Austerity Vote by Greek Parliament Delayed to Wednesday
June 28, 2011
The dollar is narrowly mixed, showing gains of 0.2% against sterling and 0.1% versus the euro, kiwi and Canadian dollar but losses of 0.3% against the Swiss franc, 0.2% relative to the yuan, Aussie dollar, and Japanese yen.
Equities rose overnight by 0.7% in Japan, 0.4% in India and Indonesia, 0.3% in Australia, 0.2% in China and 0.1% in Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand. The Paris Cac and British Ftse show advances of 0.6% and 0.4%, but the German Dax is off 0.1%.
Gold and oil prices firmed 0.4% to $1503.00 per ounce and $91.06 per barrel.
The 10-year British gilt yields rose three basis points. The 10-year Japanese JGB yield slid a basis point to 1.09%. The German bund is steady.
Japanese retail sales posted an on-year drop in May of 1.3% after tumbling 4.8% in the year to April and by 3.0% in 1Q11. Large-store sales were 2.4% lower than a year earlier.
Moody’s cut its rating on Toyota to Aa3 and indicated that a further reduction is possible in the future.
Consumer prices in the German states of Hesse, Saxony and Brandenburg rose 0.1% in June, matching expectations for the whole nation. The most populous state, North Rhine Westphalia, saw its CPI advance by 0.2%. Analysts had projected on-year inflation at 2.3%.
German import prices fell 0.6% in May, reducing the 12-month rate of increase to 8.1% from 9.4% in April and 12.0% at the end of last year. Non-oil import price inflation was down to 5.1% from 9.3% in January. Export prices edged 0.1% higher in May and were 3.8% above year-earlier levels.
German consumer confidence edged up a tenth to 5.7 in July from an upwardly revised 5.6 in June and 3.7 in July 2010.
The British current account deficit of GBP 9.354 billion in the first quarter of 2011 equaled 2.5% of GDP, less than in any quarter of 2010. Deficits of GBP 22.2 billion in merchandise trade and GBP 5.5 billion in transfer payments were mitigated by surpluses of GBP 13.8 billion in services and GBP 4.6 billion in net investment income.
British GDP growth in 1Q11 was confirmed at 0.5% on quarter and 1.6% on year. Personal consumption, business invenstment, and inventories exerted drags of 0.4, 0.3, and 0.3 percentage points, while net exports enhanced GDP growth by 1.4 percentage points. Government spending was mildly positive. Construction slumped 3.4%, while services rose 0.9% on the quarter. Production dipped 0.1%. The GDP deflator recorded a 2.9% on-year increase, down from 3.1% in the year to 4Q10.
Italian producer prices dipped 0.1% in May and posted a smaller on-year rise of 4.5% after 5.2% in the year to April. Icelandic producer prices increased by 1.6% on month and 7.6% on year in May.
Swedish retail sales fell 2.3% on month and by 1.1% on year in May. The Swiss consumption indicator compiled by UBS jumped to a nine-month high of 1.91 in May from 1.58 in April.
Hong Kong’s trade deficit narrowed 15.8% to HKD 35.7 billion last month. South Korea’s current account surplus shrank to USD 0.71 billion in May, its smallest in more than a year.
Scheduled U.S. data to be released today include weekly chain store sales, the Conference Board gauge of consumer confidence, the Richmond Fed factory index, and the Case-Shiller house price survey. The latter three measures are monthly indicators.
Copyright Larry Greenberg 2011. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.