Germany is to turn down a multi-billion free trade contract between the EU and Canada, which is to the great extent seen as the basis for the bigger agreement with the U.S. The German diplomats believe the government could not negotiate the agreement with Canada on current terms. The deal with Canada could raise the bilateral trade by a fifth to 26 billion Euros a year.
WTI fell for the fourth consecutive time during the last five days from speculation that U.S. economic data may show weakened growth. WTI slid 1% during the previous week after the release of data showing increased gasoline stockpiles. September futures went down 59 cents to $101.50 per barell, while the trading volume was 16% under the 100-day average.
Asian stocks were around three-year highs as China's industrial firms showed a substantial increase in profits. Year-on-year the profits earned were up 17.9% in June in stark contrast to the 8.9% in May. This has given further confirmation that the growth supporting stimulus measures have given the Chinese economy a much needed push.
The Dollar was traded near the most in eight months versus the Euro as investors bet it will rise to levels last seen in November 2012. The nation's currency maintained its biggest weekly gain since March versus its major peers. USD/EUR was traded at $1.3429, which was little changed from July 25, then it changed to $1.3422, the strongest since
The Canadian Dollar dropped to the weakest level in five weeks before the reports that are projected to indicate Canada's economy is way behind that of U.S. The Loonie slipped 0.6% to C$1.0812 per U.S. Dollar. The currency depreciated against the Greenback for a second day in a row, falling against all of the 16 major counterparts.
Gold net-long positions increased by 3.1% last week as hedge funds are eyeing a rally. Nonetheless, towards the end of the week prices fell due to a 19% lower demand from China and a positive outlook for the US economy, which overshadowed distress in Ukraine. The price of gold is expected to average over $1,300 during the year with inflation being a possible risk.
After the release of durable goods orders for June, the Dollar rose to the highest value in eight months against the common currency. The greenback went up to $1.3434, representing a 0.22% rise. Core durable goods orders expanded by 0.8% surpassing the 0.5% forecast. Yesterday, the US Dollar had already gained from a decrease in jobless claims.
Argentina is looking to avoid a default on its bond payments as time is running out to meet creditors' demands. With a US judge ruling that the country has to pay its "holdout" creditors, who have demanded full payment before the restructured bondholders can be repaid, both parties still have not reached an agreement. A disagreement could lead to Argentina's
In regard to economic growth, Britain's economy is leading when compared to the world's most developed economies. Preliminary release of GDP growth revealed that the UK's economy expanded by 0.8%, as it was forecast. When compared to last year's values, economic growth rose 3.1%, also corresponding to what was predicted.
Vodafone Group Plc., the second-biggest telecommunications company in the world, announced a 4.2% drop in its Q2 sales, however, economists forecasted a 4.4% decrease. Total service revenue reached 9.4 billion pounds. Africa and Asia markets rose, while sales in Europe are still falling. This morning, Vodafone Group Plc equities are rising 2.8% to 203.4 pence by 8:20 GMT in London.
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, the biggest state-owned bank in the U.K., registered a significant increase in profit for work in the first half of this year. As expected, pretax income advanced to 2.65 billion pounds in Q1-Q2 of 2014. The bank also targets to save 1 billion pounds by the end of this year. Today, the corporation's
In July business confidence in Germany decreased to its lowest level in 2014. This is the third release in a row recording a drop in morale. German Ifo business climate is measured by the expectations and current situation of seven thousand executives. The value released was 108 points, a drop from 109.7 in the previous month.
The Kiwi has had the worst performance of all the major currencies in the last 24-hours and has declined 1.4% against the USD. With the RBNZ raising its cash rate to 3.50% it affirmed that the officials will wait to see the impact of recent hikes. Moreover, the bank stated that the current level of the New Zealand Dollar is
Asian stocks went up with the regional benchmark index advancing for the 10th time in eleven weeks as earning from companies boosted investor confidence. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.2% to 148.69 while Japan's Topix went up 0.9%. Sout Korea's Kospi Index advanced 0.4%, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng was little changed.
European leaders made known on Wednesday that on 1st of January Lithuania will become the 19th country to start using Euro. It is the last of the Baltic states to do so after both Estonia and Latvia. Furthermore, the EC set forth the Lithuanian litas exchange rate at 3.45280 for the change. This also marks a change in the ECB where votes will be divided depending
The Greenback is getting close to its highest value in two and a half weeks. This was caused by slower inflation in Japan and increased demand for the US Dollar, due to the favourable unemployment claims data released on Thursday. The Dollar consolidated at 101.75 versus the Yen, with support level at Thursday's low and resistance level at the two-and-a-half
Gold is moving towards its second weekly loss as the increasing economic growth curbs demand for the haven investment metal. December futures were traded at at $1,293.30 per ounce on the Comex from $1,292.70. Victor Thianpiriya said that gold fell through the barrier of $1,300 and positive economic data has dampened the gold market ever further.
US stocks remained flat as earnings showed both positive and negative signs for the economy. The company stocks experienced sharp moves in either direction due to earnings such as Facebook leaping 5.2% or Amazon.com plummeting by 9.7%. However, moves in both directions evened out and the indexes stood still with only the S&P 500 ending on another record high.
The Sterling is holding steady against the US Dollar after seven consecutive sessions of downfall. As traders wait for the GDP data to be released, in regard to UK's second quarter, the Cable is sitting at 1.6985, close to the lowest price in one month, which reflects disappointing UK retail sales and surprisingly good unemployment claims in the US.
UK's economy is on the verge of growing larger than recorded before 2008. GDP was forecast at the same speed as in the first quarter, this way revealing a 0.8% expansion, during the period from April to June. This year's growth is estimated to be 3.1%, making it the strongest pace since the end of 2007.
The Dollar headed for its second weekly gain against the Euro as U.S. economists said that durable goods recovered in June, explaining that the economy is expanding. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose to its monthly high before the reports showing the U.S. economy's expansion and increased payrolls. The Dollar was little changed at $1,3468 after advancing 4% this week.
Japan's inflation in June slowed as Haruhiko Kuroda's actions move it towards the bank's target. CPI, excluding fresh food, went up 3.3% after a 3.4% gain. Kuroda said inflation will slow down in the next months before accelerating to the Bank of Japan's goal of 2% by this year. Overall inflation was 3.6% and 2.3% excluding energy and perishables, while
The Department of Labor in the US released information concerning jobless claims which indicated that only 284K unemployment benefits applications were filled. This represents a decrease of 19K unemployment claims when compared to the preceding month. A survey by Bloomberg including 50 economists revealed that the median forecast accounted for 307K jobless claims.
The Swiss National Bank will keep the 1.20 per euro cap since they want to keep prices stable in the foreseeable future. SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan argued in an interview that the cap is their main policy tool seeing as price development is their primary concern. SNB has already expressed their willingness to stick to the cap in response to the recent ECB easing.