Canadian jobless level unexpectedly soared for a third consecutive month in December. According to Statistics Canada, the unemployment level surged to 7.5% compared to 7.4% increase in November and 7.1% in September. Economists questioned by Bloomberg earlier predicted unemployment rate to stay steady at 7.4%.
Philippines vehicle sales decreased by 4% in 2011 on the supply disruptions caused by floods in Thailand and earthquake in Japan, according to industry report. Overall sales in 2011 amounted 141,616 vehicles as compared to 147,488 in 2010, announced Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers. December's total sales of vehicles lost 14% while sales of the passenger cars saw 23% increase due to sales promotions.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars announced 31% increase in car sales to 3,538 units over 2011. However, the growth pace was sharply lower than in the previous year when sales saw 150% expansion. The most successful was BMW luxury marque that hit a new record in 2011. We should take momentum and continue UK success story, said Torstein Muller-Otvos, company's CEO.
Australian retail sales stayed at the same level in December, according to official data. The country's retail sales for the month showed 0% seasonally adjusted increase from November while November's retail sales saw 0.2% monthly growth, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics. Analysts had expected the indicator to rise by 0.4% in December.
Yuan lending approached 7.47 trillion Yuan in 2011 as compared to 7.8 trillion Yuan in the preceding year, reported China's central bank. The outstanding Yuan deposits amounted 80.94 trillion Yuan in the end of the last year, indicating yearly increase by 13.5% and deceleration of the deposits growth pace by 6.7%. Meanwhile, other currencies denominated deposits totaled 275.1 billion USD, signaling 19% yearly increase.
European stocks showed various performance on Friday as German and Italian markets fell while UK experienced an increase. Stoxx Europe 600 Index was slightly up gaining 0.06% or 0.14 points to 247.53 while Italian FTSE MIB stock index fell 0.8% or 121.58 points at 14,645.64 after UniCredit shares plunged. German DAX index lost 0.6% or 38.07 points to 6,057.92 after drop of Deutsch Bank stocks
The Australian domestic currency depreciated against its major counterparts on Monday after data showed national retail sales suddenly decayed in November. Meanwhile Kiwi extended a 3-day decline after country reported its trade deficit increased. Aussie lost 0.5% to $1.0173 while Kiwi was nearly flat at $0.7802. Currently AUS/USD is trading at $1.0188 while NZD/USD is trading at $0.7814.
German Chancellor Merkel and French President Sarkozy meet today in Berlin to create a dominant plan for saving the Euro in upcoming three months. Both officials prepare to stretch out a rulebook determining the fiscal discipline discussed during summit on December 9. Rulebook is supposed to provide guidelines for fiscal regulations across the Euro Zone.
17-nation currency reached 11-year record low against Japanese domestic currency and traded 0.3% from the lowest reading in 16 months before French and German leader meeting today in Berlin. Officials are planning to come up with a rulebook promoting fiscal discipline. Euro lost 0.2% reaching ¥97.74 and dropped 0.1% against US Dollar to $1.2704. EUR/USD currently is trading at $1.2717 while EUR/JPY is trading at
US stocks mostly fell on Friday as the sharp drop of Euro against the greenback offset gains from better than expected US employment data. Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5% or 55.78 points at 12,359.92. S&P 500 Index gave up 0.3% or 3.25 points to 1,277.81. On Nasdaq Composite Index managed to break the trend and closed higher 0.2% or 4.36 points higher at 2,674.22.
Most Asian stocks traded lower on Monday as renewed concerns about the Euro Zone debt trouble weighted on Euro, pushing it down to $1.2687. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 0.8%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.1% while South Korea's Kospi declined 1.3%. Only Shanghai Composite Index retreated and gained 1.6%. Japanese markets are closed today for a holiday.
US employers managed to exceed expectations in creating new jobs adding more than 200,000 new jobs in December. The unemployment rate declined to 8.5%, hitting three-year low while the salaries and working hours jumped. Better than expected results follow increase in manufacturing activities and improved consumer confidence thus signaling on economic recovery of the US.
Canadian unemployment rate increased more than expected in December. The rate hit 7.5% on the seasonally adjusted basis as compared to 7.4% in November, reported Statistics Canada. Experts predicted the unemployment rate to stay unchanged at 7.4% in December.
Spanish and Italian 10-year bonds saw an increase in yields by 5 basis points to 5.63% and by 16 basis points to 7.11%, respectively as traders await bond auction of both countries due next week. Costs of borrowing above 7% are considered unsustainable.
Deutsche Bank AG cut the forecast for metals' prices for this year citing negative economic outlook and high probability of firmer dollar. Industry metals faced the most essential cuts with nickel's expected price was decreased by 19% to $18,625/ton, copper by 18.8% to $7,350/ton and aluminium by 17.8% to $2,138/ton. Precious metals are also likely to fall with gold falling by 3.9% to $1,825/oz, silver
Germany's factory orders decreased more than expected in December. The orders declined by 4.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis from 5.2% increase in November, reported Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie. Experts predicted the Germany's factory orders to slip by 1.6% in December.
Retail sales in the Euro Zone decreased by 0.8% in November on a monthly basis after adding 0.1% in the preceding month, reported Eurostat. The volume of sales declined by 2.5% in November year-to-year while experts predicted the figure to decline by 0.4% monthly and by 2.5% yearly.
Worldwide coffee exports achieved 7.78 million bags in November from 7.75 million a year before, reported ICO. However, global coffee exports declined by 3% in the period between October and November as compared to the same period in 2010. The global coffee output is estimated as 28.6 million bags between 2011 and 2012, according to ICO forecast. Currently, the coffee futures for delivery in March
Swiss CPI decreased more than initially projected in December, according to official data. The indicator remained at minus 0.2% seasonally adjusted unchanged from November, reported Swiss Federal Statistical Office. Experts expected the consumer price inflation to decline by 0.1% in December.
HSBC cut its gold price forecast to $1,850 from $2,025 for this year and to $1,800 an ounce from $1,850 for 2013. The bank did not changed the forecast for the period between 2015 and 2019, expecting the gold price to fall to $1,500.The bank says the gold is likely to recover this year and the market sentiment will remain bullish supported by
Euro Zone's unemployment rate remained steady at the record high of 10.3% seasonally adjusted in November, reported Eurostat. The number of people unemployed jumped by 45,000 in November to 16.372 million. The unemployment rate was in compliance with expectations.
HTC Corp announced the 26% drop in profit to NT$11.02 billion in Q4 citing increased competition and weak global demand. The revenue for the period decreased by 2.5% to NT$101.42 billion from NT$104.01 billion in 2010. The company has not commented the results.
Japan Airlines is planning to relist its shares to the Tokyo Stock Exchange as one of the steps towards recovery after bankruptcy. JAL is likely to sell shares totaling between 500B yen and 1Tn yen and in case relisting is successful the company will become the world's largest listed carrier, reports say.
Gasoline prices started 2012 with the all-time high of $3.28 per gallon, reported AAA Daily Fuel Gauge. Analysts expect the commodity to be extremely volatile this year. The record high price will negatively impact customers as gasoline price tends to peak later, usually between April and July, said Tom Kloza, economist from Oil Price Information Service.