Japanese annualized GDP growth of 1.7% did not affect the trade between the US and Japanese currencies, as the Greenback continues to rise against the Yen, as US consumer prices in April rose the most in three years, bolstering expectations that the Fed will increase interest rates this year. The Buck was up 0.3% to 109.50 against the Yen by
The bullion weakened ahead of the FOMC meeting minutes release, failing to gain a foothold above the $1,280 mark, as it hovered around the $1,273 level. Gold traded highest during the day at $1,281 and lowest at $1,273 on Wednesday. The data release will help investors speculate on whether a rate hike is likely to take place later in June.
The cost of production inputs along with wholesale prices took a further hit in New Zealand, as Q1 data showed a 1.0% plunge in the Producer Price Index for inputs, which is slightly better than the 1.2% drop over the previous quarter. The news left analysts disappointed as they had anticipated a 0.3% gain in the measure. The Output PPI dipped 0.2%, recovering
Australian wage growth became significantly slower in Q1, showing the lowest levels in more than 20 years. The annual growth in the Australian Wage Price Index showed 2.1%, down from the final quarter of 2015, when wages displayed a 2.2% advance, a level last seen in 1997 when the series of data were first recorded. The quarterly WPI rose 0.4%,
Stock exchanges in Europe trailed Asian stocks by opening also lower on Wednesday, as at the session opening UK's FTSE 100 dropped 0.5% to 6,140.13 points and German DAX 30 index fell 0.8% to 9,811.80 points. In the meantime, French CAC 40 lost 0.6% to 4,272.74 points and pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 shrunk by 0.7% to 2,917.54 points.
Crude oil futures on Wednesday were stagnant and stayed just below multi-month highs reached on Tuesday after an API report was published, that US oil stockpiles have decreased during last week. WTI futures surged 0.4% to $ 48.49 per barrel and Brent added 0.2% to 49.38 per barrel. Energy Information Administration of the US was set to release official stockpile
Low performance in the US exchanges on Tuesday, due to speculations about future monetary policy, affected start of trading in Asian markets on Wednesday. Hang Seng index fell 1.1% to 19,889.55 points, Shanghai Composite dropped 1.1% to 2,811.75 points and Korean Kospi slipped 0.8% to 1,952.00 points. In the meantime Japanese Nikkei 225 index increased 0.6% to 16,748.36 points.
On Tuesday, Europe's stock markets finished mostly lower. Germany's DAX 30 Index dropped 0.7%, finishing at 9,880.50, whereas the United Kingdom's FTSE 100 Index grew 0.1%, closing at 6,160.00 points. In the meantime, France's CAC 40 Index declined 0.4%, ending at 4,294.30, and the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 Index gave up almost 0.6%, closing Tuesday's trading session at 2,934.50 points.
The major US stock markets opened Tuesday's trading session in red, following yesterday's successful closing. The Standard and Poor's 500 Index lost 0.14%, opening at 2,063.73 points, whereas the Dow Jones Index dropped 0.09%, starting at 17,694.41, and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.12% to 4,769.73 points.
In the United States, housing starts grew 6.6% to a 1.17 million-unit pace on a seasonally adjusted basis in April, according to the Department of Commerce. In the meantime, March's housing starts were revised up from the originally reported 1.09 million pace to 1.10 million-unit pace. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expected the 1.13 million-unit pace in April.
The US Department of Commerce reported that consumer prices jumped 0.4% month-over-month in April, surpassing the 0.3% forecast and following the 0.1% increase seen in March. That was the biggest gain since February 2013. Meanwhile, on an annual basis, the CPI increased 1.1%, in line with market expectations and following March's 0.9% rise.
European stocks opened strong as the positive sentiment spilled over from global bourses. The DAX 30 index gained 0.5% and showed 10 005.89 points, whilst the FTSE 100 rose 0.4% to trade at 6 177.03 points, awaiting news on the UK inflation data in April. The consumer price index is anticipated to grow 0.3% on a monthly basis in April,
The Producer Price Index climbed 0.3% and surprised analysts who had forecast a 0.1% gain. The occurrence is chiefly surprising because the Consumer Price Index failed to escape the red zone a few days before. The year-on-year PPI, however showed -2.7%, which is still a significant improvement from the -4.7% level the month before.
The UK inflation rate release on Tuesday is anticipated to show a steady 0.5% year-on-year advance for April, continuously showing the highest level in 15 months. The forecast is disappointingly lower than the government target which is set at an annual 2%. Core inflation, however, is likely to drop to the 1.4% mark, as opposed to 1.5% in March.
The UK CPI fell short of analyst expectations as the data release showed a 0.1% monthly decrease in the measure for April, missing the predicted 0.3%, with air fares, clothing and vehicles being the main drivers for the price decrease. Data on the year-on-year inflation level showed further disappointment with 0.3%, in comparison to an expected 0.5%, while core inflation
Increase in oil prices lifted trading mood not only in US, but also in Asia, as energy and resource stocks became top performers. Japanese Nikkei 225 index surged 1.1% to 16,652.80 points and Topix climbed 1.1% and closed at 1,335.85 points. Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% to 2,855.21 points, while Shenzhen Composite added 0.5% to 1,823.65 points.
Crude futures hovered around their November 2015 top levels because of global supply disruptions. Prices continued to rise on Tuesday after surging more than 3% on Monday and the commodity raced to its six-month high. WTI futures added 1.2% to trade at $48.28 per barrel and Brent rose 0.8% to trade at $49.33 by 06:30 GMT.
Reserve Bank of Australia released its detailed record of previous meetings or minutes, which indicated hard deliberation by RBA officials before cutting rates and minimised the probability that rates will be cut again. It boosted the Aussie which surged 0.8% against the US Dollar and traded at 0.7346 by 06:00 GMT on Tuesday.
The Russian Federation's GDP dropped 1.2% year-over-year in the first three months of 2016, the Federal Service for State Statistics said on Monday, whereas market analysts expected the country's GDP to decrease 2.0% in the Q1, following a 3.8% fall seen in the same period last year.
The largest US stock markets opened Monday's trading session flat, despite the unexpected drop in the New York Empire State Index reported earlier. At the open of the North American trading session, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.04% to 2,047.53 points, whereas the Dow Jones Index grew 0.05% to 17,543.81, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.19% to 4,726.76 points.
Crude oil futures traded higher on Monday, triggered by possible production cuts in Venezuela and Nigeria. Thus, both West Texas Intermediate and Brent futures jumped 2.5%, trading at $47.37 and $49.01 per barrel respectively by 13:20 GMT on the London Stock Exchange.
New York's Federal Reserve published its business conditions index of New York state for May and it plunged to negative 9 points from positive 9.56 points in April. This was an unexpected turn of events, as analysts predicted it to be 6.5 points. Not only May's results erased increases of March and April, but also it is the biggest fall
Goldman issued a statement announcing that crude oil market went from nearing storage limits to a deficit situation much earlier than they expected and low oil prices are over. Main reasons for it were supply distruptions of around 3.75 million barrels per day. WTI traded up 2.3% at $47.30 and Brent was up 2.4% at $49.00 by 13:00 GMT.
The Kiwi surged 0.6% on Monday, hovering around the $0.68 mark, despite the slowdown in Chinese industrial production and retail sales. Volatility for the New Zealand Dollar can be expected on Wednesday, when the quarterly PPI data will be released. The Kiwi shows strong resistance $0.6820 and support at $0.6750.