Official data from the US Department of Commerce showed on Wednesday that the country's trade deficit grew to $57.5 billion in April, compared to the $60 market forecast and following the $57.1 billion gap seen in the third month of the year. Exports of goods rose 2.4% to to $119.3 billion, whereas imports increased 1.9% to $176.8 billion in April.
On Wednesday, financial agency Markit announced May's US preliminary Purchasing Managers' Index reading for the service sector. The Index dropped to 51.2 points, following the 52.8 result seen in the previous month, when it hit a three-month high, and missing the 53.0 market forecast.
The bullion dropped to its four week-low on Tuesday, following a fresh stream of hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials, which helped the US Dollar to trade higher. Thus, gold prices declined 1.81% to $1,228.90 per troy ounce by 17:00 GMT on the New York Stock Exchange.
The US Dollar traded higher against other major currencies by 16:30 GMT on the New York Stock Exchange. It appreciated 0.63% against the Japanese Yen, trading at 110.03 yens. Meanwhile, the Aussie dropped 0.54% and the Euro declined 0.63% against the Greenback, trading at $0.7185 and $1.1143 respectively.
Europe's major stock markets finished higher on Tuesday, helped by a strong rally in the banking sector, whereas the German GDP data met analysts' expectations. Germany's DAX 30 Index added 2.33%, closing at 10,071.94 and touching its one-week high of 10,077.50. Meanwhile, Britain's FTSE 100 Index rose 1.51%, finishing at 6,229.00, France's CAC 40 Index grew 2.54% to 4,435.09, and the pan-European Euro Stoxx
New US home sales grew 16.6% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 619,000 units in April, posting the highest result since January 2008 and the largest percent increase since January 1992. Meanwhile, the previous month's reading was revised up to 531,000 from the originally reported 511,000 units. Analysts polled by Reuters expected new home sales to rise to 523,000 in April.
The largest US equity markets posted gains shortly after the opening bell on Tuesday, ahead of the new US home sales report. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index grew 0.55%, starting at 2,059.30, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.63% and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.59%, opening at 17,602.50 and 4,794.00 points respectively.
The British Pound grew around 1% against the US Dollar by 12:00 GMT on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday, breaking the $1.46 level. The Treasury Select Committee provided a boost to the Sterling, as well as the chances of Britain voting to leave the EU in the June 23 referendum significantly fell.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 1.9%, trading at $47.49, whereas Brent lost 2.1%, trading at $47.71 by 13:55 GMT on the New York Stock Exchange. In the meantime, gold declined 0.5% to $1,246.40 per troy ounce, and silver decreased 0.9%, trading at $16.39.
The Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index Report for the United States revealed on Monday that the country's PMI dropped to 50.5 in May, following the 50.8 reading seen in the previous month and falling far behind the 51.0 market forecast.
The largest US stock markets opened Monday's trading session slightly lower. At the start of the session, the Standard and Poor's 500 Index dropped 0.06%, opening at 2,048.21 points. In the meantime, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index lost 0.03%, opening at 17,476.26, whereas the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.05%, starting at 4,769.56 points.
On Monday, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development stated in its Economic Outlook 2016 for Africa that, on average, the continent's economies will rise 3.7% in 2016, while the pace of Africa's economic growth in 2017 will be faster and should grow to 4.5%.
The Markit Flash Composite PMI dropped to 52.9 in May, following the 53.0 result seen in April and posting the lowest result this year. Analysts polled by Reuters expected the Index to improve to 53.2. In the meantime, the Flash Manufacturing PMI came in at 51.5 in May, down from 51.7 in the previous month and compared to market expectations
Stocks in Europe pared gains and were flat-to-lower, while traders are digesting new services and manufacturing PMI data. In the meantime some big companies are having falls weighting in on the general market mood. German DAX 30 and UK's FTSE 100 indices remained unchanged. French CAC 40 lost 0.3% to trade at 4,340.74 points.
Crude prices decreased, as traders tried to calculate a rebalancing point for oil after US rig count was reported unchanged on Friday. WTI futures fell 1.2% to$47.82 per barrel and Brent dropped 1.1% to trade at $48.19 per barrel. Both benchmarks ended previous week in the green and hit multi-month heights. In the meantime, Alexander Novak, Russian Energy Minister, announced,
Euro Zone's composite and manufacturing PMI's were published on Monday and they disappointed, indicating at a weaker economy. Manufacturing PMI declined to 51.5 from 51.7 points and service PMI stayed at the same level of 53.1 points. The Euro declined to daily lows at 1.1210 against the US Dollar on the news.
On Friday, major US equity markets opened in green, recovering some of the early losses. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.3%, opening at 2,046.00, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index grew 0.2%, starting at 17,478.00 points. In the meantime, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.5% to 4,735.00 points.
Crude oil futures opened Friday's North American trading session lower, whereas gold and silver posted some gains. WTI lost 0.12%, opening at $48.10, while Brent dropped 0.23%, starting at $48.70 per barrel. In the meantime, the bullion added 0.29% to $1,258.40 per troy ounce, and silver jumped 0.80% to $16.63 per ounce on the NYSE.
The Canadian Dollar lacked anticipated volatility, as macro data sent mixed signals to investors. While retail sales missed analyst expectations, dropping by 1% instead of 0.6% as forecast, yearly inflation picked up to 1.7%, in comparison to 1.3% in March, offsetting the negative effects. The Loonie traded at roughly 1.31 versus the US Dollar, with an oil price of under
Canada's CPI grew from 1.3% to 1.7% on a yearly basis in April, whereas the Bank of Canada's annual core Consumer Price Index jumped from 2.1% to 2.2%, according to fresh figures released by Statistics Canada on Friday. The published data was in line with market expectations. Meanwhile, the Transportation Index grew 1.0% in April, following the 0.9% drop seen
Data on Canadian retail sales induced disappointment, as the figure showed a 1% drop, missing analyst expectations of a 0.6% dip for March. The decline came chiefly from a 2.9% plunge in auto and part trade, as well as lagging furniture sales. While the news triggered a Canadian Dollar sell-off upon the announcement, the effect was neutralized by positive inflation
Silver showed signs of recovery on Friday, erasing some of the losses generated by the FOMC minutes release. The metal reached a high of $16.59 at 8:45 AM GMT, showing the lowest daily level of $16.48 at 5:45 AM GMT. Since Silver is denoted in US Dollars, the metal had lost its value following a boosted Greenback on Thursday.
The USD/CAD pair was seen hovering around the 1.3090 Canadian Dollar mark at 9:00 AM GMT, dropping by roughly 60 pips ahead of a series of Canadian data that is about to come out later on Friday. Oil climbing 0.7% to trade around $49 provided minor support for the Canadian Dollar. Domestic retail sales as well as inflation data will
Stocks on Wall Street are on track to a positive start on Friday, as futures grew before the market opening, with further volatility expected upon the US housing data announcement. S&P 500 futures added 0.3% to trade at 2'044.00 points, indicating a potential curb in losses from the session before. Housing prices are expected to rise by 1.3%, slowing down