Producer prices in Norway fell faster than the month before in February mainly due to a sharp fall of prices within natural gas and oil extraction and a drop of manufacturing, electricity, gas and steam prices, the Statistics Norway unveiled in report on Monday. On an annual basis, the whole market producer price index recorded a 2.8% decrease in February
The Greek economy performance declined less than preliminary estimated in the last three month of 2012 as a decrease of external trade deficit positively contributed to the GDP, data released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority showed on Monday. Year-on-year, the economy's output fell 5.7% in the Q4 compared to a 6% drop originally forecast, following a 6.7% contraction in the
Hong Kong blue chips erased their earlier gains amid worse-than-expected data on Chinese economy and declining shares of the food company Want Want China Holdings. The Hang Seng index dropped 0.1% to 23,064.93 after rallying 0.7% earlier in the session on optimism about the U.S. economy. Five out of nine sectors inched lower. Losses in consumer goods sector were triggered
Credit rating for Italy was downgraded by Fitch Ratings on Friday due to an unclear situation after last month's election that may bring further complications to already unfavorable economic situation. The country's long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) were lowered by the rating agency from ‘A-‘ to ‘BBB+' with the ‘negative' Long-term IDRs outlook.
China's inflation notably increased in the month of February hitting its ten-month high, at the same time producer prices dropped suggesting a slower recovery of the country's economy, the National Bureau of Statistics reported on Saturday. The report showed a strong advance of the consumer price inflation by 3.2% in February following a 2.0% increase the month before.
The Stoxx 600 Index lost 0.2% to 294.92 points in early London trading session on Monday. The index is still 5.5% up from the beginning of the year, as U.S. governors avoided the fiscal cliff, but today Fitch Ratings agency downgraded Italy's rating to BBB+. The main reason for the downgrade was recent elections and current political paralysis, which threatens
The Swiss Market Index was lower by 0.1% to 7,739.95 in early Zurich trading session on Monday. The index consolidates after a 1.9% gain during last week, reaching the highest point since may 2008. Market traded on better data in the U.S. labor market and a downgrade in Italy's rating to BBB+ with negative outlook by Fitch rating agency.
The Indian Rupee slipped by 0.4% to 54.4950 per U.S. Dollar in early Mumbai trading session on Monday. That was the biggest loss since 1st of March, as markets were concerned that slowing capital inflows will make difficult to finance the domestic current-account deficit, which is currently at the record level.
On Monday, Italian government bonds were traded lower following Fitch's downgrade of the country's sovereign debt credit rating. Yields on 10-year bonds added five basis points and were traded with a yield of 4.65% at 8:35 a.m. in London. The German 10-year bunds, on the contrary, experienced a decline in yields, which fell to 1.50% from 1.52%.
Fitch credit agency improved Thailand's credit rating to +BBB with a stable perspective, indicating confidence in Prime Minister's skills to maintain a social stability. The rating was raised on March 8 bringing it in the line with other credit agencies Standard & Poor's and Moody's. Agency said that Thailand upgraded risk to policy predictability and did not face any legal
Latest data showed on Monday that the Italian economy continued to experience a decline during the last quarter of 2012, which was in line with first estimates. The Italian gross domestic product fell by 0.9% on a quarterly basis, compared to a fall of 0.2% in the preceding quarter of 2012.
The Won edged lower by 0.9% to 1,099.85 per U.S. Dollar in the morning of trading session in Seoul on Monday. That was the biggest decrease since 28th of January. The South Korean currency slumped due to geopolitical risks. North Korea announced about incentives of Korea's reunification, adding pressure to sell the Won and enter a safer asset.
On Monday, futures for gold were traded higher during European morning trading session, after reassessment of US non-farm payroll data, revealing that it was not sufficient to change Fed's monetary policy. On the Comex, April delivery futures for gold were traded at $1,581.20 per troy ounce, which was a 0.3% daily gain.
The Federal Statistical Office revealed on Monday that exports of Germany added 1.4% on a monthly basis in January, which was more than analysts' expectations of 0.5%. Imports added 3.3%, compared to expectations of 0.7%. Year-over-year, exports increased by 3.1%, while imports gained 2.9% in January.
Statistical office Insee revealed on Monday that French industrial production fell more than expected during the first month of the year. Production declined by 3.5% on an annual basis in January, while analysts expected a more modest decrease of 2.8%. The figure of growth for the preceding month was minus 1.9%.
Statistics Denmark revealed on Monday that inflation of consumer prices experienced a decline in February, which was a third consecutive slowdown. Consumer price inflation fell to 1.2% on seasonally adjusted basis last month, compared to a figure of 1.3% in January. Month-over-month, the inflation was also equal to 1.2% in February.
The Federal Statistical Office reported on Monday that retail sales experienced a severe slowdown in its growth rate in January. Retail sales added 1.9% on a year-over-year inflation adjusted basis in January, while the figure for December experienced a gain of 4.7% on a yearly basis. Turnover in retail sector declined by 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The Bank of Japan reported on Monday that M2 money stock gained 2.9% on year-over-year basis in February and was equal to 828.2 trillion Yen in absolute terms. The increase was higher than anticipated by analysts, which expected a slightly lower increase of 2.7%. Japanese broad money gained 2.4%, which was also more than expected.
On Monday, a board member of the Japanese Central Bank said that it is possible for Japan to achieve a target inflation rate of 2%, in case the bank continues its powerful monetary easing with measures that are targeted to boost the economy. He also said that the Japanese economy is prone to recover soon as other major economies are
U.S. shares rose on Friday as jobless-benefit claims dropped to a six-week low and investors look forward to further stimulus measures. The S&P 500 Index advanced 0.45% to 1,551.18, less than 1% below its highest value of 1,565.15 in October 2007. All the sectors included in the gauge rallied on Friday. The best performing sectors were consumer services and basic
Japanese stocks climbed, sending the Nikkei 225 Stock Average to its longest daily winning streak in more than three years on better-than-expected U.S. employment data and weakening Yen that bolstered the profit outlook for exporting companies. The Nikkei 225 Index surged 0.5% to 12,349.05 on growing optimism that the new nominee for BOJ will halt deflation that has lasted for
China announced that industrial production rose 9.9% and retail sales advanced by 12.3% in the first two months, according to a government report on March 9. However, that was the weakest performance of production data since 2009 and retail sales growth cooled. Economists say that China's economy will face a substantial improvement in demand from the U.S., which just announced a fall
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7% to 136.56 points by midday session in Tokyo on Monday. That was the highest index's value since 2nd of August, 2011. Investors in Asia were trading on positive U.S. job data, which beat economists' estimation and indicated that the biggest world economy is doing well.
Farm commodities except for sugar were bullish on Friday after closely-watched USDA monthly report on the US and world's grain supplies. Moreover, deteriorating weather conditions in the US Great Plains lifted wheat prices. Coffee continued to draw strength from worries over spreading coffee leaf rust in Central America. Wheat inched up as GFS weather model continued to show lower