The business confidence level in New Zealand rose almost to the 15-year highest level in November of 2013, as a retail sector expands and businesses expect the profit amounts to advance. The benchmark index surged to 60.5 points in November from 53.2 a month earlier. At the same time, economists point out that the largest growth in employment was registered
The economic growth in Switzerland reached 0.5% in the July-September quarter of this year, while experts predicted the economy to add 0.4%. Alongside, the pace of growth remained unchanged from the second quarter. Comparing with the weak GDP growth in the Eurozone, Switzerland shows much more stable expansion, with exports rising 0.5% and construction jumping 1%.
Retail sales in the third-largest economy of the world, Japan, advanced 2.3% in October of the current year on the annual basis after a 3% increase in September. At the same time, analysts forecasted the indicator to go up only 2.1%. It is worth pointing out that large-scale retailers posted a 0.4% decrease in sales. The overall amount of sales
According to the Housing Industry Association of Australia data, the new house sales in the country decreased 3.8% in October of this year on a monthly basis, while in September they posted a significant advance of 6.4%, being the two-year high. By regions, home sales climbed the most by 17.4% in South Australia, while the largest decline in sales of
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, one of the biggest banks in the United Kigndom, announced on Wednesday that the financial institution plans to sell its remaining stake of 20% in the global payment company WorldPay. The potential buyer could be the Bain Capital and Advent International consortium. Today, the RBS Group Plc stocks are growing 0.36% to 0.33
Orange SA, the largest communications operator in France, plans to sell its unit in the Dominican Republic to Altice VII S.a.r.l., a company based in Luxembourg. It is expected the selling price to reach 1.1 billion euro. At the same time, Orange has received more than one bid for purchasing. Orange SA shares are currently trading up 0.05% to 9.54
The trade surplus in Sweden declined slightly in October of the current year on the annual basis, missing economists' forecasts. Over the last month the country's producers of goods and services exported 7% less goods than in October 2012, while imports fell 5%. This resulted in the trade surplus of 4.4 billion kronor. Moreover, in the first 10 months of
The unemployment level in Norway unexpectedly fell in September of this year, as the jobless rate declined to 3.4% from 3.5% in the previous month. Analysts, in turn, predicted the unemployment rate to remain stable at August level. The number of persons without a job dropped to 93,000. At the same time, the employment level remained unchanged at 68.8% in
Irish property prices advanced in October of this year at a considerably faster pace than in the previous month, as the Central Statistics Office data showed a surge of 6.1% in prices for residential property. In September prices added 3.6%. The annual growth for apartment prices jumped to 11.7%. Moreover, the highest rise in housing prices of 15% was registered
According to the Bank of Spain research data, the economic growth in the country will continue to expand in the current quarter of this year, while some indicators and sectors point on growth. Meanwhile, the domestic consumption advances, while car sales, in turn, surge amid government support program. Also, the manufacturing and construction sectors show the increase in activity.
This Wednesday, 1:30 pm GMT, the U.S. Census Bureau released the latest indicator on the monthly change in the number of durable goods ordered, excluding transportation. The number for October came out at -0.1%, and is disappointing compared to both, September's increase of 0.2% and investor expectations of a growth of 0.5%. The market reaction was barely non-existent, with the
Number of jobless claims in the U.S. unexpectedly declined during the week ended November 23, as it reached 316,000 against 326,000 a week earlier. At the same time, economists expected the number of applications for benefits to rise to 330,000. Analysts say that the stable recovery in the U.S. economy and upcoming Christmas holidays enable the companies not to decrease
Consumption indicator in Switzerland dropped in October caused by lower assessment of retail sector business confidence, the latest report published by the UBS bank revealed on Wednesday. According to the report, the headline indicator declined from 1.56 points recorded in September to a level of 1.28 in the following month, while the retail sector business conditions index slipped from 6
The U.S. Treasuries fluctuated on Wednesday with the extra yield corporate bonds offer traded only one basis point away from the narrowest level in a six-year period over the U.S. securities as the Federal Reserve tends to maintain its interest rates low. The benchmark government 10-year yields traded at 2.72% by 7:22 a.m. London time.
Emerging-market equities increased on Wednesday led by a rally of China's stocks after building material prices in the country rose and as Japan's Yen dropped together with Indonesia's Rupiah touching a four-month low. The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 0.2% to 1,007.61 by 2:19 p.m. Hong Kong time as the Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.1% in the last half hour
The Australian Dollar was little changed on Wednesday after touching the weakest level in almost two months yesterday after the Reserve Bank of Australia representatives signaled that the local currency may be overvalued. The so-called Aussie stood at 91.24 U.S. cents by 5:51 p.m. Sydney time following a drop to 90.89, the least since September 4.
Merchandise trade balance in New Zealand came in deficit in the month of October, however, it was the smallest deficit recorded in almost 20 years in October, a report released by the Statistics New Zealand showed on Wednesday. The merchandise trade deficit stood at NZ$168 million in October after recording a shortfall of NZ$216 million in the month before.
Australia's housing affordability continued to increase in the three months ended in September driven by further reductions of interest rates, the Housing Industry Association showed in a report on Wednesday. The report showed that the HIA-Commonwealth Bank housing affordability indicator advanced 3.2% in the Q3 to a level of 75.1, while the aggregate city affordability index rose 2.6% to 72.2.
December outlook for business confidence among South Korean manufacturers weakened from the one in November, the latest survey revealed by the Bank of Korea showed on Wednesday. According to the survey, South Korean business outlook index dropped from 86 recorded in November to 82 in December, while the current business conditions indicator fell from 83 to 80 in November.
Construction work done in Australia improved in the three months to September compared to the previous quarter, a report published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Wednesday. According to the report, the total value of construction work done rose 2.7% in the Q3 standing at A$53.426 billion, while it was expected to rise 0.5%.
Chinese shares increased on Wednesday rising for the first time in a five-day period mainly due to gains of trainmakers, brokerage and defense-related companies and as Japanese Yen weakened against the Euro. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.9% to 2,201.59 as of 1:02 p.m. local time, when it added 1.1% in the last 30 minutes of the morning session.
The European benchmark Brent crude slightly advanced on Wednesday after the American Petroleum Institute revealed that crude inventories gained 6.92 million barrels last week and supplies are forecast to jump by 750,000 barrels in today's report. Brent for settlement in January added 5 cents to $110.93 a barrel on the London's ICE Futures Exchange.
West Texas Intermediate declined on Wednesday falling for the fourth straight session a government report showed that stockpiles in the world's largest consumer of the commodity, U.S., advanced for the ninth successive week. WTI for delivery in January decreased 32 cents to $93.36 a barrel on the NYMEX and traded at $93.43 as of 2:30 p.m. in Singapore.
The 17-nation bloc currency increased on Wednesday traded near the strongest level against its U.S. counterpart and a four-year high versus the Japanese Yen after bank-to-bank lending denominated in Euro rose yesterday. The shared currency added 0.2% to $1.3592 U.S. Dollar hitting the highest level since October 31 at $1.3600, while it jumped to 138.16 Yen.