EU CREDIT SUPPLY: IREIM (IREIM: Snr BBB/BBB): Inaugural Hybrid

• MNI: UK DEC FLASH MANUF PMI 47.3 (FCST: 48.5); NOV 48.0
• UK DEC FLASH SERVICES PMI 51.4 (FCST: 51.0); NOV 50.8

There has been a consistent them in this morning's French, German and Eurozone PMI data: manufacturing has surprised to the downside, services and composite to the upside, with the market focusing most on the increase in services output charges.

• This has likely impacted expectations going into the UK flash PMI at 9:30GMT.
• Markets are now broadly pricing no change at this week's MPC meeting, 20bp for the February meeting, a cumulative 45bp by May and 79bp by end-2025.
• It will be interesting to see if there is a similar dynamic in the flash UK PMIs given the upcoming Budget employer NIC and national living wage changes (which have showed up in other survey data as dampening both employment and also potentially wage growth expectations.

Norges Bank notify markets that they are to buy NOK, and sell FX, as part of their program to fund the transfer of dividends to the central government next year. 

From the statement: "Norges Bank’s Executive Board has decided to purchase NOK by selling foreign currency from the foreign exchange reserves to fund the transfer of dividends to the government in 2025, which means that the transfers will not influence the long-term level of banks’ deposits in Norges Bank."

• "The NOK purchases will be evenly distributed over the period between March 2025 and February 2026. The transactions will be executed on the trading days on which Norges Bank carries out foreign exchange transactions on behalf of the government."
• "The earnings as of November 2024 indicate that the transfer will amount to NOK 27 billion."

EUR/NOK has corrected off the day's highs - but no significant move here: EUR/NOK back to ~11.70 off the earlier high at 11.7488.