U.S. GDP Grew Much Less Than Estimated In Q2

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MT5 -With private inventory investment, consumer spending, and exports all rising by less than previously estimated, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing that the U.S. economy expanded by less than previously reported in the second quarter.

The report showed that U.S. gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in the second quarter compared to the previous estimate of 1.7 percent growth.
The downward revision came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the rate of second quarter GDP growth to be unrevised.

Published: 2012-09-27 12:50:00 UTC+00 10 hours, 32 min. ago

U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Fall More Than Expected

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MT5- In a positive sign for the sluggish labor market, the Labor Department released a report Thursday morning showing a much bigger than expected drop in initial jobless claims in the week ended September 22nd.

The report showed that jobless claims fell to 359,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 385,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to drop to 376,000 from the 382,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the bigger than expected drop, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since coming in at 357,000 in the week ended July 21st.

Published: 2012-09-27 12:46:00 UTC+00 10 hours, 36 min. ago

German Unemployment Rises In September

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MT5-Germany's unemployment increased by 9,000 in September from the prior month, the Federal Labor Agency said Thursday. Economists had forecast unemployment to rise by 10,000.

The number of unemployed rose by 11,000 in August.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the jobless rate came in at 6.8 percent, unchanged from the prior month and matched economists' expectation.

Published: 2012-09-27 08:05:00 UTC+00 15 hours, 17 min. ago

Finland's Business Confidence Remains Weak

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MT5-Finland's business confidence continued to be weak in September, data from a survey by the Confederation of Finnish Industries showed Thursday.
The manufacturing confidence index came in at -8 points, little changed from -9 points recorded in August, which was revised down from -7 points. The measures of production expectations and order books showed weakness during the month, while stocks of final goods decreased modestly.
The corresponding indicator for the construction sector dropped to -24 points in September from -20 points in August, indicating a further deterioration in confidence.
Meanwhile, the indicator of sentiment among Finnish traders improved to -4 points in September from -6 points. The service sector confidence index recovered slightly to 2 points from 0 points in August, data showed.

Published: 2012-09-27 06:28:00 UTC+00 16 hours, 54 min. ago

Fitch Affirms Luxembourg Triple A Rating, Stable Outlook

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MT5-Fitch Ratings affirmed Luxembourg's top notch credit rating on Tuesday citing its developed, ultra-open economy, high income, strong public balance sheet and net external creditor position.

The country's long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) was affirmed at 'AAA', Fitch said in a statement. The outlooks on the IDRs are Stable.

The growth slowdown that began since the fourth quarter of 2011 after a strong rebound from the 2008-09 financial crisis is likely to continue. Yet, the economy has outperformed its neighbor Germany, which is the biggest in the euro area, Fitch pointed out.
The agency expects Luxembourg's economy to stagnate this year and have a gradual recovery from 2013 onwards.

Luxembourg has the lowest general government debt among Triple A rated sovereigns at 18 percent of GDP, Fitch said. The country has to address sizeable contingent liabilities in the pension system, which if delayed could have an adverse impact on longer-term fiscal sustainability, the rating agency warned.

Fitch said that further structural measures will be needed on top of the existing 1.2 percent of GDP consolidation plans, effective from 2013, for Luxembourg to reach the medium-term objective of 0.5 percent of GDP structural surplus, which would set the debt/GDP on a declining trend.

Published: 2012-09-25 11:01:00 UTC+00 1 hour, 47 min. ago

Yen Climbs To Near 2-week High Against Australian Dollar

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MT5-Against the Australian dollar, the Japanese yen that trimmed its early Asian session's decline strengthened in European morning deals on Tuesday.

The yen strengthened to its highest level against the aussie in nearly two weeks at 80.95 around 4:50 am ET. The yen may target 80.50 level on the upside. At Monday's close, the pair was worth 81.19.

Published: 2012-09-25 09:02:00 UTC+00 3 hours, 46 min. ago

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Hong Kong Trade Gap Narrows In August

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MT5-Hong Kong's visible trade deficit narrowed to HK$36.03 billion in August from HK$40.13 billion in July, the Census and Statistics Department said in a report on Tuesday.

