Nov-08
Euro	-0.14	0.05	-0.04	0.97	0.26	0.43	ECB	0.05	-0.10	04-Sep-14
UK	0.58	-0.04	0.13	2.13	0.16	0.38	BOE	0.50	-0.50	05-Mar-09
Japan	0.00	-0.01	0.02	0.50	0.03	0.17	BOJ	0.00 to 0.10	-0.10	05-Oct-10
Australia	2.06	0.01	-0.13	3.08	0.14	0.27	RBA	2.00	-0.25	05-May-15
Canada	0.67	0.08	-0.34	1.89	0.17	0.10	BOC	0.75	-0.25	21-Jan-15
Malta	0.28	0.08	-0.18	1.80	0.21	-0.09

The Treasury on Tuesday accepted Euro 3.00 million in 91-day Treasury Bills at an average yield of -0.005 percent.  Outstanding Treasury Bills amount to Euro 204,050,000 - an increase of Euro 12 million from the previous week.   

China reported another soft reading on inflation as the consumer price index slipped 0.2 percent in May from the month before, putting annual inflation at 1.2 percent. The tame inflation figures fed expectations that Beijing will add more policy stimulus. Investors were still unnerved by this symptom of weak demand and their selling pulled stocks away from seven-year highs

Greece proclaimed a new willingness to compromise with its international creditors, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that time was running out for a reform-for-aid deal to keep the country in the euro.  Three days after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told his parliament the latest proposal from the EU and IMF was "absurd", the Greek government said it was ready to negotiate a settlement acceptable to both sides by the end of this month - when Greece's bailout program expires and it faces the prospect of default on its debts. 

Forex

	Exchange Rate	Change
		On Week	YTD
EUR/USD	1.1283	1.17%	-6.74%
USD/JPY	124.3200	0.19%	3.79%
GBP/USD	1.5384	0.27%	-1.24%
EUR/GBP	0.7332	0.89%	-5.58%
USD/CHF	0.9310	-0.23%	-6.37%

The euro also rose strongly against Sterling and Yen , helped by the rise in benchmark German bund yields and better-than-expected industrial output figures showing a 0.9 percent increase in Germany during April while the dollar edged down against a basket of currencies but remained underpinned by rising U.S. Treasury yields, as investors warily watched developments in Greece's ongoing talks to avert financial crisis.

HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c. has based this document on information obtained from sources it believes to be reliable but which it has not independently verified and is for your personal, non-commercial use only. The contents do not constitute a solicitation of the purchase or sale of any investment. Although HSBC makes every reasonable effort to do so, it makes no representations that the information presented is accurate, complete or timely. Expressions of opinion herein are subject to change without notice. Accordingly, HSBC shall not be liable for any decisions made or actions taken in reliance on such information. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance and the value of investments may go down as well as up. Issued by HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c., which is regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority.