The Rupee appreciated 0.8% in last week to 54.445 against the U.S. Dollar and this was the biggest gain since 1st of February and the best weekly performance in Asia. The Indian currency increased due to improving economic data in the U.S., what accelerated a rally in equity markets and capital inflows in emerging markets.
The U.S. Dollar rose 0.6% to 95.43 against the Yen by midday trading session in Tokyo on Friday, after reaching 95.45 level, which is the highest since August 2009. The Japanese Yen has already dropped 1.9% against the Dollar in March, mainly due to data from Japan, which had a current account deficit for a third straight month. Demand for the U.S. Dollar
Global rating agency Moody's expects Indian gross domestic product to bounce back to 7% next fiscal year, at the same time it changed the country's economic growth forecast from 5.1% to 6.2% for the fiscal year 2013 on Thursday. The rating agency also projects India's inflation to decrease to six per cent, giving the central bank an incentive for the
Merchandise export of Canada expanded 2.1% in the month of January with imports increasing 1.9%, narrowing the Canadian merchandise trade deficit from December's $332 million to $237 million in January, the Statistics Canada reported on Thursday. The report showed an increase of exports to $39.1 billion, while imports advanced to $39.3 billion.
U.S. labour productivity in the last three months of 2012 declined slightly more than economists initially expected, the Labor Department showed in a report on Thursday. According to the report, productivity fell by 1.9% in the Q4 compared to preliminary projections of a 2.0% slide. Economists had estimated that the decrease would be revised to 1.6%.
The U.S. trade gap expanded by $6.3 billion in January to $44.4 billion, following a $10.1 billion decline in the previous month. An increase in the trade deficit was well ahead of expectations, as analysts' had forecast the deficit to rise to $42.4 billion. Exports slid 1.2% to $184.5 billion in January, after a strong rally of 2.2% in December."With
The European Central Bank maintained its benchmark interest rates unchanged on the policy makers' meeting taking place in Frankfurt. The ECB kept the loan rate in line with economists' expectation at the record low of 0.75%. Optimism in the markets was undermined though, as a package of austerity measures was rejected by Italian voters in last month's elections.
U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, adding to earlier gains after data showed an unexpected fall of U.S. jobless claims to its lowest level in six weeks and as the European Central Bank maintained its benchmark interest rate unchanged. Dow Jones Industrial average futures rose 0.07% to 14,300, Standard and Poor's 500 Index futures added 0.10% to 1,543 and futures for
The rally of natural gas futures continued on Thursday, adding to an advance recorded earlier, as the Energy Information Administration released a report showing an unexpected drop of U.S. inventories. Natural gas futures for April delivery increased 3.7%, or 13 cents, to $3.60 per million British thermal units and were traded at $3.54 before the data were released.
The amount of applications for government help contracted to seasonally adjusted 340,000 in the week ending March 2, this is by 7,000 less compared to a previous week. A less variable measure, moving average for four weeks, slid to 348,750, the lowest level since March 2008. According to economists' forecasts, unemployment rate is expected to decrease to 7.7% from revised
German equities extended their gains for a third straight day, as Mario Draghi, the president of ECB, said the euro economy will inch by inch recover throughout this year and policy makers decreased inflation estimates. The DAX index rose 0.2%, or 11.96 points, to 7,931.28 by 5:12 p.m. in Frankfurt. Six out of nine groups in the index edged higher.
The South Korean Won slipped 0.4% to 1,087.05 per U.S. Dollar in Seoul trading session on Wednesday. The currency snapped the last two days of 1% gains. The Won dropped, as foreign investors sold 64 billion Won more local equity than bought and Credit Suisse said that investors should bet against the currency, since there exists a high risk of
The Shanghai Composite Index was lower by 1% to 2,324.29 points at the closing of Asian trading session on Wednesday. The major China's benchmark extended weekly loss to 1.5% due to concerns that domestic regulators will again allow IPOs from upcoming June and tomorrow's trade data will be weak as inflation increased to 3% in February.
U.K. shares climbed on speculation the Bank of England policy makers will launch a new round of asset purchases to bolster the economic growth in Britain. The FTSE 100 Index rallied 0.3%, or 16.79 points, to 6,444.43. Six out ten groups edged higher. Aggreko Plc. posted biggest gains in the index, as it rallied 3.6% after increasing its dividend for
Japanese equities advanced, sending the Nikkei 225 to cap its sixth straight day of gains, as report showed the U.S. job market is reviving. In addition, the Bank of Japan held-off more quantitative easing. The Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.3% to close at 11,968.08 after earlier surging as much as 1.2%. Five out of ten groups advanced. GS Yuasa Corporation,
Hong Kong stocks closed flat on Thursday, halting their gains over the last two days, as financial blue chips extended their losses. The Hang Seng Index slipped 0.4% to22,682.57. Five out of nine groups in the benchmark index declined. Belle International, a footwear retailer, topped losses among all blue chip companies, as it slumped 3% to HK$14.94 and dragged down
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) spent nearly a third of the country's gross domestic product, 188 billion francs ($199 billion), in 2012 in order to enforce the currency cap to protect the economy, the bank showed in its Accountability Report on Thursday. The Swiss central bank's decision to maintain the floor of 1.20 francs per euro has helped the country
The Japanese central bank decided to maintain its monetary policy unchanged at a policy board meeting led by Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa on Thursday, leaving space for an aggressive monetary policy expected to be applied in order to boost the economy. The Bank of Japan will keep the loan rate in a range of 0.0%-0.1% with the size of the bank's
Factory production in Ireland went down in January following a modest improvement in December, the Central Statistics Office reported on Thursday. Year-on-year, manufacturing output at Irish factories dropped 3.1% reversing a 0.6% increase recorded the month before, while on a monthly basis, the production of factories decreased 1.9% in January following a 7.2% gain in December.
Unemployment of Greece declined in the month of December after recording its highest level the month before, a report released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority showed on Thursday. The unemployment rate went down from November's 26.6% to a seasonally adjusted 26.4% in the following month, while in December 2011 the jobless rate recorded 21.4%.
Standard and Poor's rating agency changed the rating outlook of Portuguese economy on Thursday as the country has better chances to get a support from the lenders in Europe. Portugal's long-term rating stayed unchanged at ‘BB' with the change of the economy's outlook from negative to stable. The country's economy is expected to shrink 1.5% in 2013.
Taiwan's export dropped notably in the month February mainly due to a steep decline of electronics, basic metals and chemical product shipment, a report released by the Ministry of Finance showed on Thursday. The export rate decreased by 15.8% in February, much more than was initially forecast at 8.1%, at the same time, imports fell 8.5% annually exceeding the expectations
Factory orders in Germany unexpectedly decreased in the month of January as the huge amount of debt in Europe weakened the demand for the shared currency, the Economy Ministry in Berlin showed in a report on Thursday. German factory orders dropped at the seasonally adjusted 1.9% in January compared to predictions of a 0.6% rise, following a 1.1% gain the
The Bank of England will face an important decision on Thursday when it has to choose whether to maintain the loan rate unchanged or loosen its monetary policy in order to stimulate the British economy. The poll released by Reuters showed a 40% chance of the bank's decision of more quantitative easing which pushed the Pound to its lowest level