The total number of building approvals in Australia unexpectedly declined in April of 2014, with approvals for building townhouses and apartments dropping as much as 14%. Other approvals fell 0.3%, bringing the average decrease to 5.6%, while analysts predicted a 2.1% rise of the indicator. On the annual basis, building permits advanced 1.1% in April of this year.
Property prices in the United Kingdom advance already for the 16th consecutive month, while investors see risks of overheating that may potentially cause a bubble on the housing market. According to the Hometrack Ltd. company's data, prices of houses in England and Wales added 0.5% in may of the current year after a 0.6% jump a month before. Prices in
Activity in the manufacturing sector of Japan continued to decrease in May of this year, while the benchmark PMI Index, which evaluate the performance of the sector, remained unchanged from April's reading at 49.9 points level. Meanwhile, the advance in acvitity would be shown by the PMI index above 50 points. The biggest contributor to decline is falling demand amid
Siemens AG (SIE) will remove more than 11,600 positions, as the company cuts about one billion Euros ($1,34 billion) in costs, chief executive officer, Joe Kaeser, said. Siemens plans to lay off 3% of the workforce, including 4,000 as a result of pruning down its regional operations. Siemens shares declined 1.1% this year; however, today the price increased 0.5% to
The performance of the world's largest economy dropped in the first three months of this year recording the first decline since 2011, the latest report published by the Commerce Department showed on Thursday. According to the report, the U.S. GDP fell 1.0% in the Q1, while it was original seen to be falling by 0.5%.
Russian shares dropped on Friday amid geopolitical tension between Ukraine as the country's President Vladimir Putin kept Russian army in Ukraine despite sanctions put on the nation by the European Union and the U.S. The benchmark index Micex slipped 0.6% today and it has jumped 10.4% in May, set to record its first monthly gain this year.
The majority of emerging-market equities fell on Friday session heading towards the longest streak of monthly climbs as the People's Bank of China decided to support the local economy with further stimulus and as India has a new government. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index dipped 0.4% to 1,034.81 by 9:01 a.m. London time.
Inflation measured as consumer price index in the Asia's second largest economy increased in April rising at the fastest pace since 1991, a report released by the Bank of Japan showed on Friday. The country's consumer prices accelerates by 3.2% on an annual basis in April, however, the report also showed that industrial production in Japan slipped 2.5% in April.
Japanese shares swung between gains and losses on Friday with the benchmark index Topix recording its first advanced in a month since the beginning of 2014 as power producers and tiremakers led gains. The Topix jumped as much as 0.1% to a level of 1,201.41 following an increase of 0.4% earlier on the session, while the Nikkei 225 closed 0.3%
The European benchmark Brent crude increased modestly on Friday session narrowing the Brent-WTI spread from $8.33 in April to current level of $6.70 after a report unveiled that stockpiles at Cushing in Oklahoma slipped to 21.7 million barrels. Brent for delivery in July gained $0.09 to $110.06 per barrel on the London's ICE Futures Europe exchange.
West Texas Intermediate crude advanced on Friday session heading towards its first monthly gain since this February after an industry report showed that inventories in the U.S. shrank. WTI for settlement in July rose 86 cents and dropped 20 cents to $103.38 per barrel on the NYMEX as of 4:45 p.m. in Sydney.
Precious metals swung between gains and losses on Friday session with palladium rising towards the highest levels since August 2011 as strikes in South Africa continue and amid sanctions put on the Russian Federation. Palladium gained 0.2% to $837 an ounce, silver for May settlement traded at $19.0326 an ounce and platinum jumped 0.4% to $1,465.30 an ounce.
Gold slightly gained on Friday trading session shrinking its monthly loss amid signs that the overall situation in the U.S. economy has improved pushing the stock market higher, while China's demand for the metal falls. Gold for delivery in May traded at $1,256.96 an ounce as of 2:22 p.m. Singapore time after it closed at $1,255.56 yesterday.
The U.S. shares closed higher on Thursday trading session with the benchmark stock index Standard & Poor's 500 hitting its new all-time high recording a new record high in three out of last four sessions. The S&P 500 Index gained 0.54% to 1,920.03, the Dow Jones industrial average added 0.39% to 16,698.74 and the Nasdaq Composite index climbed 0.54% to
The U.S. Treasuries declined on Friday with the benchmark 10-year yields rising slightly from yesterday as they traded close to the weakest level since June 2013 amid speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve may keep the current level of stimulus longer than expected. The U.S. 10-year yields rose from 2.447% to 2.466%.
The U.S. Dollar slightly weakened on Friday session falling against the Japanese Yen and the Euro after a government report showed that the U.S. gross domestic product contracted for the first time since 2011. The Greenback index lost 0.1% and was last seen at 80.456, while the currency itself fell 0.2% to 101.55 yen and was traded at $1.3603 versus
The majority of Asian shares increased in Friday after benchmark stock indexes traded in Wall Street reached new record highs yesterday despite the fact that the U.S. posted its first GDP contraction in a three-year period. The MSCI Asia-Pacific gauge outside Japan rose as much as 0.1%, while the Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.2%.
The Australian Dollar advanced on Friday trading session rising by the most among all major traded currencies after a report showed that industrial production in Japan fell and as the country's companies revised their spending plans. The so-called Aussie advanced as much as 1.0% to the highest level in one-and-a-half-week high at $0.9326.
The Japanese currency dipped on Friday trading session following a notable rally of the Yen after a government data from the country signaled that the Bank of Japan may wait with the stimulus measures longer. The Yen dropped to 138.14 against the Euro after recording a 4-month high, while it slipped to 101.42 versus the U.S. Dollar.
The total number of claims for unemployment benefits in the United States declined significantly during the previous week, adding to sings that labour market will improve further and will be able to turn economy back to rise after a Q1 decline. The indicator slipped 27,000 for the week, which ended on May 24, reaching 300,000. The four-week average plummeted to
Economic development in the United States turned to be negative in the first three months of the current year. Today, the data for GDP advance has been revised to the downside. Previous estimations forecasted the U.S. economy added 0.1% in January-March quarter. However, the new data showed a 1% slump. Economists, in turn, projected the U.S. GDP to decline 0.5%.
Apple Inc., one of the most valuable and biggest consumer electronics companies in the world, decided to acquire the Beats Electronics LLC, which specializes in the production of famous headphones. The acquisition price reached $3 billion, becoming the largest deal for Cupertino-based company. Today, Apple Inc. equities are jumping 0.35% to $626.16 per share at pre-market in New York.
Economic growth in Spain has been confirmed on the level, which was predicted by the initial estimation on April 30. Country's GDP added 0.4% in the first three months of this year on a quarterly basis, up from 0.2% in October-December. Despite the 25% unemployment, one of the main drivers of growth has been the household spending, which was up
The Bank of Japan is planning to cut the 10-year government bond purchases, explaining its actions with the necessity to reach the 6-8 year long-term target of the whole volume of purchases. As expected, the BoJ may start to buy 6-8 trillion yen per month, down from 7+ trillion yen before. It will decrease the purchases from 200-300 billion yen