Blamed The Euro Zone

Major European PMI Manufacturing data disappoints; Weak German jobs data blamed on Easter holiday Economic Data (EU) ECB: €606M borrowed in overnight loan facility v €619M prior; €789.3B parked in deposit facility v €794.0B prior (Monday) (IN) India Apr Markit Manufacturing PMI: 54.9 v 54.7 prior (DE) Germany Mar ILO Employment (Seasonally Adj): 41.459 v 41.406M prior; Unemployment Rate: 5.6% v 5.6% prior (SE) Sweden Apr Swedbank PMI Survey: 50.2 v 50.5e (PL) Poland Apr Manufacturing PMI: 49.2 v 49.5e (HU) Hungary Mar Producer Prices M/M: +0.2% v -1.3% prior; Y/Y: 6.4% v 6.7%e (NO) Norway Apr PMI: 53.7 v 57.0e (TR) Turkey Apr Manufacturing PMI: 52.3 v 49.6 prior (ES) Spain Apr Manufacturing PMI: 43.5 v 43.6e (three-year low) (TH) Thailand Central Bank leaves Benchmark Interest Rate ...

Canadian GDP surprised analysts and traders to the downside today, with February GDP declining 0.2%. The news came at the same time that reports of slowing consumer spending and income were reported in the United States. The combination is weighing on the Canadian dollar today, as well as on other currencies. The drop in Canadian GDP is being blamed, to some extent on oil and mining shutdowns that occurred in Canada. The result was that expectations were missed at the same time producer prices in Canada rose a little more than expected. This combination surprised many, and that led to a drop in the Canadian dollar. The situation in the eurozone is also weighing on risk appetite in general. Also not helping matters is the disappointing data out of the United States. The Canadian economy ...

Weekly Economic and Financial Commentary U.S. Review First-Quarter GDP Growth Slows The U.S. economy grew at a 2.2 percent annual rate in the first quarter, somewhat slower than the consensus had expected. Consumption remained the primary driver of growth as business spending slowed and the government sector continued to scale back spending. In our U.S. review section this week, we discuss the GDP report in the context of the big miss in durables and consider what it means for business spending going forward. We also look at a very small change in the Fed statement this week that reflects an improving view on the troubled housing sector. Business Spending Poised for a Slowdown? Durable goods orders for March were ugly. The 4.2 percent drop was the largest decline since the U.S. ...

Weekly Economic and Financial Commentary U.S. Review A Rough Start To April Another week of softer U.S. economic data weighed on market sentiment this week. More hints of slower economic growth are appearing in the data, consistent with our forecast that U.S. GDP growth slows to a 2.8 percent annualized pace in the first quarter and continues slowing to a sub 2 percent annualized pace in the second. Initial jobless claims jumped by 13,000 in the first week of April. February imports plunged 2.7 percent, small business confidence fell in March for the first time in seven months and core inflation is on the rise. A Rough Start to April United States economic data releases so far this month have not been kind to the bulls on Wall Street. The poor March payroll report rattled some ...

(Reuters) - London copper futures rose on the first trading day of the second quarter on Monday, buoyed by upbeat Chinese manufacturing data that helped calm fears about a sharp slowdown in the world's top copper consumer. Up about 12 percent this year, copper's fate mostly hangs on China with worries over the debt-strained euro zone easing and the U.S. economy picking up. The rate of slowdown in the world's No. 2 economy will be key to whether the industrial metal can build on or erase its year-to-date price gain. A stream of new orders buoyed factory activity in China to an 11-month high in March, according to the government's official Purchasing Managers' Index released on Sunday. "We see this as quite a good indication of strength in the Chinese economy and we are expecting growth ...

(Reuters) - Asian shares eked out modest gains on Wednesday but the euro struggled for fresh upward momentum over doubts about the long-term feasibility of the Greek bailout and as concerns grew about rising oil prices. Doubts Greece can carry through tough austerity measures in exchange for its 130 billion-euro bailout are expected to weigh on European market sentiment as well. Financial spreadbetters see major European markets .FTSE .FCHI .GDAXI opening flat to down 0.3 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell earlier as much as 0.7 percent before swinging nearly 0.2 percent higher. The index has climbed 14 percent so far this year to rank among the top asset performers. The euro was changing hands at $1.3236 and struggling for fresh ...

(Reuters) - Crude oil futures rose on Wednesday as investors cheered a plan by the U.S. Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low at least through late 2014, much longer than it had said previously, in a move aimed at helping speed the slow economic recovery. Following a two-day policy meeting, the Fed said that, while the economy was expanding moderately despite slowing global growth, the U.S. unemployment rate was still elevated and that the economy faces "significant downside risks." "While we did not get an indication of an implementation of a third round of quantitative easing, the Fed is clearly continuing in an activist mode with the extension of the 'exceptionally low' interest period," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. "This bodes well for a lower ...

(Reuters) - Crude oil futures rose on Wednesday as investors cheered a vow by the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low at least through late 2014, much longer than it had said previously, in a move aimed at helping speed the slow economic recovery. Following a two-day policy meeting, the Fed said that, while the economy was expanding moderately despite slowing global growth, the U.S. unemployment rate was still elevated and that the economy faces "significant downside risks." "While we did not get an indication of an implementation of a third round of quantitative easing, the Fed is clearly continuing in an activist mode with the extension of the 'exceptionally low' interest period," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. "This bodes well for a lower dollar ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR Belgian business climate improved in January, but remained in the negative territory since May 2011. The business climate index added 1.1 point to minus 9.5 this month on a seasonally adjusted basis from minus 10.6 in the preceding month, reported the Bank of Belgium. Experts predicted the index to inch up 0.5 points approaching minus 10.1 this month. USD US President Obama called the government to impose higher taxes on country's wealthy to restore income equality in US economy, fueling predictions he will use this call in his election campaign. Obama claims that those who earn millions must pay at least 30% tax to make sure more citizens have a fair share of income. President also demanded to create more jobs in domestic natural gas production and ...