Industrial production decreased by 0.3% in the Euro Zone and by 0.4% in the European union in March. In last 12 months industrial production decreased by 2.2% in the Euro zone and by 1.9% in the European union. Among the European union member countries the largest decline was in Luxembourg, Greece and Spain (11.3%, 8.5%, 7.5% respectively). The largest increase was registered in Slovakia,
Dow Jones Industrial Average index fell by 123.17 points, to 12,697.43, the lowest level in 2012. Citigroup, Bank of America, ConocoPhillips and Dow Chemical dropped at least 1.2%. Symantec, one of worlds largest software companies, retired more than 2% of its value. Chesapeake Energy jumped by 9.3% after reaching an agreement on USD 3b loan. Avon Products gained 4.1% after Coty Inc boosted its takeover bid to
Italy and Spain on Monday had bond auctions where they both experienced increase in borrowing costs. Italy distributed the maximum of planned EUR 5.25b amount of bonds maturing March 2015 and paid 3.91% on these bonds, slightly more than in the previous auction a month ago. Spain distributed EUR 2.9b of short term bonds and borrowing costs premium over German short term
Agricultural commodities slumped on Friday as impact of the recent USDA report still dominated the market sentiment.Wheat dropped by 0.34% as US output is likely to be higher than initially estimated due to favorable weather conditions in South Great Plants. Moreover, global grain consumption is expected to post a 1% decline this year.Corn extended previous losses after USDA reported that
Energy markets slid on Friday amid resumed debt worries in the Euro Zone after elections in Greece and France. Moreover, signs of slowdown in China lingered demand concerns.Crude oil posted the second weekly loss as sluggish growth of the industrial production in China outweighed positive consumer confidence data from the US.Brent oil continued to move lower along with political and
Industry metals dived on Friday after China reported slower than expected expansion of industrial production. China's industrial output rose by 9.3% in April as compared to an expected increase of 12.1%.Aluminum declined by 0.02% after United Co. Rusal posted a 84% fall in earnings in Q1 as prices for the light metal slumped.Copper was the top-loser, moving closer to psychologically
Precious metals moved down on Friday as turmoil in the Euro Zone and signs of economic slowdown in China dented safe-haven appeal of the commodity pack. Gold drifted lower as positive economic data releases from the US faded hopes for new round of quantitative easing from the Fed. Meanwhile, demand from India remained weak after recent changes in import duties.Silver
Asian stocks closed mixed on Monday, being pressured by lingering concerns that Greece will leave the Euro Zone. However, China's cut of RRR for banks lent support to the stocks .Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 0.35% while Australian S&P/ASX200 gained 0.09%. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index increased by 0.10%.
Consumer confidence in China deteriorated slightly in April because of rising food prices. The Bankcard Consumer Confidence Index dropped by 0.12% to 86.65 in April, according to Xinhua News Agency and China UnionPay. Rising living costs and higher fuel prices continued to dent consumer confidence. However, measures to curb inflationary pressure and launch of consumption incentives are likely to stabilize
Home loans issued in Australia jumped by 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis in April as compared to a decline of 2.5% in March, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics. Experts predicted home loans to decrease by 2.0% in April. After the data release, the Australian Dollar remained modestly lower against the greenback and AUD/USD traded at 1.0008, falling by
Gold declined during Asian trading hours on Monday as political turmoil in Greece persisted, adding to worries that the country may leave the common currency union. Political and economic instability in the Euro Zone continued to fuel demand for US Dollar thus pushing the yellow metal down. COMEX gold June contract trade at 1,580.65 US Dollars per troy ounce on
Crude oil futures declined at Asian session after China announced it reduced the RRR for its banks. The move indicates that China's economy slows down and needs additional stimulus. Light, sweet crude oil futures for June delivery traded at 95.73 US Dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, declining by 0.42% from the last session's high of 95.71
New Zealand's core retail sales declined by 2.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis last month as compared to a 2.3% expansion in March, reported Statistics New Zealand. Experts predicted the retail sales to increase by 0.3% last month. Following the data release, the New Zealand's Dollar depreciated against its US counterpart by 0.40% and NZD/USD traded at 0.7798.
The central bank of China reported on Saturday that it decided to decrease the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for its banks by 50 basis points, indicating the second reduction for 2012. The cut comes in force on May 18 and is expected to pump 400 billion Yuan into the country's market, according to Lian Ping, chief economist from the Bank
The unemployment rate in the Eurozone is expected to increase to 11 % this year, up from 10.2 % in 2011, with the economic outlook getting more pessimistic, the European Commission reported on Friday. Spending cuts and tax increases have undermined the economy more than expected. However, the commission expects a slight recovery for the Euro bloc of 1 %
On Saturday tens of thousands of protestors demonstrated in Madrid and other big cities, expressing their discontent with a grim economic outlook, and the measures undertaken to combat the crisis. Spain's economy is in recession with the highest unemployment rate among the Eurozone member states of 25 %. Due to such serious economic difficulties, a bailout is expected.
Likelihood of Greece exit from the Eurozone, increasing borrowing costs in Italy and Spain, recession in some European states are contributing to increasing concerns about an intensifying crisis, which might hinder fragile recovery of the US economy. However, the US exports to Europe have been improving since the financial crisis in 2008.
European commission forecasts that Eurozone economy will shrink 0.3% in the course of 2012 but will experience 1% growth in 2013. Commission also forecasts that economies of all 27 members on aggregate will experience zero growth in 2012 and 1.3% growth in 2013. Mainly due to the highest unemployment level in the European Union, the only country, which economy is predicted to shrink next year is Spain.
Spain's economy minister announced that Spanish banks will have to increase provision for realty loans, which were considered unproblematic, by EUR 30b. Together with requirements regarding problematic loans this will require Spanish banks to accumulate EUR 80b of provisions. In addition, it is planned to hire two autonomous auditors to estimate the value of real estate in Spanish banks and
Evangelos Venizelos, leader of socialist Pasok party, which came third in elections last week, holded a chain of meetings in order to form a new government, but unsuccessfully. Senior Greek government officials stated that chances of forming government in last minute are very low and most likely coalition formation mandate will be returned to president on Saturday. Previous negotiations held by New Democracy and
After China's, which is the worlds second largest economy and oil consumer, report on industrial growth oil price fell to USD 112 a barrel. China's industrial output in April grew the lowest in almost three years. Such news raised a lot of concerns about China's industrial prospects in the nearest future and Brent June oil future contract dropped to USD
Agricultural commodities were volatile on Thursday as traders expected USDA report on the world crop estimates.Wheat rose as USDA lowered its forecast for the US stockpiles in the end of this season as exports are likely to increase.Corn was the only loser after USDA added a billion bushels to the total world's output estimate as US production is likely to
Energy markets balanced between easing concerns over the turmoil in the Euro Zone and increase OPEC output.Crude oil climbed after the US released optimistic job market data and OPEC raised its global oil demand forecast by almost 4%.Brent oil declined as removed risk-premium after talks between Iran and six major economies started to progress continued to block any upswing in
After fourth consecutive increase consumer sentiment index reached the highest level since the beginning of 2008. It increased to 77.8, by 1.4 since March, above expectations of 76.2. Specialists think that this was mainly due to the fact that decreasing fuel prices, which impact current situation, outweigh negative expectations from slowing labor markets.