Investors keep up rally from year lows
LONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - World stocks headed for a fourth straight day of gains as investors banked on global economic recovery to trump concerns such as euro zone sovereign debt in providing a positive backdrop for corporate earnings.
"What is helping the market is the notion that a double dip recession is not a big risk," said Bernard McAlinden, investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers in Dublin. "I think that is what the markets are latching onto."
New Zealand: Retail sales fall 0.3% on house prices
New Zealand retail sales fell for the second time in three months as house prices declined and wage growth slowed, giving the central bank less room to raise interest rates to the level reached three years ago. Sales slid 0.3% in April from March when they rose a revised 0.5%, seasonally adjusted, Statistics New Zealand said in Wellington. (Bloomberg)
India: Inflation unexpectedly accelerates to 10.16%
India’s inflation unexpectedly accelerated in May, sending bond yields to a one-month high and mounting pressure on the central bank to raise borrowing costs. The benchmark wholesale-price index advanced 10.16% from a year earlier after a 9.59% gain in the previous month, the commerce ministry said in a statement in New Delhi. (Bloomberg)
China: Economic data challenges its yuan stance
China’s gains in retail sales, consumer prices and industrial production countered the government’s assessment that the recovery isn’t “solid,” and put more pressure on policy makers to let the yuan rise. Inflation accelerated to an annual 3.1% pace in May, surpassing officials’ target for the full year, retail sales gains quickened to 18.7% and industrial production jumped 16.5%, government reports showed in Beijing. (Bloomberg)
Greece: Cut four steps to junk by Moody’s on ‘risks’
Greece’s credit rating was cut four steps to non-investment grade, or junk, by Moody’s Investors Service, which warned of the rising economic cost of the debt-strapped country’s budget cuts. The rating was lowered to Ba1 from A3, Moody’s said in a statement in London, citing “substantial” risks to economic growth from the austerity measures tied to a EUR110bn (USD134.5bn) aid package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. (Bloomberg)
UK: Deficit is forecast to narrow as growth weakens
Britain’s budget deficit will narrow more than forecast even as the economy grows more slowly than the previous government estimated, the UK’s fiscal watchdog said in a report. The deficit will narrow from GBP155bn in this fiscal year to GBP71bn (USD228bn) by April 2015, the Office of Budget Responsibility said in London. Gross domestic product will rise 2.6% next year, instead of the 3.25% predicted by the Labour government in March. (Bloomberg)
US: Retail sales unexpectedly fell in may
Sales at US retailers unexpectedly dropped in May for the first time in eight months, indicating the rebound in consumer spending is cooling as Americans boost savings. Purchases fell 1.2%, led by a record plunge in demand at building-material stores that may reflect the end of a government rebate on sales of energy-saving appliances, according to figures from the Commerce Department issued in Washington.(Bloomberg)
US: Economy slows as states lose federal stimulus funds
Spending cuts by state and local governments from New York to California may act as a drag on the economy into 2011, only the second time in more than a half century that such reductions have restricted growth for three consecutive years. States face a cumulative budget gap of USD127.4bn as 46 prepare for the start of their fiscal year on 1 July, according to a report this month by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers. (Bloomberg)
