The German GDP grew 0.3% in the first quarter, while the Bank of Japan held off on stimulus. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras held debt talks with the leaders of France and Germany. Hewlett-Packard will sell a controlling 51 percent stake in its China-based data-networking business to China's Tsinghua Unigroup for at least $2.3 billion. Charter is in talks with Time Warner Cable about a bid that is likely to be well above $170 per share expected by some analysts. Italy passed a new law to tackle corruption.
# GDP
The Bank of Japan has decided not to launch more stimulus after the country's economy grew more than expected in the first quarter. The central bank's annual 80 trillion yen monetary easing programme will remain in place. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will give a briefing later in the day. Japan's economy expanded by 0.6% from the previous quarter and 2.4% between January-March. The BoJ said that Japan's economy has continued to recover moderately and pointed to declining public investment. The inflation rate in March came in at a tepid 0.2% from a year ago, well short of the BoJ's target.