China's FDI declined by annualized 2.4% in the period from January to April. China's obtained 37.9 million US Dollars in FDI in the period from January to April 2012 as compared to 38.8 billion US Dollars in 2011. April's FDI approached 8.4 billion US Dollars while in April 2011 the overseas investments hit 8.5 billion US Dollars. The negative trend
Crude oil prices tumbled during Asian trade on Tuesday, approaching five-month low as worries that Greece may exit the single currency union increased concerns about weaker demand for energy. Light, sweet crude oil futures for June delivery traded at 94.28 US Dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, falling by 0.53% from the last session's high of 94.36
Asian shares declined as Greece's political uncertainty dampened risk sentiment among investors. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index lost 1.2% whereas South Korea's Kospi declined by 1.4%. Meanwhile, Greece's leaders meet on Tuesday in an attempt to form strong coalition. Experts claim that in case Greece does not repay its debts, the country is likely to leave the Euro Zone that will
Gold futures dropped in Asian hours on Tuesday as political instability in Greece continued to lend support for the US Dollar. COMEX gold for delivery in June traded at 1,557.25 US Dollars per troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, declining by 0.24%. Meanwhile, COMEX silver July contract attained 28.173 US Dollars per troy ounce, tumbling by 0.63%.
Japan's consumer confidence was little changed last month, indicating that the country's economic recovery is stable, reported Cabinet Office. Its sentiment index that tracks opinion on jobs and income eased down to 40.0 last month as compared to 40.3 in the preceding month. However, consumers still are not confident in robust economic growth as reading below 50.0 indicates pessimism.
Mood's has lowered the credit rating of 26 Italian banks, citing that the county's financial sector is becoming more vulnerable to crisis and impacts of the budget reductions. The largest Italian banks as Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo were also downgraded from A2 to A3. Ten banks were downgraded to junk status. All banks were put on negative watch, implying that
Portugal is taking drastic measures in order to meet its bailout requirements, but the initiatives do not ensure the country's presence on markets next year, the Bank of Portugal reported on Monday. The central bank acknowledged that the government significantly consolidated the budget last year, bringing the budget deficit to 4.2 % of GDP. Portugal is determined to meet a deficit target of 4.5
The Eurostat data revealed that the Eurozone industrial production declined more-than-expected in March, meaning that Europe's economy contracted last quarter and entered a recession. Industrial output dropped 0.3% in March and by 2.2 % on the year. The EU's statistical office will publish the data of Q1 GDP on Tuesday. Economists are expecting a 0.2% quarterly drop.
The increasing concerns over Greece's withdrawal from the Eurozone hit the markets. The European stocks tumbled sharply, the Euro depreciated against the US Dollar to its lowest level in four months, whereas Spain's and Italy's borrowing costs skyrocketed. Apparently, the ECB's injection of €1 trillion into the banking system does not provide the desired result.
Gold for June delivery reached the lowest level this year in Commodity exchange division of New York Mercantile Exchange. By 2:45 p.m., New York time, June delivery futures lost USD 22.4 (1.4%) from the opening value and were at USD 1562 an ounce. At its lowest, at 10 a.m., contracts were worth USD 1555 an ounce.
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