Central Bank Watch
Reserve Bank of Australia Rate Decision Preview
August 1, 2011
No rate hike is likely this month despite higher-than-expected consumer and producer price inflation last quarter. The Policy Board in early July had flagged the CPI results as a key guide to future policy. PPI inflation accelerated to 3.4% from 2.9% in the year to 1Q11, while core CPI inflation rose 0.4 – 0.5 percentage […] More
Deeper Analysis
PMI Results: U.S. Debt Farce Hammered Manufacturing Last Month
August 1, 2011
Weakened confidence last month in the European and U.S. political institutions infected those real economies. In spite of lessening Japanese supply disruptions, the U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers index tumbled 4.4 points to 50.9, while the euro area counterpart dropped 1.6 points to 50.4. The orders component of both surveys fell below 50.0, signaling a contraction […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Congress to Vote on Debt Deal… PMIs Show Flagging Global Manufacturing
August 1, 2011
The first week of August opened with two big stories. Even while details remain murky, critics already are finding fault with the U.S. debt deal announced Sunday. Military spending cuts are said to be too large, for instance. The size of proposed cuts, $2.4 billion, is less than hoped and would occur far into the […] More