The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced on Friday that the country's industrial production dropped less-than-expected. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, Japan's industrial output declined 5.2% in February, compared to the 6.2% drop originally reported. Meanwhile, the annual IPI decreased 1.2%, compared to the same period in the previous year.
Iranian crude exports grew by 600,000 barrels per day in the fourth month of the year. According to Bloomberg's tanker-tracking data, about 28.8 million barrels of crude oil, or 2 million per day, left Iran's ports during the first two weeks of April, following March's daily rate of 1.45 million barrels.
European equity markets closed Thursday's trading session on a positive note. The Stoxx 600 Index gained 0.3%, whereas France's CAC Index and Germany's DAX Index added 0.5% and 0.7% respectively. Meanwhile, Britain's FTSE 100 Index finished flat, after the BoE's latest decision to keep interest rates on hold.
On Thursday, the US Department of Labor presented its data for the week ending April 9. The number of applications for unemployment aid dropped from 267,000 to 253,000, exceeding analysts' expectations of 269,000. It was the 58th consecutive week that initial jobless claims remained below 300,000, registering the longest period since 1973.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced on Thursday that the US CPI increased 0.1% on a monthly basis in March, whereas analysts expected a 0.2% reading. Meanwhile, the annual Index grew 0.9% in March, surpassing the forecast off a 1.0% jump and following the previous month's 1.0% result.
Europe's major stock markets closed Wednesday's trading session higher, buoyed by a rise in mining and banking stocks. Germany's DAX 30 Index gained 2.7%, Britain's FTSE Index increased 1.9% and France's CAC added 3.3% by the end of today's session. Moreover, the Euro Stoxx 50 Index and Italy's FTSE MIB Index grew 2.3% and 4.1% respectively.
China's Ministry of Commerce announced on Wednesday that the country's exports showed a surprising 11.5% year-over-year increase in the third month of the year, registering the first rise since June and the largest percent increase since February 2015. Nevertheless, analysts remained cautious about China's recovery.
The Greenback was seen trading at $1.1325 against the Euro on the NYSE on Wednesday, as soon as the US Census Bureau released its slightly disappointing figures for the previous month. Nevertheless, the US Dollar improved its situation on the market by 15:00, touching its new intraday high of $1.1280.
The US Census Bureau released the Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services report on Wednesday. Total US retail sales dropped 0.3% in March, surpassing analysts' forecast of a 0.1% rise and registering a 1.7% year-on-year increase. Meanwhile, the prior month's 0.1% decline was revised to a 0% change.
The IMF worsened its global growth outlook to 3.2%, following January's 3.4% forecast. Meanwhile, during the first hour of the North American trading session on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average grew 19.4 and the S&P 500 Index added 2.1, reaching 17,575.79 and 2,044.08 points respectively, whereas the Nasdaq Composite Index lost around 2.5 to 4,830.86 points.
The US Department of Labour announced on Tuesday that the country's import prices added 0.2% in March, following February's 0.4% drop and registering its first increase since June 2015. Moreover, it was the biggest jump since May 2015. Nevertheless, analysts expected to see a 1.0% rise in the third month of the year.
The Consumer Price Index grew 0.5% in March from a year earlier, following February's 0.3% and reaching its highest level since December 2014. Until today, analysts expected the rate to show a 0.3% rise. Meanwhile, the CPI jumped 0.4% month-on-month in March, surpassing economists' forecast for a 0.3% increase and following a 0.2% drop registered in February.
The Euro fell sharply against the US Dollar below the $1.14 level on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, after earlier touching its intraday high of $1.1450 on the London Stock Exchange. The common currency lost 0.15%, trading at $1.1390 during the North American trading session by 13:00 GMT.
Europe's largest equity markets closed Monday's trading session in green. Germany's DAX 30 Index gained around 0.8%, finishing at 9,695.68, whereas Britain's FTSE 100 Index added almost 0.1%, closing at 6,208.05 points. In the meantime, France's CAC 40 Index increased 0.3%, ending at 4,317.79, while the Euro Stoxx 50 Index jumped 0.5%, finishing at 2,927.78 points.
The Australian Dollar gained 0.9% against the US Dollar, trading at $0.7614 on the NYSE by 15:26 GMT on Monday, after touching its lowest level of $0.7528 on an intraday basis during the Asian trading session. Meanwhile, the Greenback's Index traded on its lowest level of 97.03 points since August 2015.
Crude oil futures traded higher during the European trading session on Monday. Brent grew $0.79, trading at $42.73 per barrel by 15:18 GMT, after briefly touching $43.06, its highest since December 7. In the meantime, WTI gained $0.65, trading at $40.37 per barrel and touching its three-week high of $40.75.
According to the data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics on Monday, the Consumer Price Index added 2.3% year-on-year in March, below a 2.5% forecast by analysts and in line with the previous month's 2.3%. The price of food jumped 7.6% in March from a year earlier, posting the biggest increase.
On Friday, the US and Germany released their positive forecast for global oil demand growth, sending oil prices higher. Brent added 5.3%, trading at $41.53 per barrel, while WTI increased 6.2% to $39.55 by 15:30 GMT. Thus, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index gained around 0.5% to 17,630.58 points, whereas the S&P 500 Index raised almost 0.6% to 2,053.88, and
According to the data released on Friday, Britain's industrial output dropped 0.5% in February from the same period last year, registering its biggest fall since August 2013. Moreover, the Office for National Statistics announced that the country's manufacturing output lost 1.1% between January and February, and 1.8% from February of last year. The transportation equipment manufacturing subsector declined 2.9% on
Due to March's promising job report from Statistics Canada released on Friday, the country's unemployment rate dropped to 7.1% from 7.3%. According the data, 41,000 new jobs were created in March, surpassing analysts'expectations of only 10,000 jobs and registering the largest increase since October 2015.
The UK's trade deficit narrowed to £12 billion in February after January's deficit of £12.2 billion, but, nevertheless, analysts expected the gap to moderate to £10.2 billion in the second month of the year. Meanwhile, according to the ONS, Britain's trade deficit with the European Union increased to £8.6 billion in the same period, registering its highest result.
The North American trading session was unsuccessful so far for the USD/CAD pair on Thursday due to the recent fall in oil prices. The US Dollar gained almost 0.5% to C$1.3156 by 16:00 GMT. Meanwhile, WTI lost around 1.9% and Brent dropped 2.0%, trading at $37.04 and $39.03 per barrel, respectively.
On Thursday, the US Department of Labour announced its weekly data. The number of applications for unemployment aid dropped 9,000 to 267,000, whereas analysts surveyed by Reuters expected jobless benefits claims to fall to 270,000. It was the 57th week that applications for unemployment benefits remained below 300,000.
US stocks traded higher on Wednesday, helped by a surprise decrease in crude inventories and a rise in healthcare stocks. The S&P 500 Index added 0.5% to 2,005 points, while the Dow Jones Index gained 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.7%, increasing to 17,658 and 4,880 points respectively by 15:30 GMT.