The US government announced an unexpected decline in crude inventories on Wednesday, sending oil prices higher. According to the Energy Information Administration, US crude oil stocks dropped by 4.9 million barrels to 529.9 barrels in the previous seven days. WTI added almost $1.5 and Brent grew around $1.2, trading at $37.34 and $39.11 respectively by 14:45 GMT on the NYMEX.
The yellow metal traded weaker on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday ahead of the FOMC meeting. Thus, gold dropped around 0.2%, trading at $1,227.5 per ounce by 9:00 GMT. Analyst from FxWirePro expected bullion to trade between $1,225 and $1,242 per troy ounce on Wednesday.
According to the latest results from Quotable Value announced on Wednesday, New Zealand's average property value grew 11.4% to $559,492 year-over-year in March. Moreover, the average house price index increased across all regions in the Q1 except Auckland, where the index showed a slight 0.2% decline to $931,061.
The New Zealand Dollar traded lower against the US Dollar on the New Zealand Stock Exchange by 12:30 GMT on Tuesday. The Kiwi dropped almost 0.9%, trading at $0.6774 ahead of the North American trading session. The New Zealand Dollar lost around 1% so far this year, registering its biggest decline of 6% in January.
The Caixin PMI in China rose to 49.7 in March from 48.0 in February, reaching the highest level in thirteen months as output grew for the first time in a year. The increase in the index indicates that the monetary and fiscal stimulus activities implemented by Chinese government have begun to take effect, despite the fact that foreign demand remained
The Commerce Department reported that home sales in the US jumped by 2% on a monthly basis in February to an annual seasonally adjusted pace of 512,000. In addition, there are more signs showing US housing market strength as the total quantity of houses for sale at the end of February was at the highest levels since October 2009 and
On Tuesday, several deadly explosions have rocked at the airport and metro system in the Belgium capital, Brussel. The Euro dropped to $1.12, whilst the Swiss franc jumped to 1.0879 per euro. The European index, STOXX Europe 600 Travel & Leisure lost 2.75%. Belgium Bel 20 declined by 1.25%, French CAC 40 by 1.4%, German DAX by 1.77% and Dutch
The Commerce Department reported 5.2% increase in housing starts in the US in February. The main driver of the spike was single-family house starts, which rose 7.2% to a yearly rate of 822,000, the highest level in nine years. The housing sector is said to be the main driver of the economic growth in 2016 in the US as decrease
In the speech to the Lower House of the British Parliament, George Osborne declared about the adjustments for the tax rates, inflation and GDP growth prediction in the UK. Inflation was reviewed to 0.7% for 2016. IPT increased to 10%. The cut of the corporation tax to 17% is expected to be done in 4 years. GDP growth expectations were lowered to 2%, 2.2%
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, presented negatively adjusted expectations for the economic growth in the UK. The government forecasted the 2% growth for 2016, whilst previously the growth rate had been expected at the 2.4% level. The prediction for 2017 was diminished to 2.2%. The GBP/USD pair lost 0.64% down to $1.4067 after the announcement.
The Department of Commerce published sales data in the US for February. The core retail sales dropped in February by 0.1%. This is slightly higher than -0.2% which had been expected. PPI and retail sales met expectations, showing drop of 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. Empire State manufacturing Index was stated at a surprisingly high level of 0.6 points, which is
In anticipation of the two-days Federal reserve meeting, which will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, the group of analysts shared the forecasts regarding the Fed decision. 95% of the respondents believe that interest rate will not be raised in March. Meanwhile 83% of the financiers anticipate that the hike will be in June or even earlier. 42 analysts have
On Wednesday, the Office for National Statistics published the labor data in the UK for February, reporting that amount of claiming job-seekers declined by 18, 000, which is better than forecasted -8, 800. Average Earnings Index soared to 2.1%, while unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.1%. Sterling did not show notable reaction and held at £0.785 against the Euro.
The Business Survey Index of big manufacturers in Japan dropped to -7.9 in Q1 2016, greatly away from analyst expectations of 4.2 and making it the worst reading since June 2014. The main drivers of this fall were weakening global economic situation and the Yen's appreciation, thus making a fall in demand for Japanese products.
The single European currency extended earlier gains crossing the $1.06 handle amid a set of manufacturing PMIs that demonstrated positive results. The Euro edged up to its intraday highs at around 1.0618 following the release of Germany's PMI data for November that expanded to 52.9. Euro Area PMI matched expectations coming in at 52.9, while German jobless rate fell to
Bullion prices moved up around 1%, rising from almost six-year lows on short covering and as the Greenback slipped from its multi-months highs. Spot gold jumped to the session's high at around $1,074.34 per ounce, before trading up 0.7% at $1,071.40. It gained 0.5% on Monday. The major impacts on gold prices this week are expected to be the ECB's
Retail sales in Germany surprisingly fell in October posting worse-than-expected results. Measured in yearly terms, retails sales increased 2.1% from 3.5% in the previous month, while on a monthly basis retail sales dipped 0.4% in October, down from zero growth booked in September. Analysts had forecasted sales to fall by 0.2%. In the first ten months of the year, retail
After a relatively quiet ending of the prior week on the global markets, the present week has a number of data sets to offer, such as the ECB's decision, the ruling of the IMF on the Chinese Yuan, Fed Chair Janet Yellen's speech, and US nonfarm payrolls. The EUR/USD currency pair remains pressured on the monetary policy decisions of the
Crude prices were below $42 on the final day of November, just after the weekly gains booked during the previous week. Futures for WTI for January delivery climbed $0.10 to trade at $41.81 per barrel, while Brent futures for January delivery dipped $0.06 to reach $44.80 per barrel. Prices for both of the benchmarks have declined by around 10% in
The Euro Area's current account surplus recorded a huge rise in September, ECB data reported. The seasonally adjusted current account booked an increase in its surplus reaching €29.4 billion from €18.7 billion in the previous month. That was the highest level in the last 8 months, when the surplus accounted for €30.6 billion. Non-seasonally adjusted, the current account totalled €33.1
The shared European currency has left its session top versus the US Dollar and descended to the 1.0670 region. More precisely, the currency pair moved 0.12% to reach new session lows at 1.0670, after it faced rejection around the area of 1.0715. The FOMC minutes on Wednesday showed that the Fed is about to lift interest rates by the end
Crude oil prices climbed up on Thursday amid a small increase in US oil stockpiles. US weekly crude oil inventories increased by about 0.25 million barrels, noticeably below market forecasts of over 2 million barrels. Futures for WTI for December delivery edged up $0.19 to trade at $41.05 per barrel, while Brent futures for delivery in January rose $0.40 to
Gold weakened again and hovered near its lowest level over the last five years ahead of the US inflation data release later today and growing expectations of an interest rate increase in December. Spot gold dipped $3.95 or 0.4% to trade at $1,078.46 per troy ounce. US gold fell 0.6% to reach $1,077.50. Elsewhere in metals trading, palladium was down
Consumer inflation in the UK stayed in negative territory for the second month in a row in October, highlighting worries over deflationary pressures. Prices dropped 0.1% from a year ago, the same as in the preceding month and in line with analysts' forecasts. Core inflation that excludes energy prices and volatile food advanced to 1.1% from previously 1%. The BOE