Malaysia Inflation Eases to 1.8% in July, Below Forecast 
Canada Faces 50% U.S. Tariffs as Trade Tensions Threaten USMCA Talks 
Wall Street Falls as Oil Prices Rise, Fed Minutes and Retail Earnings in Focus 
Colombia Earthquake Losses Estimated at $9.58 Billion as Reconstruction Challenge Mounts 
US Eyes Refinery Boost as Trump Seeks Relief From High Gas Prices 
Barclays Warns U.S. Stock Rally May Be Detached From Fundamentals 
US Stock Futures Mixed as Fed Rate Hike Bets Fade, AI Deals in Focus 
Foreign U.S. Treasury Holdings Fall as Japan, UK and China Cut Positions 
Dollar Slides as Soft U.S. Data Cuts Fed Rate Hike Bets 
FxWirePro: Daily Commodity Tracker - 21st March, 2022 
US Stock Futures Steady as Cooling Inflation and Strong Earnings Support Markets 
UK Wage Growth Holds at 3.5% as Unemployment Rises 
Add as a preferred source on Google
The euro area economy had surprised on the upside in the first quarter, growing strongly. The disturbance in the financial market at the beginning of 2016 had raised projections of a weaker momentum. However, the euro area economy, on a seasonally adjusted basis, expanded 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2016. The first quarter growth rate was twice the growth recorded in the last quarter of 2015 and more than the growth rate recorded in the US and the UK.
Domestic demand continues to be the main economic growth driver. Consumers and investors do not seem to have been dented by worries regarding the emerging market economies’ and European banks’ performance. Private consumption, such as in 2015, is becoming a dependable pillar, said KfW Research in a research report. With the gradual rebound of the labor market, private consumption grew strongly by 0.6 percent.
However, in order to put the euro area rebound on a stable foundation, the investment constraint that has continued since the financial market crisis should come to an end noted KfW Research.
Gross fixed capital formation is not yet considerably higher than in late 2010. The currency bloc, in this regard, is falling much behind the US, where activity in investment has risen by over 20 percent and has come back to the pre-crisis levels in the same period. A somewhat firmer investment growth of 0.8 percent is seen in the second quarter, added KfW Research.
The possibilities for businesses in Europe to maintain their urgent growth and renewal of capital stock are quite good as enterprises can collect the benefits of a favorable financing environment and ongoing economic recovery.
“Despite the encouragingly strong first quarter, we see no cause for euphoria and maintain our previous growth forecast of 1.6 percent for 2016 and 1.8 percent for 2017,” said KfW Research.
The Euro area in the second quarter is likely to grow slowly before it picks up the momentum again in the second half of 2016.
