Consumers and businesses in the 17-nation region that use the Euro in circulation were less pessimistic about their prospects this month, indicating a start of recovery from the longest recession ever.
An index of consumption amid Swiss residents inched slightly higher last month, boosted mostly by a notable improvement in sentiment in retail sector, the Swiss bank's economists said Wednesday.
New Zealand's trade balance unexpectedly fell last month as meat and crude oil exports declined sharply.
During the Spending Review the Chancellor George Osborne set out limits for 2015/16 and sliced 11.5 billion pounds off the budget of Whitehall department, a medium of 8%.
The growth of the world's largest economy was more tepid than initially estimated during the first three months of this year, reflecting weak spending on services by consumers, who are still struggling from recent budget cuts and tax hikes.
The European Central Bank is ready to take fresh action if needed, however, governments across the region should implement more structural reforms as money from the ECB cannot create real economic growth, the ECB President Mario Draghi said Wednesday.
The Swiss National Bank's cap on the nation's currency still remains a key policy instrument, that is not likely to be removed anytime soon, the SNB board member Fritz Zurbruegg said Tuesday.
Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, led by Shinzo Abe swept to a victory in Tokyo's assembly elections, just several weeks before vital national elections. Japanese Prime Minister's Shinzo Abe party became the largest single bloc after winning almost half of the 127-seat capital metropolitan assembly.
The U.K. mortgage market has strengthened in May, as major mortgage providers approved more than expected loans for house purchases last month, data by the British Bankers Association showed Tuesday.
Demand for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods rose more than analysts estimated in May, while a measure of planned business spending soared for the third consecutive month, a sign of broad-based gains that signal manufacturing sector is stabilizing.
The European Central Bank President Mario Draghi pointed out that the bond-buying programme is more important now, as policy makers in other countries are pondering to introduce radical shifts into their policy.
The amount of cash held by the nation's commercial banks and the central bank inched higher last week, adding to signs that investors are getting less anxious over the Eurozone's financial woes.
An index that measures corporate service prices inched up by a seasonally-adjusted 0.3% in May following a –0.3% reading in the month earlier, according to the Bank of Japan on Tuesday.
Ahead of a key data on Thursday that will likely to show that the U.K. gross domestic product picked up 0.3% in the first quarter, compared to a decline of 0.3% in the quarter earlier, George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pointed out that a relapse is possible in case the government abandon their economic plan.
The U.S. President Barack Obama said last Monday that the Fed's Chairman Ben S. Bernanke stayed in his position much longer than he wanted or was supposed to.
Confidence among German investors increased for a second consecutive month in June, amid signs that a recovery in Europe's powerhouse remains on track for a stronger growth in the second quarter after the weak performance during the first three months.
A bunch of economic data from Canada was unveiled on Friday, reflecting weak domestic demand and vulnerability of economic recovery, data from the Statistics Canada showed.
The Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said that Japan's policy members are closely watching moves of long-term interest rates and expressed the BoJ's readiness to take additional monetary-easing measures if the economy does not gain momentum as expected.
Britain's public sector net borrowing that exclude financial interventions, reached £8.8 billion last month, less than initially expected, affected by multi-billion pound cash transfer to the Treasury.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to start trimming its asset-purchase programme, also known as quantitative easing, to $65 billion already in September, and announce an end of buying in June 2014, the plurality of estimates from economists is suggesting.
The Eurozone current account surplus rose more than expected in the middle of spring, surpassing analysts' expectations of a 14.2 billion euros surplus by more than 5 billion, boosted by trade with goods.
Another signs that the Swiss economy remains highly vulnerable to the on-going financial and sovereign debt crisis in the neighbouring Eurozone have emerged during the last week, as the Swiss National Bank decided to retain the currency ceiling at 1.20 per Euro, highlighting risks to the economy from external developments.
The expansion of New Zealand's economy decelerated more than forecast during the last quarter, due to the nation's worst drought in 30 years that curbed farm output, the Statistics New Zealand said in a report.
During its monthly policy meeting the Swiss National Bank decided to retain the currency ceiling at 1.2 per Euro, saying risks to the economy from external developments, especially neighbouring Eurozone, remains high.