Wednesday, August 11, 2010

20100811 1530 Local & Global Economic News.

U.S: Productivity fell in 2Q10. The measure of employee output per hour fell at a 0.9% annual rate, the first drop since late 2008. Hours worked climbed at a 3.6% rate, leading to a 2.6% increase in the amount of goods and services produced. (Source: Bloomberg)

Germany: Inflation accelerated in July on higher energy prices. The inflation rate, calculated using a harmonized European Union method, rose to 1.2% YoY from 0.8% YoY in June. In the month, consumer prices increased 0.3% MoM. (Source: Bloomberg)

U.K: Housing market gauge signaled the first decline in prices for a year in July as demand for homes fell. The number of real estate agents and surveyors saying prices fell exceeded those reporting gains by 8% points, compared with a positive reading of 8 in June, the London based Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said in an email report. (Source: Bloomberg)

France: Industrial production fell in June amid a decline in car production as the government phases out purchase incentives. Output dropped 1.7% MoM from May, when it advanced a revised 1.9% MoM. (Source: Bloomberg)

China: July trade surplus reached an 18-month high as exports rose to a record and import gains slowed. The gap surged 170% YoY to USD 28.7b, the customs bureau said. Exports increased 38.1% YoY to USD145.5b and imports advanced 22.7% YoY to USD116.8b. (Source: Bloomberg)

China: Property prices rise 10.3% YoY, slowest pace in six months in July as the government cracked down on speculation to prevent asset bubbles. The value of sales fell 19.3% YoY. (Source: Bloomberg)

Japan: BOJ keeps policy on hold as yen rises. The Bank of Japan refrained from adding measures to expand liquidity as it gauges the risk the yen's advance poses to the nation's export-led rebound. The policy board headed by Governor Masaaki Shirakawa kept the benchmark overnight rate unchanged at 0.1% and maintained its credit programs for lenders by a unanimous vote, the central bank said in Tokyo. (Source: Bloomberg)

Singapore: GDP expands 24%, less than estimated in 2Q10 as manufacturing cooled in June, and growth is forecast to slow after a record pace in the first half, the government said. (Source: Bloomberg)

Australia: Business confidence slipped in July to the lowest level in more than a year , adding to signs higher interest rates are eroding domestic demand and driving the local dollar down by the most in almost two weeks. The confidence index halved from June to 2 points, according to a National Australia Bank Ltd. (Source: Bloomberg)

Malaysia: Slower IPI growth in June reflects less robust exports
The Industrial Production Index climbed 9.4% y-o-y in June, the weakest growth in four months compared with a double digit increment in the previous three months, reflecting less robust exports. The benchmark index, which measures manufacturing, utilities and mining output, dropped 2.8% on a monthly basis, according to the statistics department.(Financial Daily)

South Korea: July unemployment rate rises to 3.7%
South Korea’s unemployment rate rose to 3.7% in July from 3.5% in the previous month, Statistics Korea said in Gwacheon, citing seasonally adjusted figures. (Bloomberg)

South Korea: Bank of Korea to debate ’extremely low’ rates amid export
Bank of Korea policy makers may debate raising interest rates for the second time this year as price pressures jostle with concerns that slower US and Chinese economic growth threatens exports. Seven of the 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News predict Governor Kim Choong Soo will raise the seven-day repurchase rate by another quarter point to 2.5% this week, while the rest forecast a delay until September or later. (Bloomberg)

UK: June trade deficit narrows more than forecast
The UK’s trade deficit narrowed more than economists forecast in June as exports rose to a two- year high. The goods-trade gap shrank to GBP7.4bn (USD11.7bn) from GBP8bn in May, the Office for National Statistics said in London. The median of 17 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey was for a GBP7.8bn deficit. Exports jumped 4.3% to the highest since June 2008, and imports rose 1%. (Bloomberg)

UK: Housing gauge signals first price drop in a year A UK housing-market gauge signaled the first decline in prices for a year in July as demand for homes fell, a sign the economic recovery may be losing steam. The number of real-estate agents and surveyors saying prices fell exceeded those reporting gains by 8 percentage points, compared with a positive reading of 8 in June, the London-based Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said in an e-mailed report today. A third more real-estate agents reported an increase rather than a drop in properties for sale. (Bloomberg)

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