South Korea: Inflation rises to two-year high, breaching target
South Korean inflation rose to a two-year high in February, breaching the central bank’s 4% ceiling for a second month and bolstering the case for an interest rate increase as early as next week. The consumer-price index rose 4.5% from a year earlier, after gaining 4.1% in January, Statistics Korea said. That compares with the median estimate of 4.3% in a Bloomberg News survey of 11 economists. Prices rose 0.8% from the previous month. (Bloomberg)
Australia: Economy expanded by 0.7% last quarter before floods
Australia’s economic growth accelerated in the final three months of last year, the eighth straight quarterly expansion, before floods and cyclones this year ravaged the nation’s northeast. Gross domestic product advanced 0.7% from the third quarter, when it rose a revised 0.1%, the Bureau of Statistics said. That matched the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 25 economists. The report validates Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens’s view that natural disasters in the state of Queensland this quarter will be only a temporary drag on growth. (Bloomberg)
EU: Spanish registered unemployment rises, deepening EU divide
Spain’s registered unemployment advanced for a second month in February, deepening the divide between peripheral economies struggling to recover from the financial crisis and Germany’s booming labor market. The number of people registering for jobless benefits in Spain rose by 68,260, or 1.6%, from January to 4.3 million, the Labor Ministry in Madrid said. Spain’s unemployment rate remains at more than 20%, while the number of Germans out of work dropped to the least since 1992 last month. Spain’s economy emerged from an almost two-year recession in 2010 before contracting again in the third quarter as austerity measures undermined the recovery. (Bloomberg)
EU: Europe producer-price inflation quickens more than forecast
European producer-price inflation accelerated more than economists forecast in January, as soaring energy costs added to the European Central Bank’s concerns that inflationary pressures are building. Factory-gate prices in the euro region jumped 6.1% from a year earlier, after increasing 5.3% in December, the European Union’s statistics office said. That’s the fastest since September 2008 and above the 5.7% gain forecast by economists, according to the median of 16 estimates in a Bloomberg survey. January prices rose 1.5% from December. (Bloomberg)
US: Fed says labor market strengthened on manufacturing, retail
The Federal Reserve said the labor market improved throughout the country early this year, driven by increasing retail sales and “solid growth” in manufacturing. “Labor market conditions continued to strengthen modestly, with all Districts reporting some degree of improvement,” the Fed said. Its last survey, released 12 Jan, said the job market was “firming somewhat.” Overall, the economy “continued to expand at a modest to moderate pace,” the central bank said. (Bloomberg)
US:Manufacturing expands by most since 2004
Manufacturing in the US grew in February at the fastest pace in almost seven years, driven by gains in orders, employment and exports that signal factories will continue to propel the expansion. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index increased to 61.4, exceeding the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and the highest level since May 2004. Readings greater than 50 signal growth. Compared with similar measures released in Europe and Asia, the data put the US at the forefront of the global manufacturing rebound. (Bloomberg)
U.S: ADP estimates companies' added 217,000 jobs in February after a revised 189,000 gain in January. The median estimate in the Bloomberg News survey called for a 180,000 gain last month. (Source: Bloomberg)
U.S: Bernanke signaled he's in no rush to tighten credit after the Fed finishes an expansion of record monetary stimulus, seeing little inflation risk and still-slow job growth. A surge in the prices of oil and other commodities probably won't generate a lasting rise in inflation, Bernanke told lawmakers in semiannual testimony on monetary policy. A "sustained period of stronger job creation" is needed to ensure a solid recovery, and the Fed's benchmark rate will stay low for an "extended period," he said. (Source: Bloomberg)
E.U: The debt ratings of Portugal and Greece remain at risk of being cut due to concern about how a European Union rescue fund may affect holders of the two nations' sovereign bonds, Standard & Poor's said. The ratings company kept Portugal's A-long-term, A2 short-term and Greece's BB+ long-term ratings on credit watch negative, according to statements released. It cited Portugal's "high external financing need and limited funding sources". (Source: Bloomberg)
S. Korea: Factory output rises 13.7% YoY in January from a revised 10.6% YoY expansion in December. Production gained 4.6% MoM from December. (Source: Bloomberg)
Crude Oil: Mideast unrest could push prices over USD 140/bbl, Roubini says. Nouriel Roubini, an economist who predicted the credit-market collapse, said an expansion of troubles in the Mideast could push oil prices as high as USD 140/bbl to USD 150/bbl, triggering a double-dip recession in parts of Europe. "If troubles spread to other countries such as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, this could push oil which in turn could trigger a double-dip recession in the periphery of Europe and the U.K.," Roubini said at a conference in Paris. (Source: Bloomberg)
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