Slipping US consumer confidence misses by most in 8 years January 17, 2014 Positive US consumer sentiment fell slightly at the beginning of the year, missing expectations by the biggest margin in eight years and marking the fourth miss in five months. The Reuters/Michigan survey of consumers in dropped to 80.4 in January, after expectations of an increase to 83.5, up from 82.5 in December. There's not [...]
US inflation jumps to six-month high January 16, 2014 US inflation jumped, as expected, to 1.5 per cent in December year-on-year – the highest it's been since June – from 1.2 per cent in November 2012 to November 2013. Item prices increased across the board, although they remained modest, with the jump attributed to a temporary rise in energy over the month. This is [...]
What you need to know before the open – 16/01 January 16, 2014 European markets are expected to open a shade higher this morning, after yesterday's five-and-a-half-year high. US inflation numbers are out later today and are predicted to show that prices rose in December – following in the footsteps of yesterday's increased PPI figures. Yesterday's Beige Book survey also reinforced a continued pick up in the economy. [...]
What you need to know before the open – 15/01 January 15, 2014 European bourses are expected higher this morning, after a US rebound on positive retail sales. In Wednesday trading the Nikkei climbed 2.5 per cent – its best one-day gain in four months. The World Bank upped its growth forecast for the first time in three years yesterday, as leading economies continue to pick up pace. [...]
Here’s why Japanese stocks have seen their worst day in five months January 14, 2014 Asian shares were in the wars today. The Nikkei 225 average tumbled 3.1 per cent in Tuesday trading – taking it to a one-month low and marking the biggest one-day drop in five months. The broader Topix dropped 2.3 per cent, and Asian ex-Japan shares were down 0.8 per cent. The shift into the red [...]
DailyFX: Analyst picks January 13, 2014 CURRENCY STRATEGIST CHRIS VECCHIO My pick: Short sterling-Aussie and sterling-yen Expertise: Fundamental and technical analysis Average time frame of trades: A few hours to a few weeks Near-term technical momentum has quickly shifted for the pound, which has seen yields drop over the past week. Tomorrow’s December UK consumer price index (CPI) report could affect [...]
Companies hit out at code for failing to stop late payments January 13, 2014 BUSINESSES are scathing about the government’s Prompt Payment Code scheme, with opinion split between those firms who believe it is ineffective and those who have not heard of it. The voluntary system is designed to combat late payments to firms, and attempts to encourage payments within 30 days for public sector contracts. The period for [...]
Letters to the editor – 14/01 – Cheap money, Housing crunch, Best of Twitter January 13, 2014 Cheap money [Re: Raise interest rates gradually or risk a much sharper swing of the pendulum, Friday] We need to ask ourselves what kind of a recovery is consistent with near-zero interest rates worldwide and continued quantitative easing (QE) in the US. If the US economy is adding hundreds of billions of dollars to GDP [...]
Wall St The Week Ahead: Big banks will set pace in new earnings round January 12, 2014 AFTER the S&P 500’s impressive 30 per cent return in 2013, Wall Street will get a better picture of reality this week as the pace picks up for companies reporting earnings. A number of big banks are due to report quarterly and full-year results, including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo tomorrow, Bank of America on [...]
Carney welcomes nomination of former colleague Stanley Fischer as Fed vice chair January 10, 2014 Bank of England governor Mark Carney has shared some kind words for a former colleague, Stanley Fischer (pictured). Carney says that he is "delighted by the prospect of Stan Fischer re-joining the global community of central bankers" as Fischer was nominated to the position of Federal Reserve vice chairman by US President Barack Obama today. [...]