Precious metals fell on Tuesday ahead of key meeting of the Fed due on Wednesday as hopes for the new round of QE in the US are weak. Furthermore, political turmoil in Greece continued to impact commodity markets.Gold was pressured by strong US Dollar that gained momentum on the Euro Zone's economic and political woes. Silver fell on weak global
Builders beat the expectations of building startups by 32k and started 717k houses in April, 2.6% more than in March. Specialists state that such outcome is a combination of employment gains, low mortgage rates and house prices. Building of single-family houses increased by 2.3% from March and reached the highest level in 3 months. Startups of multifamily houses (townhouses, apartment
Stoxx Europe 600 index have dropped for third consecutive day and reached the lowest level since the start of this year as specialists speculate that elections in Greece could take place as early as 10 of June. The index lost 0.5% of its value by noon in London and around 10% from its peak this year in mid March. Banks lost 8-9% of their
The number of unemployed people for January-March decreased to 2.63 million, 45,000 down on the quarter, the Office for National Statistics reported. Thus, the unemployment rate was 8.2 percent of economically active population, by 0.2 percent less than in the previous quarter. This information, however, should be viewed with caution, since there are 1.4 million of part-time workers who did not manage to land a
The S&P's GSCI Spot Index of commodities dropped by 1.5 percent and reached 626.57 points, the lowest indicator since Dec. 20, as Greek negotiations to form a new government failed after elections on May 6, bolstering speculation about Grexit. Crude oil tumbled to a 6-month low of USD 91.81, copper slid down to USD 7,625, January low, gold futures are
Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande met in Berlin on the French President's inauguration day to discuss the European debt crisis. The chiefs of the EU's two leading economies got past their pre-elections disagreements after the Greeks failed to form a new government, and expressed their willingness to consider measures to bolster economic development in Greece to help it remain in
EUR/USD fell to USD 1.2688, as Greeks are reported to head back to polls again next month. Additionally, Greek depositors took out as much as €700 million from their banks on Monday, intensifying risk of a full-scaled bank run and making their financial institutions even more vulnerable to funding stress. Among other currencies, the dollar strengthened versus the Japanese Yen
Facebook increases the share offering by 25% to 421.2M sharesto collect near $16B. At the offering's price of $34-$38 per share Facebook is rushing towards the largest technology IPO in the history.
Stocks of the biggest banks in Japan rose after this year profit forecast was upgraded. Mizuho Financial Group shares gained 0.9% while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group advanced by 1%. Meanwhile, shares of Mitsubishi UFJ inched up by 0.6%. The banks stressed an increase in borrowing and larger market share abroad as major factors contributing to expectation for higher profits this
Crude oil prices extended previous losses during Asian trade on Wednesday as political deadlock in Greece continued to dampen investors' sentiment. Moreover, speculation that US stockpiles are likely to have grown last week weighted on the commodity price. Light, sweet crude oil futures for June delivery traded at 93.44 US Dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, falling
US retail sales growth slowed in April while consumer prices stayed unchanged. The retail sales expanded by 0.1% in April on a monthly basis, reported the Commerce Department. At the same time, consumer spending rose by modest 0.2% in April. The weakest sectors comprised gardening equipment and building materials that posted a 1.8% decline.
Gold futures declined during Asian trading hours on Wednesday amid escalating worries over political situation in Greece. Concerns that Greece will be forced to leave the Euro Zone continued to lend support for the gold's traditional hedge, US Dollar. COMEX gold futures for delivery in June traded at 1,540.95 US Dollars per troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange,
Japan's core machine orders contracted by 2.8% in March, beating the expectations for a 3.5% fall. Considering yearly changes, core machine orders dropped by 1.1% in March as compared to a 4.4% increase projected. Meanwhile, core machinery orders are likely to gain 2.5% in Q2 of 2012 as compared to the preceding quarter.
The EU agreed on more rigorous bank rules in an attempt to reduce the risk of financial distress and a need for more bailouts. All EU nations agreed that banks should have more top-quality capital in view of growing uncertainty over the economic state of the region. The rules are expected to become effective in June.
On Monday depositors withdrew € 700 million from the Greek banks, making them heavily dependent on the European Central Bank as the banks seek to meet their funding needs. Total borrowed sum from the European Central Bank accounts for around a half of Greece's GDP. For the past two years deposit withdrawals have made up from € 2 to € 3 billion
Following inflation report published on Tuesday, the Federal Reserve may consider to provide more stimulus to spur the US economic growth. Headline inflation remained unchanged, bringing annual inflation rate at 2.3%, down by 0.4 % a month earlier. One of the main reasons for the inflation decline is decreasing gasoline prices.
Treasure 10-year yield dropped to 1.67% today, the lowest level since the end of September 2011. 1.75% note maturing in 10 years fell USD 1.25 per USD 1000 face value. After report on demand for U.S. securities specialists note that investors are searching for safer investments due to political turmoil in Europe.
Following Pasok party leader Evangelos Venizelos' announcement on new elections in June, euro dropped to its 4-month low of USD 1.2739. Oil futures tumbled by 0.9 percent as the appeal of dollar-denominated oil as an investment deteriorated. Christine Lagarde said that although the IMF hopes that Greece won't leave the currency area, they should be ready for anything.
Gold for June delivery closes low in Commodity exchange division of New York Mercantile Exchange for the third consecutive day. Future contracts lost 0.3% value and settled at USD 1557.10 an ounce. At its lowest, around 10 a.m. New York time, one contract was worth USD 1547 an ounce. Day high was reached almost straight after the exchange opening when one contract was priced at USD 1564 an
Standard & Poor's 500 Index increased to 1342.05 gaining 0.3% from opening. Lennar and KB Home gained at least 4% each after builder confidence index announcement. JPMorgan increased by 3% after confirming that recent USD 2b loss won't effect dividend payments. Groupon jumped 13% after reporting estimate beating profits. Avon lost 11% after Coty cancelled USD 10.7b takeover bid. Home Depot
Greece will call new elections as coalition's talks aimed at forming a new government failed, Evangelos Venizelos from Socialist Pasok party reported . The president of Greece will appoint interim government on Wednesday. Following the news, the Euro tumbled against its US counterpart and EUR/USD traded at 1.2771, falling by 0.55%.
Sugar prices erased some of the previous losses due to eased concerns over ample global supplies. International Sugar Organization reported it expects the global sweetener's surplus to narrow to 3 million tons in 2012-13 season as compared to an oversupply of 6.5 million tons in the current marketing year. Meanwhile, sugar futures for delivery in July traded at 0.2007 US
The Euro Zone reported zero expansion in Q1, signaling that the region managed to avoid recession. Germany was the top-performer reporting a 0.5% expansion while Italy's economy shrank by 0.8% in Q1. Meanwhile, Greece's economy contracted by 6.2% in the period as the county implements rigid austerity measures to decrease the deficit.
U.S. Commerce department announced that growth of business inventories in March was 0.3%; 0.2% lower than expected. Results were lower mainly due to reported inventories for furniture manufacturing and building activities. Inventories are one of main components for GDP calculation and due to March results government will have to lower GDP growth estimations for first quarter down to 2.2%.