Wage growth in Japan set to have slowed in February

Mar 30, 2015 19:03 pm UTC| Commentary

Labour cash earnings (02.30 BST) continued to grow strongly in January even as the winter bonus season came to an end.However, the share of bonus payments should continue to diminish in February, so wage growth should have...

Euro-zone labour market recovery too slow to stimulate wage growth

Mar 30, 2015 19:00 pm UTC| Commentary

The number of unemployed in the euro-zone may have edged down further in February, but the labour market recovery remains too slow to stimulate wage growth.While survey measures of employment have continued to rise, both...

US consumer confidence index likely stabilised in March

Mar 30, 2015 18:55 pm UTC| Commentary

After falling from a seven-year high in February, Conference Board consumer confidence index probably stabilised in March (15.00 BST) at around 97.0.Admittedly, other more timely measures of confidence have fallen slightly...

China's money growth continues to trend lower

Mar 30, 2015 18:34 pm UTC| Commentary

Chinas M0 growth on average collapsed from 8.5% in 2013 to 4.4% in 2014, undershooting output growth for the first time since 2001.Despite two policy rate cuts and one required reserve ratio (RRR) cut, Chinas liquidity...

ECB QE puts upward pressure on NOK and SEK

Mar 30, 2015 18:08 pm UTC| Commentary

ECB QE has started off at a strong pace, and its effects on the smaller European economies, such as Norway, Sweden and Switzerland continue to be felt as the respective central banks evaluate the course adjustments needed...

Rise in sentiment suggests EZ recovery may have gained pace in Q1

Mar 30, 2015 17:41 pm UTC| Commentary

EZ headline Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) rose from 102.3 to 103.9, stronger than expected and corroborated the message from the PMIs that the recovery gained some pace in Q1. On the basis of past form, the ESI is...

Outlook for Gold: BofA Merrill Lynch

Mar 30, 2015 17:29 pm UTC| Commentary

We reiterate our view to buy gold (despite the growing bullish evidence for the US $). The completed, intra-day impulsive advance from 1143 (Mar-17 low) says the Gold trend has turned bullish.This current pullback from...