New Zealand Consumer Price Index (CPI) likely to fell by 0.3%

Apr 14, 2015 01:39 am UTC| Commentary

Next Wednesdays New Zealand CPI release will be dominated by the steep fall in fuel prices, which began late last year and really kicked into gear over the New Year period.A 0.3% drop is expected in the CPI over the March...

China decelerating growth and still-soft inflationary pressures

Apr 14, 2015 00:53 am UTC| Commentary

Decelerating growth and still-soft inflationary pressures will prompt further policy easing in the coming months. One more 25bps policy rate cut and two more 50bps cuts in the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) is expected...

China’s Q1 GDP growth may have slowed

Apr 14, 2015 00:26 am UTC| Commentary

China is due to release Q1 GDP and key growth indices for March on 15 April. GDP growth expected to have slid to 6.9% y/y in Q1 from 7.3% in Q4-2014.The housing investment slump remained a severe headwind, while slower...

US consumers likely returned to shops in March

Apr 13, 2015 23:46 pm UTC| Commentary

After dismal private consumption in January and February, partly due to the harsh weather, a rebound is likely in March: retail sales likely to be seen up 0.9% m/m (consensus: 1.0%), boosted by solid car sales, after -0.6%...

Euro area: Good momentum, but the ECB will continue with QE

Apr 13, 2015 23:32 pm UTC| Commentary

European Central Bank (ECB) President Draghi is likely to note stronger euro-area survey data at Wednesdays post-meeting press conference. But ongoing negative headline CPI and weak core inflation (down to 0.6% y/y in...

South Korea's March unemployment rate likely subdued

Apr 13, 2015 23:15 pm UTC| Commentary

South Korea is scheduled to release March job-market data on 15 April. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is expected to have fallen 0.4ppt from February to 3.5%.The February unemployment rate increased to 3.9%...

US oil and gas drilling has fallen below 1,000 rigs

Apr 13, 2015 22:50 pm UTC| Commentary

The latest Baker-Hughes data release shows that total US oil and gas drilling has fallen below 1,000 rigs for the first time since September 2009. The y/y decline stands at 46%, which makes the downturn the fifth-deepest...