The Swiss Federal Statistical Office reported on Thursday that Switzerland's PPI increased in August, which was the first gain of the index for the last five months. Producer price index grew to 0.5%, whereas analysts expected that it would decline to minus 0.4%. Year over year, the index fell to 0.1%, confounding economist's expectations of a 0.7% decline.
The Swiss National Bank announced on Thursday that it will continue to defense the Franc via purchases of foreign currencies in 'unlimited quantities', maintaining the EUR/CHF floor at 1.20. The Swiss central bank will also hold the benchmark interest rate unchanged at the level of 0%, which is in compliance with expectations.
France is making a pressure on Spain to ask help from the European Union and scatter German concerns. French representatives want Spain to request the EU's bailout fund in order to consolidate bond rates of the troubled countries. French pressure is the only way to make sure that Spain will not backtrack and delay domestic reforms till the deals will be done as it was
Economists doubt that another round of quantitative easing by the Fed may provide economic benefits, though the majority expect that the central bank will introduce stimulus today. Economists projected that bond buying plan of $500 billion would diminish unemployment rate by 0.1% and would increase the nation's GDP by 0.2%.
Wholesale inventories increased by most in 5 months, overshooting expectations and indicating the Q3 economic growth started on better footing than forecasted. The inventories rose 0.7% in July to $485.2 billion, the Commerce Department reported. Sales unexpectedly dropped 0.1%. Another report showed import prices increased in August on a jump of oil prices, weighing on consumers and boosting inflation.
New Zealand kept unchanged it record-low interest rates and signalled the rates might endure through mid-2013 to spur the economy undermined by a global slowdown. The New Zealand Dollar bought 82.01 U.S. cents from 82.07 cents immediately before the announcement. The Kiwi has appreciated 5.6% this year versus the U.S. counterpart, the best performance among G10 currencies.
The Australian Dollar was 0.3% from a three-week high amid speculation the Federal Reserve will announce further stimulus, which traditionally debases the U.S. Dollar. Australia's and New Zealand's currencies maintained 2 days of advance after Germany's constitutional court cleared the way for ratification of the Eurozone's bailout fund. The Aussie traded at $1.0470, while the Kiwi Dollar was at 82.14
Gold is set for gain amid speculation the Fed will announce stimulus to prop up economic growth. Palladium is poised for the longest rally since February 2008. Gold traded at $1.731.63 an ounce following a 0.3% gain earlier. The metal touched the highest level in six months of $1.746.90 yesterday, while the U.S. Dollar traded at 4-month low versus the
Oil futures for October settlement added 9 cents to $97.10 on the mid trading session in Singapore on Thursday. Oil price made slight correction after yesterday's fall, when the U.S. crude oil stockpile unexpectedly increased versus estimations of falling. Analysts say that currently oil price cannot go higher due to a stockpile data, but the FED meeting today will have an essential impact on reaching the
The ICE Dollar index, which measures the Dollar value versus six major currency peers, slipped -0.15% to 79.58 on late Asia trading session on Thursday. Index was close to a 5-month low as investors awaited for the U.S. Federal Reserve decision on bond-buying programme and changes in its key interest rate guidance.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.2% on the mid trading session in Tokyo on Thursday. Index shows the longest winning streak since July amid speculation the FED will outline a bond-buying programme at policy meeting today. According to a Bloomberg survey, two-thirds of economists think that Ben Bernanke, the FED Chairman, will announce Q3, which is likely to push markets' benchmarks even higher.
The Bank of Korea announced holding the key interest rate unchanged at 3% for the second consecutive month. Analysts of the bank expect consumer price increase in coming month due to recent typhoon and higher oil and grain prices in the world market. However, these factors keep inflation in the target bands of 2% and 4% and bank's analysts consider the recent government spending expansion as
German stocks rose on Wednesday after the German Constitutional Court baked up the euro area bailout fund. Hopes for easing in the US and China also spurred rally of German shares. DAX Index added 0.48% to trade at 7,354.22. Six out of nine business sectors included in the index posted gains. The top-performers were technology and financial firms. SAP advanced
UK stocks were slightly lower on Wednesday despite positive news from the Eurozone. The German Constitutional Court approved the euro area bailout fund and yields on Italian short-term debt tumbled during today's auction. Providing additional support for UK equities, UK jobless claims posted an unexpected decline last month. The FTSE 100 Index lost 0.03% to trade at 5,790.84. Only three
Hong Kong equities rallied on Wednesday after the country's Premier Wen Jiabao hinted that the government has a room for monetary and fiscal reforms to stimulate faltering economy. Escalating expectations that the Fed will announce QE3 also supported Chinese stocks. The Hang Seng Index surged 1.10% to close at 20,075.39. Seven out of nine economic sectors included in the index
Japanese stocks skyrocketed on Wednesday on rising hopes that the Fed and POBC will embark on stimulus measures amid weak state of the global economy. Lifting Japan's shares, the country's machinery orders beat estimates in July even despite weaker exports and fading subsidies for automobile purchases. The Nikkei 225 soared 1.73% to close at 8,959.96. All sectors within the index
On Wednesday, Germany witnessed an increase in its borrowing costs, as it was selling its 5-year government debt on an auction. Germany's Treasury managed to sell debt worth EUR3.97 billion in 5-year notes, having the average yield of 0.61%, compared to the yield of 0.31% during a similar auction in August. Demand exceeded supply only 1.4 times.
US blue chips rose on Tuesday amid mounting expectations that the US and China will loosen their monetary policies to boost growth. Meanwhile, rising cautiousness ahead of the German Constitutional Court decision regarding its support for the ESM capped the upswing of the US equities. The Dow Jones Industrial Index gained 0.52% to close at 13,323.36. Eight out of nine
US stocks advanced on Tuesday on hopes that the Fed will announce easing measures at the upcoming FMOC meeting due to start on Wednesday. At the same time, investors remained cautious ahead of the German Constitutional Court ruling regarding its backup of the Eurozone rescue fund. The S&P 500 rallied 0.31% to close at 1,433.56. Seven out of ten sectors
The Census Bureau reported on Wednesday that the amount of Americans who lived in poverty in 2011 was 15% or 46.2 million people, which is an insignificant change from the figure for the preceding year, which was 15.1%. However, the median U.S. income in 2011 declined by 1.5% from the reading in 2010.
Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that the amount of crude oil inventories grew by 2.00 million barrels and reached 359.1 million barrels, compared to a 7.42 million barrels decline over the preceding month in the previous week. Analysts, however, expected that crude oil inventories would decline by 2.59 million barrels.
Futures for natural gas were lower in U.S. morning trading session on Wednesday, as traders were locking gains from a rally which brought prices to a 5-week high. On the NYMEX, October delivery futures for natural gas were traded at USD2.961 a MMBtu, which was a 1.05% fall for the U.S. morning trade. Earlier, prices rose by 1.4%, being traded at USD3.036 per MMBtu.
On Wednesday, the Euro was traded near a 4-month high versus the Greenback, after the constitutional court in Germany approved the bailout fund, and amid continuing speculations about Fed's further monetary stimulus. The EUR/USD pair hit a 4-month high of 1.2936 and consolidated at 1.2905, which was a 0.40% gain for the U.S. morning trading session.
Eurostat reported on Wednesday that Eurozone's industrial output in July gained 0.6%, offsetting the decline which occurred in the preceding month. Analysts, however, expected that the output would fall by 0.1%. Year over year, the industrial production fell by 2.3% in July, whereas in June it declined by 2.1%. Following the release of the data, the 17-nation currency remained higher versus the Greenback, adding 0.23% to