The value of total exports increased at a pace of 0.6 percent year-on-year after falling 3.5 percent in July. At the same time, imports climbed 0.9 percent, reversing a 1.8 percent drop in the prior month.

For the first eight months of 2012 as a whole, total exports of goods dropped slightly by 0.2 percent. Concurrently, imports of goods rose 0.9 percent. A visible trade deficit of HK$297.8 billion, equivalent to 11.9 percent of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in the first eight months of 2012.

A government spokesman commented that looking ahead, the persistently weak fundamentals of the advanced economies, including those relating to the debt crisis in the Eurozone, will continue to cast a shadow over the global economic outlook.

As such Hong Kong's external trading environment will likely remain difficult in the near term, spokesman added.

Published: 2012-09-25 08:56:00 UTC+00 3 hours, 52 min. ago

Spain Producer Price Inflation Rises Sharply In August

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MT5-Spain's industrial producer price inflation nearly doubled in August from the previous month, data released by the statistical office INE showed Tuesday.

The producer price index rose 4.1 percent, after climbing 2.6 percent in July. It was the fastest rate since March. The figure rose for the second straight month.

Producer prices in the manufacturing of non-durable goods rose 2.1 percent annually, while those in the production of durable goods increased 1 percent. Prices rose 1.9 percent in the manufacture of consumer goods.

Capital goods as well as intermediate goods industries saw 0.7 percent increase each in producer prices. Producer prices in the energy industry rose 12.6 percent.

Month-on-month, producer prices increased 1.1 percent in August, following a 0.8 percent gain in July. Prices rose for the second consecutive month. The monthly increase was the biggest since January.

Published: 2012-09-25 07:13:00 UTC+00 5 hours, 35 min. ago

Finland August Jobless Rate Rises

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MT5-Finland's unemployment rate for the month of August increased from a year ago, data released by Statistics Finland showed Tuesday.

The jobless rate rose to 7.3 percent from 6.6 percent last year. The number of unemployed was 199,000, which was 22,000 higher than the same month last year.

The employment figure remained broadly unchanged at 2.526 million. The activity rate edged up to 66.9 percent from 66.5 percent.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate for persons aged between 15 and 74 rose to 8 percent in August from 7.8 percent in July. The number of unemployed increased to 216,000 from 210,000. The unemployment rate for persons aged between 15 and 24 also climbed to 18.5 percent from 18.4 percent.

Published: 2012-09-25 06:25:00 UTC+00 6 hours, 23 min. ago

 

Bank Of Japan Minutes On Tap For Monday

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MT5-The Bank of Japan will on Monday release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on August 8 and 9, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

At the meeting, the central bank held its benchmark uncollateralized overnight call rate at 0-0.1 percent and also kept the total size of the stimulus program at JPY 70 trillion with the asset purchases of JPY 45 trillion and the credit facility of JPY 25 trillion.

Japan also will see August figures for supermarket sales; they were down 4.9 percent on year in July.

Singapore will provide August figures for consumer prices; in July, CPI was up 0.2 percent on month and 4.0 percent on year.

Hong Kong will release current account data for the second quarter of 2012; the current account surplus in Q1 was 1.7 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Published: 2012-09-23 22:31:00 UTC+00 45 min. ago

No Need For Further Interest Rate Cut, ECB's Coeure Says

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MT5-Policy makers at the European Central Bank (ECB) are unlikely to cut interest rates further, given the high inflation rate and improvement in euro-area's economic outlook, European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said Sunday.

Speaking to reporters after attending a conference on the Palestinian economy, Coeure said that the jury is still open whether there should be another rate cut.

"It is not absolutely obvious that another rate cut would be necessary in the light of recent economic indicators and in light of inflation developments."

Coeure said economic growth in the Eurozone would be 'very week' this year and next, and inflation will be easing at a relatively slow pace.

"There has to be a detailed analysis on how further cuts in the deposit rate would spill over into different market segments and whether the functioning of money markets is compatible with negative rates," Coeure said.

