Benign Data and Market Action
August 19, 2015
The dollar did not change on balance overnight against the euro or sterling. Other changes were mute, too, including a 0.1% uptick versus the yen.
Share prices are mostly softer. Ten-year sovereign debt yields are unchanged in the U.S., Germany, Japan and Britain.
WTI oil slipped 0.8% to $42.30 per barrel. Comex gold firmed 0.4% to $1,121.60 per ounce.
The Bank of Iceland followed up a 50-basis point rate hike in June with another 50-bp tightening and released a statement pointing to a likely further tightening in subsequent meetings of the Monetary Policy Committee.
Japan’s July customs trade deficit — JPY 268 billion unadjusted and JPY 369 billion seasonally adjusted — was greater than forecast, breaking a streak of recent better-than-expected outcomes.
Japan’s all industry index rose 0.3% on month and 1.2% on year in June, a tad less than forecast. Department store sales increased 3.4% year-over-year in July.
U.S. consumer prices edged up 0.1% in July and 0.2% on year. Core inflation held at a benign 1.8%.
Foreign direct investment in China was 5.2% greater in July than a year earlier. That’s a smaller rise than in the first half of 2015.
Construction output in the eurozone fell 1.9% in June and by 0.7% in the second quarter from the prior period. Output dropped 2.3% between June 2014 and June 2015.
Euroland’s current account surplus widened to EUR 25.4 billion in June from EUR 19.1 billion in May, but the second-quarter average of EUR 22.8 billion per month was smaller than EUR 27.2 billion in the first quarter.
New Zealand producer output prices declined 2.2% in the year to 2Q15, but producer input prices advanced by 3.3%.
The German Bundestag approved the latest Greek bailout, but the vote included 113 nays and 18 abstentions.
Copyright 2015, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: Bank of Iceland, U.S. CPI
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