Property prices in the United Kingdom surged in March of this year, adding 2.6% to record 262,594 pounds. In London, however, the increase of prices reached 3.6% to 572,348 pounds, as all but one boroughs of the British capital registered an advance in housing prices. While Richmond-upon-Thames saw a 0.5% decrease, prices and Camden, Brent and Haringey jumped 7%.
U.K. shares retreated for a second straight day, after U.S. equities selloff past week and escalation of tensions in eastern Ukraine. The regional benchmark FTSE 100 slid 0.6% to 6,525.54 as of 9:28 a.m. London time, after 2% decline previous week. The FTSE All-Share Index decreased 0.7% today, while Ireland's ISEQ Index also slipped 0.7%.
On April 12, Mario Draghi announced that increasing euro exchange rate requires more monetary stimulus in the Eurozone to keep prices stable and avoid deflation. While inflation still holds at very low level of 0.5%, the euro-dollar exchange rate surged 6% during last month. As expected, it can shake price stability, as imports becomes cheaper, but exports more expensive.
The S&P rating agency decided to revise its outlooks for credit ratings of some European countries, while Lithuania received an increase in rating from BBB+ to A-, as the country is preparing for euro adoption in 2015. Portugal BB+ rating's expectations were revised up to positive, while Finnish perspectives were downgraded to negative, however this country still holds AAA rating.
Producer prices in the United States surged considerably in March of the current year, as prices for services increased notably after a sharp decrease a month ago. The overall indicator added 0.5% on a monthly basis after a 0.1% fall in February. Economists predicted the prices to advance only 0.1% in March. Prices on food, clothes and services registered a
Volkswagen AG, the Wolfsburg-based largest car maker in Europe, increased its Q1 sales by 5.8% to 2.4 million units with March alone sales rising 7.6%. The biggest contributor to the sales' advance was Audi division, which deliveries climbed 12% year-on-year. At the same time, today Volkswagen AG equities are declining 0.8% to 189.00 euro per share by 14:00 GMT in
According to the International Monetary Fund expectations, the United States will remain one of the biggest contributors to global economic expansion in the nearest future, with the average annual growth of 3.9%, contributing 0.52% to global GDP advance. Analysts point out that this number will account for around two thirds of the growth the U.S. contributed 25 years ago.
JPMorgan Chase & Co, the largest bank in the United States, posted a significant 19% decrease in its quarterly profit for the first three months on this year, while income from mortgages and fixed-income trading dropped. Net profit reached $5.27 billion, down from $6.53 billion a year ago. Today, JPMorgan Chase & Co shares decline 3.5% to $55.41 per share
Asian currencies were set for a third consecutive weekly advance, led by South Korean Won, as worldwide funds raised holdings of the regional assets on worries about U.S. interest rate increase. The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index, added 0.2% weekly to 115.71 at 11:22 a.m. Hong Kong time. The Won rose 1.7% to 1,036.25 per Dollar, while Malaysia's Ringgit added 1.4%
Asia's regional benchmark shares index slid from the highest level in approximately three months on a renewed technology stocks selloff and as Yen's appreciation pushed Japan's Topix index lower. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index retreated 1.1% to 137.72 at 2:10 p.m. Hong Kong time, while Japan's Topix slipped 1.3% to the lowest level in seven months.
European stock markets traded firmly in red for a second straight day, with the benchmark gauge approaching its biggest monthly plunge in one month tracking losses in American and Asian stock markets. The Stoxx Europe 600 slumped 0.9% to 330.57 points by 8:28 a.m. in London to post a weekly decline of 2.5%.
The Russian benchmark MICEX Index fell as much as 1% at 10:27 a.m. in Moscow, as the U.S. threatened Putin to impose more sanctions over Russia's invasion in Ukraine. The benchmark gauge has lost 10% so far this year. Today the standoff between U.S., European Union and Russia will be discussed in the G20's spring meeting.
Gold was set to post another weekly increase on Fed's minutes which showed that projections for an increase in the borrowing costs might be overstated. Gold climbed this week after Ukraine continued its security operations in the eastern cities. Gold for immediate delivery was trading at $1,320.14 an ounce by 2:20 p.m. in Singapore, up from $1.318.95 the day before.
The Greenback was set to post a weekly drop versus its major counterparts after Fed's minutes raised concerns among investors that the American interest rates will soar. The Dollar traded at $1.3892 against the single currency on Thursday, having tumbled 1.4% for this week.
Greek government plans to return on debt markets after four consecutive years of isolation. As expected, the country plans to raise around 2.5 billion euro, using 5-year bonds with a coupon of 4.75%. At the same time, the majority of economists predict that the amount of raised money will significantly exceed the plan, as the total sum of orders for
According to the survey of analysts, French bonds' yields will not increase in the nearest future, even though the country is struggling with high budget deficit and low economic growth. Meanwhile, the new Prime Minister of France Manuel Valls announced a 50 billion euro savings program until the year 2017. Moreover, the government plans to cut taxes for both households
The Australian Dollar approached the highest level in more than a four months against the U.S. counterpart after unemployment dropped surprisingly. The Aussie added 0.6% to 94.43 U.S. cents at 5:18 p.m. Sydney time from day earlier, after reaching 94.44, the strongest level since November 20, while the Kiwi rose 0.4% to 87.46 U.S. cents.
Japanese shares decreased on Thursday trading session with the benchmark stock index Topix falling for the fifth straight day extending its largest losing streak since November 2013 as the country's currency gained and as China posted lower trade surplus than originally forecast. The Topix Index slipped 0.1% to 1,149.49 and the Nikkei 225 Index stayed flat at 14,300.12.
European equities increased on Thursday following a two-day period of drops, first in three weeks, as investors thought the drop was too rapid and as automakers jumped notably with Wirecard AG climbing 5.8% and Daimler AG also notably advanced. The benchmark stock index Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4% to 335.16, however it has fallen 1.2% since April 4 when it
The European benchmark Brent crude decreased on Thursday trading session with the Brent-WTI premium narrowing to the lowest level since September 19 after two Libyan oil field continued to work as rebels gave away the pipes. Brent for delivery in May fell 0.5% to $107.46 per barrel on the London's ICE Futures Europe exchange.
West Texas Intermediate oil increased earlier on Thursday trading session and it traded close to the strongest level in more than four weeks as demand for fuel in the world's largest economy advanced and on signs that the Chinese economy is struggle to gain its momentum. WTI for settlement in May slipped 31 cents to $103.29 per barrel on the
Core machinery orders in the Asian second largest economy decreased on a monthly basis in February with the figure falling by 8.8% totaling 769.6 billion yen, a report published by the Cabinet Office unveiled on Thursday. The report also showed that core machinery orders were originally seen to fall only by 3% after climbing by 13.4% in January.
Bank lending in the Asia's second largest economy advanced in March, however the pace of growth eased from the month before, the latest report released by the Bank of Japan unveiled on Thursday. According to the report, the country's overall bank lending was up 2.3% on an annual basis in March following a gain of 2.4% in the month before.
The Bank of England decided to maintain its benchmark interest rates at the historical low and remain its current level of monetary easing as lawmakers await stronger momentum of the country's economy, the Monetary Policy Committee said on Thursday. The BoE holds its key interest rates at 0.50% and the volume of bond purchases at a level of 375 billion