U.S. University of Michigan consumer sentiment index rises unexpectedly in May

May 15, 2020 18:34 pm UTC| Commentary

The preliminary U.S. Michigan consumer sentiment index, published by the University of Michigan Survey Research, rose 2.6 percent in May. Todays data is better than expectations of a fall of 5.3 percent. The index had...

U.S. industrial production falls sharply by 11.2 pct in April, likely to remain in negative territory in 2020

May 15, 2020 18:07 pm UTC| Commentary

U.S. industrial production recorded a sharp fall with several factories and mines forced to stop activity in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. On a sequential basis, industrial production fell 11.2 percent in...

Italian consumer price inflation comes in at zero year-on-year in April

May 15, 2020 16:22 pm UTC| Commentary

Italian consumer price inflation came in at +0.1 percent on a sequential basis in April. On a year-on-year basis, the consumer price index came in at 0, affirming the flash estimate. The deceleration of the growth on a...

U.S. retail sales drop further severely in April, consumer activity to remain weak for several months

May 15, 2020 15:44 pm UTC| Commentary

U.S. retail sales fell 16.4 percent sequentially in April, almost double the fall recorded in March. Todays data is below market expectations of a fall of 12 percent. Marchs contraction was reported to be slightly smaller...

Canadian existing home sales fall quite sharply in April, likely to remain depressed for several months

May 15, 2020 14:35 pm UTC| Commentary

Canadian existing home sales dropped quite sharply by 56.8 percent sequentially in April. The fall in April was more than double the weakest point of the Global Financial Crisis. On a year-on-year basis, the sales fell...

Italian industrial sales and new orders drop sharply in March

May 15, 2020 13:19 pm UTC| Commentary

Italian industrial sales dropped 25.8 percent in March on a sequential basis. Domestic market saw a fall of 27.9 percent, while the non-domestic market saw a decline of 21.9 percent. For the whole of first quarter,...

German economic growth contracts in Q1 2020, likely to shrink deeper in Q2

May 15, 2020 12:02 pm UTC| Commentary

German economy shrank in the first quarter of 2020, as was expected. The nations GDP contracted 2.2 percent, in line with consensus expectations of 2.2 percent. Although only March was significantly impacted by Corona, it...