The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index climbed from 75.0 in January to 75.3 in February as Americans regained confidence about the country's economic outlook. The economists earlier predicted a figure to be at 73.0. Improvements in job market are outweighing concerns about rallying oil prices and instability in Iran, said Richard Curtin, the director of survey.
China is likely to continue facing tight power supply conditions this year as demand is growing while supply is stagnating, reported the electrical power industry association. The demand is expected to exceed supply by 30-40 million kilowatts in 2012. The electricity consumption is likely to increase by 9.5% over the year, indicating 2% slower growth pace. At the same time,
Brazil announced that developing economies are willing to provide more funds to ease Euro Zone's economic crisis in case they are given more power in the IMF, said Guido Mantega, Brazilian Finance Minister at the G20 meeting in Mexico. The minister also claimed that EU nations have to provide more their own resources to ease situation in the region.
Growing energy prices slow down global economic recovery but in case of Israel's attack on Iran the situation will become much worse. Oil price has already climbed above 10-month high on Friday and is not going to stop its upward move. The impact on the Euro Zone will be the most severe as the region is already highly indebted and
US equities traded mixed on Friday. Stock indices were supported by earnings reports on the upside but their gains were limited as the concerns about surging oil prices emerged. Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.01% or 1.74 points to 12,982.95, S&P 500 index added 0.17% or 2.28 points and closed at 1,365.74. Nasdaq Composite index soared 0.23% or 6.77 points
The trade balance of New Zealand narrowed in January, according to Statistics New Zealand. The trade balance declined to minus 199 million New Zealand Dollars on a seasonally adjusted basis in January after hitting 388 million New Zealand Dollars in December. Experts predicted the figure to approach 167 million New Zealand Dollars.
The trial over the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico made by BP-operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig was postponed for one week to enable parties to talk more on further settlement. The court hearing will resolve issues regarding civil penalties and damage claims. Currently, BP has paid 7.5 billion US Dollars for compensation and cleaning of the spill. The
Gold futures added to previous gains on Monday ahead of the ECB decision on long-term refinancing operation, called LTRO, aimed at boosting banks' lending. COMEX gold April contract traded at 1,779.15 US Dollars per troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, rising 0.15%.
European shares finished mostly up on Friday session, supported by banks and crude companies. Stoxx Europe 600 index added 0.3% to 264.77. German DAX index jumped 0.8% and French CAC 40 index advanced 0.6% to 6,864.43 and 3,467.03 respectively. In contrast UK FTSE 100 closed 0.05% down at 5,935.13.
The new home sales in US outperformed the expectations in January, said the Commerce Department on Friday, providing more evidence the property market in country is stabilizing. The number of new single-family homes purchases climbed to annualized 321 000. Economists questioned by Bloomberg predicted an increase to 315 000.
Canadian Dollar appreciated on Friday, reaching the highest level in four months as good economic data from US bolstered demand for riskier assets. Canadian Dollar traded CAD 0.9993 in Toronto evening session. Currently USD/CAD is trading at CAD 1.0016.
China may cut its interest rates in Q2 in view of bleak world's economic outlook, reported Xiamen University. The university predicts the central bank to lower the interest rate by 25 basis points in both Q2 and Q3 as the country's growth is expected to decelerate. Hence, after two cuts the interest rate for one-year lending will be cut to
Australian Dollar modestly weakened against Japanese Yen and US Dollar as investors were concerned Greece might experience further difficulties in tackling its debt turmoil. Aussie fell 0.1% both against Yen and greenback to JPY 86.72 and USD 1.0688. Kiwi showed similar performance, giving up 0.1% versus Dollar and Yen. Currently AUD/USD is trading at USD 1.0673 and NZD/USD is trading at USD 0.8341.
Japanese currency depreciated sharply on Monday and was trading close to 4-month record low on improved sentiment Euro Zone will resolve region's crisis and US kept showing signs of recovery. Moreover China signalled it might provide funding for containing debt turmoil through IMF and G-20 said they will involve in case Europe creates substantial financial firewall in two months. Yen
Germany should put more effort to contain region's debt crisis instead of just requiring additional money from outside, announced the Group of 20 nations. G-20 suggested Europe to expand its own financial firewall before borrowing from other countries or organizations. During Mexico meeting Germany attempted to persuade G-20 countries to inject extra capital in IMF to tackle crisis.
Australia's premier Julia Gillard won her predecessor Kevin Rudd in a leadership vote and remained the head of ruling Labour party. Gillard gained 71 votes compared to 31 in favour of Rudd's, said party representative Chris Hayes. Rudd claimed he accepts the outcome and will support current PM.
Rural commodities were mostly higher on Thursday amid broadly weaker US Dollar and adverse weather conditions in South America. Sugar, the top performer, approached almost three-month high on the lingering concerns over the Brazilian crop. Moreover, institutional investors and hedge funds showed increased interest in sugar buying. At the same time, wheat lost momentum created due to stronger China's demand
Energy pack, excluding natural gas, continued to post strong gains amid escalated supply disruption concerns due to geopolitical tensions between Iran and Western economies. Weaker US Dollar and stronger equities also contributed to gains of the commodity group. Crude oil edged up even despite buildup in the US and dismal economic perspectives for the Euro Zone. Following crude oil jump,
Base metals tumbled on Thursday after the EC cut its growth forecast for the Euro Zone. Further, weak China's demand coupled with choppiness in the US Dollar both dampened the market sentiment. Aluminium futures dropped even despite increased cancelled warrants at LME. At the same time, supply concerns for copper from the renewed strike in Freeport's Grasberg mine and falling
Precious metals were mixed on Thursday amid broadly stronger Euro and indications of the global easing of monetary policies. Silver and gold were mainly bolstered by firm equities as well as stronger demand for alternative assets in view of geopolitical tensions in Mideast. At the same time, platinum ended the day on the negative note as recently announced decrease in
German DAX index traded higher on Friday, supported by oil firms and earnings reports. SAP AG jumped 1.5% after the producer of business management software announced plans to increase its dividend by 83%, adding a special premium for 40th anniversary. SAP AG also posted a 4th quarter profit and predicted positive earnings outlook for 2012. BASF SE also supported index
British FTSE 100 index fluctuated between gains and losses on Friday on different corporate news. Oil shares surged along with a crude price. BT Group climbed 0.8% and BP added 0.9%. RSA Insurance Group jumped 1.9% after BoA upgraded its stock from neutral to buy. On downside Lloyds Banking Group dropped 1.7% after lender announced bigger than expected loss of
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average extended gains on Friday on positive US housing and employment data. Nikkei 225 surged 0.43% or 41.38 points to 9,636.95 with energy sector leading the gains as oil price climbed to 9-month record high. Japan's leading oil provider Inpex Corp jumped 5%. J. Front Retailing climbed 1.5% after retailer said it is planning to acquire its
S&P 500 index retreated on Thursday, after Labor Deparment said the unemployment claims remained unchanged last week. US index advanced 0.43% or 5.80 points and settled at 1,363.46. Sears Holdings rallied 19%. Although company reported worse than expected earnings, its share price was boosted by plans to derive some stores and sell others. Hewlett Packard plunged 6.5%, most in 6