U.S. housing activity likely to remain strong in medium term

Jun 24, 2016 05:54 am UTC| Commentary Economy

Sales of new homes in the U.S. dropped sharply in May, declining 6 percent on sequential basis to 551,000. Consensus expectations were for 560,000. Meanwhile, data was downwardly revised for prior months. This was due to...

Business conditions across U.S. manufacturing sector strengthen in June

Jun 24, 2016 05:12 am UTC| Commentary Economy

Business conditions throughout the U.S. manufacturing sector have been strengthening in June, according to the flash manufacturing PMI. The seasonally adjusted Markit Flash U.S. manufacturing PMI rose to 51.4 in June from...

RBNZ ready to take measures against strengthening currency

Jun 23, 2016 13:09 pm UTC| Commentary Economy

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is concentrating more on the trade weighted New Zealand dollar. At present, it trades significantly above the level the central bank had assumed in its forecast in June. This signifies that...

Danish consumption growth likely to remain strong in 2016

Jun 23, 2016 12:28 pm UTC| Commentary Economy

Danish economy was mainly driven by private consumption in 2015. Private consumption had grown 2.1 percent year-on-year and has continued with that momentum in 2016. It rose 0.7 percent between the fourth quarter of 2015...

Mexico’s consumption likely to remain strong in Q2 on solid growth in retail sales

Jun 23, 2016 11:57 am UTC| Commentary Economy

Mexicos retail sales are likely to have expanded in April. It is expected to have grown 6.6 percent year-on-year; however, the seasonally-adjusted rate is likely to have dropped 1.2 percent on sequential basis after...

ECB reinstates waiver for use of Greek sovereign bonds as refinancing collateral

Jun 23, 2016 11:52 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy Central Banks

At a meeting in Frankfurt, the European Central Banks governing council reinstated the waiver that allows Greek sovereign bonds to be accepted as collateral for regular auctions of ECB cash, despite their junk rating. The...

South African economy continues to face headwinds; economy likely to stagnate in 2016

Jun 23, 2016 11:41 am UTC| Commentary Economy

At present, significant headwinds are being faced by the South African economy. The economy grew just 1.3 percent last year, while the outlook for this year has deteriorated further. The real GDP in the first quarter...