Sense Of Relief To Markets

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.7% at 12:47 in Tokyo as Asian stocks are heading towards the fourth week of losses on worries China’s economy is slowing and business conditions are deteriorating while Europe’s debt crisis is deepening. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1.2% this week, heading for its longest weekly losing streak since November, mainly on fears from the impact of Greece`s possible exit from the eurozone and China’s slowing economy since it threatens Asian trade. One day after China reported lackluster data from the manufacturing sector, three bank officials with knowledge of the matter said that China’s largest banks may miss their lending targets for the first time in seven years. As Europe’s debt crisis curbs exports, manufacturing shrinks and demand on new homes ...

The Camp David Summit of the Group of Eight world leaders focused on the economics of the current period. The G8 vowed to fight the financial crisis and committed to stability in Europe by endorsing Greece and promising to support growth in the euro area. President Barak Obama hosting the leaders stressed on the importance of stability in Europe and the 17-nation currency bloc, where the failure to contain the crisis in Europe will have adverse impact on global growth and surely the U.S. economy, a risk Obama is not willing to take at an election year. Finally we saw some sense and sensibility in the communique that focused on Growth and was more of a French flavored drive rather than a German one! The leaders clearly pressed against the tough austerity on the expense of growth as they ...

The euro hovered near four-month lows and European shares extended their losing streak on Thursday, as investors avoided riskier assets due to the deepening turmoil in Greece and fears of contagion spreading to other stressed euro zone economies. News that some Greek banks face emergency funding needs dealt a further blow to risk sentiment, already beaten down by worries about slower economic growth in China, a fragile U.S. jobs market and a shock trading loss at JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N). But the downward momentum, apparent earlier in the week when the political turmoil in Greece sparkled a sharp rise in expectations it would leave the euro zone, has eased. "There is a severe reluctance to take on additional risk in the European region, people are more likely to look at the U.S. and some ...

European equities bounced up from 2012 lows on Tuesday, lifted by surprisingly strong German economic data, but concerns about the future of the euro zone and the possibility of Greece's exit from the bloc kept investors in a cautious mood. The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 was up 0.5 percent at 1,009.12 points at 03:03 a.m. EDT (0703 GMT) after sinking as far as 998.62 in the previous session to levels not seen since December 2011. The Frankfurt-based DAX rose 0.7 percent .GDAXI after data showed German gross domestic product grew 0.5 percent in the first quarter in seasonally adjusted terms - five times as fast as expected. "The net export side was contributing to growth in the first quarter ... It certainly is the reason why the opening seems to be quite robust today," said Gerhard Schwarz, ...

U.S. Review Modest Growth on a Broadening Base - The underlying tone of the recent economic reports remains consistent with modest economic growth. Consumer spending ended the first quarter on a solid note and spending is now on track to grow at a 2 percent pace in the second quarter. - Reports from the regional manufacturing surveys showed some weakness but the National ISM report came in stronger than expected. The nonmanufacturing survey, however, came in below expectations. - Nonfarm employment rose by 115,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate fell 0.1 percent to 8.1 percent. Modest Growth on a Broadening Base This week's ISM report came in better than expected, rising 1.4 points to 54.8 in April, which greatly relieves fears built up from the weaker factory orders ...

U.S. Review Look Past the Monthly Volatility and See the Trend This week of economic releases painted a somewhat mixed picture, but the underlying trend still reflects an economy that is growing at a modest pace. The milder-than-usual winter likely brought some activity forward and below-consensus readings are due in part to payback. Housing starts, existing home sales and industrial production all posted disappointing readings in March that are likely not indicative of the underlying trend. Headline retail sales, however, came in more than double the consensus estimate in March, ending the first quarter on a positive note. Early Spring Brings Payback Period The full week of economic releases painted a somewhat mixed picture, but the underlying trend still reflects an economy ...

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK United States Economic data out of the U.S. gave mixed signals of the state of the economy. While retail sales started the week with a strong 0.8% increase, industrial production stalled and housing starts and existing home sales both fell. A feeling of déjà vu has gripped economy watchers remembering back to last year's spring slowdown. While we expect growth to slow from relatively strong first quarter growth, we continue to expect real GDP growth of around 2.0%. The recent decline in gasoline prices contributes to our relative optimism. The U.S. economy is healing, but the shock from the financial crisis is still reverberating and will keep a lid on growth rates. The biggest risk to economic growth remains fiscal drag in 2013. Canada The Bank ...

(Reuters) - Asian shares rose on Wednesday as firm demand at Spanish debt sales and positive U.S. corporate earnings boosted investor confidence in riskier assets. European shares were heading for a firmer start with financial spreadbetters predicting that major European markets would open up to 0.2 percent. U.S. stock futures were also up 0.2 percent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 1.2 percent, led by Australian shares which charged to a two-week high, following a rally in European and U.S. equities the previous day that saw Wall Street stocks scoring their biggest gain in a month. Japan's Nikkei average jumped 2 percent. "There is a sense of relief after markets cleared one hurdle, with Spanish yields falling after successful short-term debt sales," ...

Forex News and Events: This event laden week started out with a bang. China's official manufacturing PMI released over the weekend printed at 53.1 vs. 50.8, significantly outpacing consensus opinion. The number provided markets a sense of relief as there has been lingering concerns over the prospect of a hard landing. While this single print does not end the debate, it does give reason for optimism. That said there is the fear that seasonality skewed the result as the HSBC flash PMI released over a week ago was considerably softer. From Europe, data continues to show divergent economic paths between nations and an overarching worrying trend in unemployment. The string of PMI manufacturing from Euro zone members remained under the 50 threshold, with Germany, Italy and France showing ...