Economy And The Numbers

Sweden's foreign trade surplus decreased notably in March from a year ago as exports fell faster than imports, figures from Statistics Sweden showed on Friday. The trade surplus dropped to SEK 4.8 billion in March from SEK 10.6 billion in the corresponding month last year. In February, the surplus...

Malaysia's producer prices increased for the second straight month in March, largely due to a sharp rise in mining costs, figures from the Department of Statistics showed on Friday. Producer prices rose 1.6 percent year-on-year in March, faster than the 0.3 percent increase in February. Among sectors,...

Singapore's industrial production declined at the fastest pace in seven months in March, data from the Economic Development Board revealed on Friday. Industrial production declined 9.2 percent year-on-year in March, reversing 4.4 percent growth in February. The expected fall was 1.5 percent. Further,...

The Bank of Japan left its key interest rate unchanged and raised its inflation outlook on Friday. The policy board unanimously decided to hold the uncollateralized overnight call rate to remain at around 0 to 0.1 percent. The board also voted to conduct its bond purchase programme in line with...

Monetary developments from the euro area and consumer confidence from France are due on Friday, headlining a light day for the European economic news. At 2.00 am ET, retail sales and household consumption from Norway and foreign trade data from Sweden are due.

Consumer prices in the Tokyo region of Japan were up 1.8 percent on year in April, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday. That was beneath estimates for an annual gain of 2.6 percent, which would have been unchanged from the March reading. Core CPI, which excludes the...

The Bank of Japan will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Friday and then announce its decision on interest rates, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The BoJ is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate steady at 0.1 percent. Japan also will see April data for...

After revealing modestly below average demand for this month's two-year and five-year note auctions earlier in the week, the Treasury Department on Thursday revealed this month's auction of $44 billion worth of seven-year notes also attracted modestly below average demand. The seven-year note auction...

Pending home sales in the U.S. surged by much more than expected in the month of March, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday. NAR said its pending home sales index spiked by 3.4 percent to 78.2 in March after jumping by 1.6 percent to 75.6 in February. Economists had expected pending home sales to rise by just 0.3 percent.

Pending home sales in the U.S. surged by much more than expected in the month of March, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday. NAR said its pending home sales index spiked by 3.4 percent to 78.2 in March after jumping by 1.6 percent to 75.6 in February....

A report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday showed the U.S. economy grew by much less than expected in the first quarter of 2024. The Commerce Department said gross domestic product increased by 1.6 percent in the first quarter after surging by 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023. Economists had expected GDP to jump by 2.5 percent.

The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing an unexpected decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended April 20th. The report said initial jobless claims fell to 207,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 212,000. The dip surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 214,000.

Turkey's central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged on Thursday but cautioned that the rate will be lifted again in case of further deterioration in inflation. The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, or CBRT, headed by Governor Yasar Fatih Karahan decided...

A report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday showed the U.S. economy grew by much less than expected in the first quarter of 2024. The Commerce Department said gross domestic product increased by 1.6 percent in the first quarter after surging by 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023....

Germany's consumer confidence is set to rise again in May to hit a two-year high as households turned more optimistic about future income, adding to the list of positive indicators that suggests the biggest euro area economy is likely to undergo a very shallow recession. The forward-looking consumer sentiment index rose to -24.2 in May from a revised value of -27.3 in April.