The IFO business climate index for Germany held steady in January at 87.6, unchanged from December and below market expectations of a rise to 88.3. The index, which surveys nearly 9,000 German companies, remains at its lowest level since May of last year, indicating a weak start to the new year for the German economy. Specifically, the current situation index...
Data released by Statistics Canada moments ago showed a 1.3% increase in retail sales in November, reaching $70.4 billion. This followed a revised 0.3% decline in October, exceeding expectations and driven by gains in food and beverage sales. Core retail sales, excluding gas stations and motor vehicle and parts sales, rose 1.7% in November after a 1.6% drop in October....
Data released at the start of the European session on Friday, January 23, showed mixed performance across most Eurozone services and manufacturing PMIs. However, the UK's January readings were better than expected. The Eurozone services PMI fell to a four-month low of 51.9 in January, compared to 52.4 in December (forecast 52.6). Conversely, the manufacturing PMI rose to a two-month...
At its meeting that concluded Friday morning, January 23, the Bank of Japan decided to maintain its monetary policy and interest rates unchanged. Members voted 8-1 to keep the interest rate at 0.75%, as expected, following a 25-basis-point increase in December to its highest level in three decades. Member Hajime Takata favored raising the rate to 1%, citing the risk...
Oil prices declined after three consecutive sessions of gains in midday trading on Thursday, January 22nd, as geopolitical tensions eased and the US president backed down from his threat to impose new tariffs on EU countries over Greenland. Prices are also awaiting official inventory figures. US crude (WTI) fell by about 0.45% to trade at $60.35 per barrel, while Brent...
Australian unemployment fell by 0.2 percentage points in December to 4.1%, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) at the start of Asian trading on Thursday, January 22. This compares to 4.3% in November and is better than market expectations, which had anticipated a rise to 4.4%. The labor force participation rate also rose to 66.7%....
The yellow metal is trading higher than 2%, while silver is rising more than 3% at the start of European trading on Wednesday, January 21st. This comes amid escalating geopolitical tensions and a war of words between the US president and EU leaders on the sidelines of the Davos conference, coupled with widespread selling of US assets and a decline...
The UK's Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation, rose to 3.4% year-on-year in December, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday morning, January 21. This compares to a 3.2% increase in November and fell short of expectations of a 3.3% rise. The increase was driven by higher tobacco prices following the recent excise...
The ZEW Business Sentiment Index for Germany rose in January, adding 13.8 points to reach 59.6, compared to 45.8 in December. This marks its best performance in four years, exceeding expectations of 50.0. The December increase coincided with a significant improvement in the assessment of the current economic situation in Germany, which rose to -72.7, an increase of 8.3 points...
Canada's Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 2.4% year-on-year in December, according to figures released moments ago, compared to 2.2% in November. The core CPI, which excludes gasoline prices, rose to 3% year-on-year, compared to 2.6% in November. On a monthly basis, the index fell by 0.2% in December, following a 0.1% increase in November. This was against expectations of...