Fresh signs the 17-nation economy is on the path of sustain recovery emerged on Wednesday, as retail sales ticked up, services PMI expanded, and the gross domestic product returned to growth.
Following a series of mixed reports from the Alpine country and central bank's projections of a weak second quarter growth, Tuesday's data surprised markets to the upside, as the economy expanded more than expected in the second quarter.
As it was widely expected the Reserve Bank of Australia left its key refinancing rate unchanged amid signs of a pickup in housing market and as a significant depreciation in the Aussie eases pressure on the economy just before the general elections.
Amid growing debates whether the world's third largest economy is strong enough to withstand the planned sales tax hike, fresh data is raising concerns it is too early to speak about sustain economic recovery and bright prospects.
Activity at Britain's key construction sector expanded at the fastest pace in almost six years last month, mostly driven by residential building, survey from Markit showed Tuesday.
U.S. manufacturing and construction spending rose more-than-expected, hinting the world's biggest economy was picking up steam, and potentially reinforcing views the Fed will soon taper its unprecedented asset-buying programme.
The number of people out of work in Europe's fourth largest economy stagnated last month after falling for five consecutive months, decreasing pressure on the government and adding to evidence of a nascent economic recovery.
Activity at Swiss manufacturing sector expanded for a fifth consecutive month in August, albeit at a slower pace, due to a drop in production and stocks, suggesting a modest recovery is underway.
Approvals for the construction of new houses rose sharply in July, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said Monday.
Another bunch of stronger-than-expected data from the U.K. came out on Monday, as manufacturing index climbed to its highest in 2 1/2 years, while new orders accelerated at the fastest pace in almost 20 years, boosting hopes the recovery is broadening and the economy will continue strengthening in the coming months.
September is already here and for financial markets it usually means only one thing - high volatility.
Eurozone manufacturing recovery gathered pace last month, with manufacturing PMI hitting the highest since June 2011, as the sector expanded across the majority of European countries, including struggling to grow Spain and Italy.
The Alpine country is widely expected to gain momentum in the upcoming months, buoyed partially by an improvement in business sentiment in neighbouring Eurozone countries, the leading Swiss indicator showed Friday.
The pace of growth in consumer prices in the world's third largest economy soared most since 2008 in July, as weak Yen drove up the cost of energy and Japanese policymakers makes progress in pulling the economy out of decades of deflation.
Another signs British economy is on the path of sustain recovery came out on Friday, as the number of mortgage approvals rose to the highest since March 2008, house prices continued to soar in August, while confidence among Britain's reached the highest level in almost four years.
After an upbeat growth report on Thursday, news that consumer spending in the world's largest economy rose less than initially was expected was unexpected by market participants.
Despite the overall economic improvement in the 17-nation economy, the labour market still remains a major concern for the policymakers as the overall unemployment rate remained unchanged at all-time high in July.
As always last week was full of crucial fundamental data, which influenced the markets, resulting in high volatility, especially during the last two trading days– Thursday and Friday.
Amid gloomy news from Swiss economy the only bright spot for the Alpine country remains its labour market, which shows a stable pace of hiring since February 2012.
Canada's current account deficit widened in the second quarter, however, less than initially was expected, as the number of imported cars increased, while exports of crude oil declined.
Britain's long-term borrowing costs soared to a two-year high this week amid growing speculations among market participants that the gilts bull run may finally come to an end.
The pace of growth of the world's largest economy as well as the figures from the labour market surprised analysts on the upside and brought closer the prospect of a widely-discussed tapering of the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing programme.
A bunch of mixed economic data from Germany was published on Thursday, as situation in the labour market improved, while inflation slowed notably.
A gauge of domestic consumption in Switzerland declined marginally last month, as consumer sentiment worsened and retail sales fell, offsetting an increase in new car registrations, UBS said Wednesday.