Markets Summary: Greek Crisis, Interest Rates

Greek Deputy Financial Minister, Dimitris Mardas said Greek banks to open on Monday for basic services, after three weeks of being closed and ATM withdrawal limits imposed. This came after ECB granted 7 billion euro ($7.6 billion) to help the embattled nation pay 3.5 billion euro loan due on Monday.

Angela Merkel to begin to talk on Greek bailout later today in Germany, while Christine Lagarde, IMF chief says Greek bailout plans are not viable without debt reduction, a positive assertion of the Greek situation.

Bank of England Governor, Mark Carney, said the interest rate could rise early next year.  The interest rate has been at its current rate of 0.5 percent for the past 6 years, the governor added that he expects the rate to increase for the next 3 years reaching as high as half of the historical averages or 2 percent.

Janet Yellen, Fed Reserve Chair said there is a possibility of an interest rate hike later in the year if the U.S economy improves. Mario Draghi, European Central Bank president said the interest rate will remain 0.05 percent for now, that the focus is on Greece.

Euro hits its lowest against Pound since 2007 after Governor Carney comments set the rate debate on fire. One pound exchange for 1.43 Euro early this morning and analysts are forecasting 1.5 price level depends on the outcome of Europe parliaments vote.

Dollar surges against all majors reaching 12 months high against the Euro, traded at 1.08 psychological level. Crude oil traded between $50.23, the lowest since March this year. China planning to invest $483 billion into its market to stem the market rout.

Google Earnings

Google earnings topped analysts’ estimates in the second quarter, earnings rose 11.23 percent, $17.7 billion. Google earned $6.99 per share topping $6.70 estimated by analysts for the first time in 6 years. $14.35 billion was paid to advertising partners which were more than $14.28 billion predicted by analysts.

Google Chief Financial Officer, Ruth Porat said the company’s strong 2Q shows continue growth across all of Google’s products, most importantly core search where mobile, programmatic advertising and Youtube stood out. Google shares rose as high as $655.73 or 13 percent after the report came out yesterday.