The central bank at its latest rate-setting session had kept the policy rate unchanged at a record low of 0.75 percent for the second time. The rate was reduced by a quarter point in July.

Published: 2012-09-23 14:14:00 UTC+00 9 hours, 1 min. ago

UK House Prices Post Biggest Aug. Drop As Olympics Deter Home Buyers

MT5-House prices in the U.K. fell for a second consecutive month in August, recording the biggest-ever fall for the month as home buyers disengaged themselves from property search during key Olympic events.
New sellers' reduced asking prices by an average 2.4 percent from a month earlier to GBP236,260 in August, Rightmove said Monday. This followed a 1.7 percent dip in July and was the the largest August fall Rightmove has ever recorded.
The Olympics distraction did not deter new sellers from coming to market during August, with numbers marginally up from the same period a year ago. According to Rightmove, the number of properties coming to the market increased 0.4 percent annually to 127,992.
House prices in London fell 1.2 percent month-over-month in August to GBP454,875. This was, however, 8.8 percent higher than a year earlier. Property prices fell 2.6 percent month-on-month in Wales.
Sellers who come to market in the middle of the summer holiday season often have an urgent reason to sell and traditionally set their asking prices aggressively lower, the report said. However, the latest decline is substantial compared to the average fall of 1.1 percent measured in August over the last 10 years, the property website said.
In a report released last week, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' (RICS) also reported a decline in house prices in August.
The recent Halifax house price survey showed that house prices were down 0.4 percent month-on-month in August and 0.7 percent in July.

Published: 2012-09-17 04:38:00 UTC+00 18 hours, 50 min. ago

Turkish Unemployment Rate Edges Down

MT5-Unemployment rate in Turkey dropped marginally in June, the latest figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute showed Monday.
The seasonally adjusted jobless rate fell to 8.9 percent in June from 9 percent in May. A year ago, the rate was at 10.2 percent. On an unadjusted basis, the jobless rate was 8 percent, down by 1.2 percentage points from last year.
The number of unemployed persons fell a seasonally adjusted 1 percent month-on-month to 2.4 million. At the same time, there was a 0.1 percent rise in the number of employed to 24.76 million.
The employment rate was steady at 45.3 percent. The labor force participation rate fell to 49.7 percent from 49.8 percent in the previous month.

Published: 2012-09-17 07:24:00 UTC+00 16 hours, 3 min. ago

Research: Outlook for Currency Markets

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MT5-

Quotes from Standard Chartered:

After being caught between the two polarities of weak data and the policy response for the last few months, risk assets have finally broken out to the upside, supported by ECB and Federal Reserve policy expectations. This has particularly supported European currencies, while China-related currencies in G10 and EM have been mixed at best, causing substantial moves on the crosses.
Going forward, central bank reserve activity and data will be as important as - if not more important than - policy decisions per se in sustaining the rally in higher-beta currencies. Indeed, near-term, the USD looks set for a corrective rebound, before increasing data stabilisation provides a stronger and more sustained foundation for risk assets - funded out of the USD - in Q4.

Published: 2012-09-13 14:19:00 UTC+00 7 hours, 59 min. ago

France August Inflation Rises More Than Forecast

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MT5-French annual inflation rose more than expected in August, data from the statistical office Insee showed Wednesday.
EU harmonised annual inflation came in at 2.4 percent in August, up from 2.2 percent in July and slightly above the 2.3 percent rise forecast by economists.
On a monthly basis, the harmonized index of consumer prices climbed 0.7 percent, faster than the 0.6 percent expected increase.
Consumer price inflation accelerated to 2.1 percent from 1.9 percent in July. The largest upward pressures on annual inflation came from the increase of prices of energy.
Month-on-month, the index gained 0.7 percent, reversing July's 0.4 percent fall. Economists were looking for an annual rate of 2 percent and a monthly growth of 0.6 percent.

Published: 2012-09-12 05:51:00 UTC+00 7 hours, 38 min. ago

U.K. Visible Trade Gap Narrows On Robust Exports

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MT5 - The U.K. visible trade deficit narrowed sharply in July driven by strong growth in exports, weathering the global economic slowdown.

