US empire state manufacturing index remains weak in September

Sep 15, 2015 14:56 pm UTC| Commentary

The Empire State manufacturing index was nearly unchanged at -14.7 in September, as the indicator of New York state manufacturing sentiment failed to bounce back from the sharply negative August reading (-14.9). New orders...

August retail sales show buoyant US consumer

Sep 15, 2015 14:53 pm UTC| Commentary

Retail sales grew 0.2% m/m in August, in line with forecast (0.2%) and a touch below consensus expectations (0.3%), as broad-based strength in core sales was buffeted by declines in gasoline stations, building materials,...

Eurozone trade surplus and healthy employment prop up EUR/GBP, dollar holds firm

Sep 15, 2015 11:33 am UTC| Commentary

Euro zone trade surplus has been at record high but does not seem to last in future, the euro-zones goods trade surplus rose to a record high in July, adding to the evidence that the economy got off to a good start in Q3....

BoJ keeps monetary policy stance unchanged

Sep 15, 2015 07:06 am UTC| Commentary

Yen reacted with strength to the Bank of Japans (BoJ) decision this morning to leave its monetary policy unchanged. Clearly some investors had expected more expansionary monetary policy or predicted a notably more...

GBP investors too likely to focus on Fed

Sep 15, 2015 07:03 am UTC| Commentary

UK inflation data for August is also likely to be moderate today. The rate of inflation remains near zero.And until inflation rises it is premature to speculate about Bank of England (BoE) rate hikes. However, for the time...

Fed hoping for benign circumstances

Sep 15, 2015 07:02 am UTC| Commentary

The Fed wants to hike rates. Not on Thursday as that would catch the market on the back foot. But principally it increasingly wants to convince the market that higher rates are appropriate. There is no other explanation...

UK earnings growth rising, unemployment rate steady at 5.6%

Sep 15, 2015 06:48 am UTC| Commentary

UK labour market is at a crucial juncture. Earnings growth seems to be picking up, as one would expect as the output gap closes, but employment growth has started to falter. Rising earnings growth is seen as a lagged...