The Bank of Japan's Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and the bank's officials maintained the loose monetary policy unchanged on Thursday's meeting mainly due to signs of moderate recovery as exports gathers momentum. Japan's central bank kept its monetary framework unchanged aiming at two percent inflation target in a two-year period by doubling the money base.
The performance of China's economy is predicted to increase by 7.5% this year, the weakest pace of growth in twenty-three years, while the country's PMI dropped to 50.4 in November, a survey released by the Markit Economics and HSBC showed on Thursday. According to the survey, China's growth was set lower despite recent economic reform weaning the economy towards domestic
The U.S. Dollar increased on Thursday rising to the highest level in four months against the Japanese Yen after the Federal Reserve minutes signaled possible scale back of the U.S. central bank's stimulus on one of the next meetings. The so-called Greenback advanced to 100.83 Yen, the most since July, while the Dollar Index measuring its performance versus its most-traded
U.S. shares closed lower on Wednesday falling after the Federal Reserve minutes from the last meeting were released signaling that the U.S. central bank may start tapering its bond-purchasing program on one of its next meetings. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 0.36% to 1,781.37, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.41% to 15,900.82 and the Nasdaq Composite Index
The Australian Dollar dropped 0.4% versus U.S. Dollar almost reaching the lowest level in two-months, after China's manufacturing contracted more than expected and the IMF said that the Australian Dollar looks overvalued by 10%. The Aussie tumbled 1.1% yesterday, the most in three moths, as the Fed signalled that the bond purchases might be soon reduced.
The Canada's currency advanced against most of its 16 major peers after the chairman of Federal Reserve Ben S. Bernanke announced that the U.S. central bank will keep the stimulus, thus supporting its trade partner Canada. The so-called loonie jumped 0.2% versus the U.S. Dollar - the biggest rally in a week.
The Japanese Yen dropped 0.7% against the U.S. Dollar, thus reaching the lowest level in four-months, after the Federal Open Market Committee minutes hinted that the bond purchase might be slowed in the coming month. The Japan's currency also slumped 0.6% versus the shared currency, while this year the Yen has depreciated 12% versus its nine major peers.
The gold almost reached the four month low, after the FOMC signaled sooner than expected tapering, thus reducing the investor activities. The gold for immediate delivery gained 0.2%, while the bullion for December delivery slumped 0.8%. The prices for gold tumbled 2.7% yesterday and 26% this year, thus coming closer to the first annual fall since year 2000.
Activity in manufacturing sector of France continued to decline in November of this, as the pace of decrease reached a six-month highest level. The PMI Index, which measures the activity level, contracted to 47.8 points. Moreover, the service sector of the country turned to retreat as well, as the PMI Index for this sector dropped to 48.8 points. The reading
The Asian stocks extends to three-day loosing streak, after Federal Reserve meeting pointed that they might reduce bond purchase while the China's manufacturing activity dropped. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.6% after nine out of 10 industry groups retreated. One of the most significant drop was for the Perseus Mining Ltd., which contracted 10% after the price for precious
The Reserve Bank of South Africa remained with limited number of monetary policy tools to support the economic growth in country, as the declining currency raised inflation pressure. The rand lost 16% versus U.S. dollar this year, increasing prices for imported products, such as oil. At the moment the inflation level is 5.5%, while the main interest rate is expected
Singapore officials raised the growth forecasts for the current and next years, as the economy advanced faster than expected in July-September quarter. The new forecasts predict a 3.5-4% growth in 2013 and a 4% expansion in 2014. The country's GDP increased 5.8% in Q3 on the annual basis. Analysts say that all Asian economies are now benefiting from U.S. Fed's
Spending with credit cards in New Zealand decreased for the second month in a row in October of the current year. The overall credit card spending lost 0.8% from September after a 0.1% drop in that month. It is worth pointing out that domestic spending with credit cards issued in the country slumped 0.9%, while overseas billings dropped 1.1%. On
Activity in Chinese manufacturing continued to grow in November of this year, however, the pace of increase slowed slightly. The benchmark PMI Index from the HSBC bank, which measures the activity level in this particular sector of Chinese economy, posted a decline to 50.4 points from 50.9 points a month earlier. At the same time, the index above 50 points
Inventories of crude oil in the U.S. jumped 0.4 million barrels during the previous week, reaching 388.50 million barrels, while economists expected them to lose 0.2 million barrels. Therefore, oil inventories in the country, which is the largest oil consumer in the world, rose for the ninth consecutive week. The gain in inventories has a negative impact on oil prices,
Economic expectations in Switzerland jumped to its highest level since May 2010, as the economic recovery in the Eurozone is gaining strength. The ZEW indicator reached 31.6 points this month against 24.9 points a month earlier. 41.1% of analysts expect the Swiss economy to improve, while 65% of respondents see the Eurozone economy to grow in the nearest future.
Nokia Corp. shareholders agreed to sell the mobile phone making division to Microsoft Corp. for 5.44 billion euro, as the Finnish company had significant problems to get any profit from that unit during last three years. More than 99% of Nokia shareholders approved the deal. After the sale, Nokia Corp. will focus on its Solutions and Networks division, as it
According to the Bank of England minutes for the meeting of November 6-7, the MPC members unanimously decided to keep the main interest rate on the record-low level of 0.5%. Moreover, the amount of bonds' purchases was kept at 375 billion pounds. The BoE officials say that there are no significant inflation risks in the U.K. at the moment, while
Economic activity in almost all the main sectors of Japanese economy grew in September of the current year, matching the experts' expectations. The indicator rose 0.4% from the previous month, advancing for a third month in a row. Manufacturing production added 1.3% after a 0.9% increase in August. Construction sector surged 1.4%, while activity in the service sector dropped 0.2%.
Trade deficit in Japan decreased to 1.09 trillion yen during the last month, however, economists predicted the gap to narrow, reaching 0.88 trillion yen versus a 1.13 trillion deficit in September. On the other hand, exports increased 18.6% on the annual basis, including a 21.1% rise to China, 27% to the EU and 26.4% to the U.S. At the same
The Japanese currency increased on Wednesday strengthening against all of its 16 most-traded peers as drops in European and Asian markets spurred demand for haven assets and as Bernanke signaled that easy monetary policy may be remained until needed. The Yen gained 0.1% to 100.07 per U.S. Dollar as of 8:13 a.m. in London after it dropped to 100.44 on
The Canadian currency dropped on Wednesday falling against the majority of its most-traded counterparts after a report showed that the country's largest export commodity, crude oil, slipped to the lowest in five months. The so-called Loonie fell 0.4% to C$1.0469 per U.S. Dollar as of 5 p.m. Toronto time after it reached the most since November 7 at C$1.0415 yesterday.
West Texas Intermediate oil advanced on Wednesday rising for the second straight session on speculation that fuel supplies in the world's largest consumer of the commodity dropped and Fed may continue its stimulus in order to sustain the economic growth. WTI for delivery in December added 38 cents to $93.72 a barrel on the NYMEX, while the Brent crude expiring
The majority of European stocks dropped on Wednesday before a government report showing that retail sales added 0.1% in October and as housing and health-care gauges indicate an overall health of the U.S. economy before Fed's meeting. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.1% to 322.4 as of 8:25 a.m. London time with three shares losing for every two