The visible trade gap fell more-than-expected to GBP 7.1 billion in July, the smallest since February 2011, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed Tuesday. The deficit was forecast to drop to GBP 10 billion from GBP 10.1 billion in June.

The trade in goods with EU countries showed a shortfall of GBP 4.3 billion compared to a GBP 5 billion deficit in June. Likewise, the deficit with non-EU nations halved to GBP 2.9 billion from GBP 5.1 billion due to a record increase in exports to these nations.

Exports to EU nations rose 7.7 percent, with a notable increase in oil shipments, and imports grew 1.1 percent. At the same time, shipments to non-EU nations increased 11 percent, while imports fell 5.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the trade in services resulted in a surplus of GBP 5.6 billion compared to June's GBP 5.7 billion surplus.

The total trade balance, including both goods and services, showed a deficit of GBP 1.5 billion, down sharply from GBP 4.3 billion deficit in June. The oil deficit fell to GBP 0.6 billion in July from GBP 1.6 billion in June.

The sale of chemical and consumer goods improved in July, while imports of oil and precious stones declined markedly.

The ONS warned that month-on-month growth rates can be volatile.

The improvement in overall trade largely reflects a reversal of some one-off adverse factors in June, like the extra bank holiday, Jonathan Loynes at Capital Economics said. Moreover, a big drop in the volatile oil deficit that helped in July could rebound in future months, the economist added.

The sharply reduced trade deficit in July suggests that net trade could well make a rare recent positive contribution to GDP in the third quarter after being a major contributor to the contraction suffered in the first half of 2012, IHS Global Insight's Chief UK economist Howard Archer said.

Published: 2012-09-11 11:25:00 UTC+00 13 hours, 19 min. ago

Swiss Franc Hits 4-day High Against Euro

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MT5-Ahead of the European session on Tuesday, the Swiss franc climbed against its European counterpart. The franc approached 1.2068 against the euro, its highest level in 4 days and the next upside target level for the franc is seen at 1.205. The euro-franc pair ended Monday's deals at 1.2075.

Published: 2012-09-11 06:34:00 UTC+00 18 hours, 4 min. ago

U.s. House Leader Cantor: Lacks Support to Pass Russia Trade Bill

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MT5-U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Cantor said that he does not see adequate support to pass legislation supporting trade relations with Russia.

Published: 2012-09-11 15:11:00 UTC+00 9 hours, 30 min. ago 

German Court Won't Delay Ruling On ESM: Reports

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MT5 - Germany's Federal Constitutional Court said Tuesday that it would not delay its most-awaited ruling on the European Stability Mechanism, or ESM, while rejecting a last-minute bid by a German lawmaker to postpone the judgment. 

Reports said the top court in Karlsruhe will pronounce its ruling on the bailout fund and the fiscal compact for budget discipline at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Wednesday, as originally planned, after rejecting a petition for a temporary injunction by Peter Gauweiler, a member of Parliament. 

Gauweiler has said in a statement that the fund should not be ratified until the European Central Bank revokes its bond-buying plan.

Published: 2012-09-11 09:28:00 UTC+00 15 hours, 14 min. ago 

Euro still has a long way to go in resolving it's debt crisis

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MT5 - International Monetary Fund Deputy Managing Director Zhu Min reported that Europe still has a long way to go in resolving its debt crisis. He said that "We are still in the middle" and "there is a long way to go. He urged Europe still have faith in the single currency.

Quoting the official at the World Economic Forum in chinese port city of Tianjin, He said the economy is currently experiencing "soft landing". It's mean that stabilizing chinese growth is of top priority and the IMF supports further policy easing in China.

Zhu said that the European Central Bank decision is very important. We strongly support it. It is very important to ease liquidity tension in the market. You must know that last week ECB unveiled a plan under which it would buy sovereign debt with a term of up to three years, thereby ensuring a government's access to funding, in return for a bailout deal with tight strings attached.

Published: 2012-09-11 07:35:00 UTC+00 17 hours, 8 min. ago