On Monday, futures for gold were traded higher during European morning trading session, after reassessment of US non-farm payroll data, revealing that it was not sufficient to change Fed's monetary policy. On the Comex, April delivery futures for gold were traded at $1,581.20 per troy ounce, which was a 0.3% daily gain.
The Federal Statistical Office revealed on Monday that exports of Germany added 1.4% on a monthly basis in January, which was more than analysts' expectations of 0.5%. Imports added 3.3%, compared to expectations of 0.7%. Year-over-year, exports increased by 3.1%, while imports gained 2.9% in January.
Statistical office Insee revealed on Monday that French industrial production fell more than expected during the first month of the year. Production declined by 3.5% on an annual basis in January, while analysts expected a more modest decrease of 2.8%. The figure of growth for the preceding month was minus 1.9%.
Statistics Denmark revealed on Monday that inflation of consumer prices experienced a decline in February, which was a third consecutive slowdown. Consumer price inflation fell to 1.2% on seasonally adjusted basis last month, compared to a figure of 1.3% in January. Month-over-month, the inflation was also equal to 1.2% in February.
The Federal Statistical Office reported on Monday that retail sales experienced a severe slowdown in its growth rate in January. Retail sales added 1.9% on a year-over-year inflation adjusted basis in January, while the figure for December experienced a gain of 4.7% on a yearly basis. Turnover in retail sector declined by 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The Bank of Japan reported on Monday that M2 money stock gained 2.9% on year-over-year basis in February and was equal to 828.2 trillion Yen in absolute terms. The increase was higher than anticipated by analysts, which expected a slightly lower increase of 2.7%. Japanese broad money gained 2.4%, which was also more than expected.
On Monday, a board member of the Japanese Central Bank said that it is possible for Japan to achieve a target inflation rate of 2%, in case the bank continues its powerful monetary easing with measures that are targeted to boost the economy. He also said that the Japanese economy is prone to recover soon as other major economies are
U.S. shares rose on Friday as jobless-benefit claims dropped to a six-week low and investors look forward to further stimulus measures. The S&P 500 Index advanced 0.45% to 1,551.18, less than 1% below its highest value of 1,565.15 in October 2007. All the sectors included in the gauge rallied on Friday. The best performing sectors were consumer services and basic
Japanese stocks climbed, sending the Nikkei 225 Stock Average to its longest daily winning streak in more than three years on better-than-expected U.S. employment data and weakening Yen that bolstered the profit outlook for exporting companies. The Nikkei 225 Index surged 0.5% to 12,349.05 on growing optimism that the new nominee for BOJ will halt deflation that has lasted for
China announced that industrial production rose 9.9% and retail sales advanced by 12.3% in the first two months, according to a government report on March 9. However, that was the weakest performance of production data since 2009 and retail sales growth cooled. Economists say that China's economy will face a substantial improvement in demand from the U.S., which just announced a fall
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7% to 136.56 points by midday session in Tokyo on Monday. That was the highest index's value since 2nd of August, 2011. Investors in Asia were trading on positive U.S. job data, which beat economists' estimation and indicated that the biggest world economy is doing well.
Farm commodities except for sugar were bullish on Friday after closely-watched USDA monthly report on the US and world's grain supplies. Moreover, deteriorating weather conditions in the US Great Plains lifted wheat prices. Coffee continued to draw strength from worries over spreading coffee leaf rust in Central America. Wheat inched up as GFS weather model continued to show lower
Energy futures were mixed on Friday amid upbeat labour figures from the US and rising China's exports. However, worries over situation in Italy coupled with strong US Dollar and larger-than-expected increase in the US crude oil inventories put notable pressure on the commodity sector. Crude oil finished in green, being supported by hopes that recovery of the US economy will result
Industrial metals apart from nickel moved lower on Friday despite positive US numbers. The jobless rate in the US dropped to a five-year low of 7.7% in February. At the same time, high LME stocks and solid greenback weighed on the commodity group. Aluminum sagged 0.71% despite reports that China may have increased its buying for state stockpiles. Meanwhile, the lightweight
Precious metals ended Friday's session in the positive territory as investors considered that the pace of the US recovery is not fast enough for the Fed to halt its easing programme. However, broadly higher US Dollar as well as persistent inflationary pressure in China cut gains of the commodity complex. Gold was steady amid hopes the Fed will continue its bond-purchasing
West Texas Intermediate oil declined from its highest level in more than a one-week period on Monday after a data showed an improvement of Saudi Arabia output and as China's industrial production decreased. April WTI futures dropped 35 cents to $91.60 a barrel on New York Mercantile Exchange and were at $91.74 at 2.02 p.m. Singapore time.
The Australian Dollar slipped 0.2% to $1.0221 in the end of Sydney trading session on Monday and extended a 0.3% decline from the end of previous week. Investors traded with a negative sentiment, since China announced the slowest start of industrial output since 2009, dimming the outlook of South Pacific countries' commodity exports.
Core machinery orders in Japan unexpectedly fell by 13.1% on a monthly basis in the month of January; it was the first fall of core orders in more than a four-month period, the Cabinet Office reported on Monday. Year-on-year, core orders dropped 9.7% in January, while economists' expected a drop of 2.0% following a 2.8% increase in December 2012.
New Zealand‘s retail credit card sales surprisingly moved up by a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in February compared to a forecast of a 0.5% increase, a data released by the Statistics New Zealand showed on Monday. The reports said the core retail industries transactions added 0.7% in February and the total amount of electronic transaction gained 0.8%.
Friday's trading session was very volatile in USD/CHF, as the price jumped from the weekly S1 at 0.9427 to 0.9550 for a moment exceeding the Bollinger band by 40 pips and closed on a four-month high at 0.9513.
USD/JPY demonstrates significant bullish sentiments, as the pair reached the highest level in three and a half years.
The Cable remains under bearish pressure and depreciates towards the month S1 level at 1.4867.
After the U.S. non-farm employment data last Friday the major currency pair decreased heavily, making a new low at 1.2954.
The Dollar Index increased by 0.1% to 82.752 points in Asian session on Monday, after reaching 82.924 last week, the highest level since 8th of August. The U.S. Dollar gained 3% in last three months, as economic data signal about a strengthening recovery in the U.S. and stimulating demand for the domestic currency. Traders bet on an increase in retail sales,