Waiting for Yellen
May 27, 2016
Markets await clarification of FOMC policy when Chair Yellen speaks today at Harvard.
The dollar rose 0.5% against the loonie but is otherwise very narrowly mixed.
West Texas Intermediate oil and Comex gold fell by 0.7% to $49.12 per barrel and 0.2% to $1,217.80 per ounce.
The 10-year German bund yield is two basis point lower at 0.13%. Ten-year Japanese JGBs and British gilts are unchanged.
Share prices around the Pacific Rim advanced 1.9% in India, 0.5% in New Zealand, 0.3% in Australia and South Korea and 0.1% in Japan. In Europe, equities have climbed 0.7% in Switzerland but fallen 0.5% in Italy. The German Dax and Paris Cac are unchanged from Thursday’s close, and the British Ftse has edged 0.1% higher.
Japanese consumer prices in April fell 0.2% month-on-month and 0.3% on year. Core deflation remained at -0.3% but deepened to -0.5% in Tokyo from -0.3% in April.
Chinese industrial profits growth slowed to 4.2% on year in April from 7.4% in the first quarter.
Singapore producer prices fell 11.7% on year in April, 4 percentage points more than the on-year drop in March.
British consumer confidence printed at -1 in May, a 4-month high, as opinion polls shifted toward the remain in the EU position.
Italian consumer confidence fell 1.4 points to a 9-month low of 112.7 in May, while business sentiment dropped 0.6 points in Italy to a 3-month low of 102.1.
French consumer confidence, on the other hand, jumped 4 points to a reading of 98, most since October 2007.
Finnish consumer confidence improved 2.7 points to a 1-year high of 12.5.
Spanish retail sales increased 0.6% in April and were 4.1% greater than a year earlier.
Swedish retail sales were unchanged in April and only 1.7% higher than a year earlier.
Icelandic consumer prices rose 0.4% in April, and the 12-month rise edged up 0.1 percentage point to 1.7%.
Revised U.S. first quarter GDP data and the final U. Michigan consumer sentiment index get reported today. Aside from the Yellen address at Radcliff Day, the other special event of the day is the end of the G7 annual leaders summit in Japan. The G7 accounts for 47% of global GDP and a third of exports.
Copyright 2016, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: British and Italian consumer confidence, French, Japanese CPI
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