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German Inflation Eases To 0.8% In January

FxOpen — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:22:49 GMT

Germany's consumer price index, or CPI, rose 0.8% year-on-year in January after an increase of 0.9% in December, the Federal Statistical Office said Tuesday.

On a monthly basis, the CPI declined 0.6% versus 0.8% rise in the previous month. Thus, the statistical office confirmed preliminary inflation figures for January.

The harmonized index of consumer prices, or HICP, grew 0.8% annually in January, slightly up from 0.7% estimated initially. Compared with December, the HICP was down 0.6%, revised up from 0.7% fall reportedly preliminarily.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)

Finland Trade Balance Swings To Deficit In December

FxOpen — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:17:28 GMT

Finland's trade balance logged a deficit of EUR 50 million in December following the EUR 55 million surplus recorded in the previous month, the National Board of Customs reported on Tuesday.

Exports fell 16% year-on-year to EUR 3.55 billion while imports slumped 15% to EUR 3.60 billion.

In full year 2009, exports fell 32% compared to 2008 and imports were down 31%. A cumulative trade surplus of EUR 1.77 billion was registered.

Finland's trade balance logged a deficit of EUR 50 million in December following the EUR 55 million surplus recorded in the previous month, the National Board of Customs reported on Tuesday. (Market News Provided by RTTNews)

Correction: European Economics Preview: German, U.K. External Trade Reports Due

FxOpen — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:40:26 GMT

Corrects the story to reflect that the German statistical office is set to release the final consumer prices data for January and not preliminary as mentioned in the earlier version.

Major releases due on Tuesday include trade data from the United Kingdom as well as trade figures and consumer price inflation statistics from Germany.

At 2:00am ET, Germany's trade statistics for December is due from the Federal Statistical Office. Economists expect the trade balance to log a surplus of EUR 15 billion, down from EUR 17.4 billion in the previous month. Meanwhile, the current account surplus is seen at EUR 19.1 billion, up from EUR 18.1 billion.

The German statistical office is also set to issue the final CPI data for January. The statistical office is expected to confirm preliminary estimates. Annual inflation is expected to stay at 0.8% in January. On a monthly basis, consumer prices are forecast to fall 0.6%. According to preliminary estimate, the harmonized consumer price index rose 0.7% in January from the previous year. Compared with the previous month, the index dropped 0.7%.

Trade data for December is also due from Statistics Finland at the same time. A trade surplus of EUR 120 million was registered in November.

At 3:00 am ET, the Czech Statistical Office is set to issue consumer price inflation data for January. Consumer prices are forecast to rise by 1% on a yearly basis and by 1.5% on a monthly basis.

Hungary's Central Statistical Office is expected to release trade data at 3:00 am ET. A trade surplus of EUR 271 million is forecast for December, down from the EUR 409.5 million surplus a month ago. Trade data is also due from the Romanian statistical office.

At 4:30 am ET, the U.K.'s Office for National Statistics is slated to issue trade statistics for December. Economists expect the visible trade balance to register a deficit of GBP 6.7 billion in December, while the non-E.U. trade deficit is seen at GBP 3.1 billion.

Major releases due on Tuesday include trade data from the United Kingdom as well as trade figures and consumer price inflation statistics from Germany. (Market News Provided by RTTNews)

New Zealanders 'Outnumbered By Cows'

FxOpen — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:36:28 GMT

New Zealand's human population has been outnumbered by cows, latest figures show.

Statistics New Zealand said on Tuesday that a record 5.8 million dairy cattle were counted in the year ending June 2009 - well over the country's human population of 4.3 million. This was 4% higher than the previous year's count.

Sheep numbers, meanwhile, fell to 32.4 million, down 5% from 2008.

Statistics New Zealand also said that the total area planted in wine grapes rose to 32,960 hectares, up 11% from 2007.

New Zealand's human population has been outnumbered by cows, latest figures show. (Market News Provided by RTTNews)

Japan Machine Tool Orders Rise Sharply In January

FxOpen — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:36:14 GMT

Japan's machine tool orders surged 192% year-on-year in January after an increase of 63.4% in December, Japan Machine Tool Builders' Association said Tuesday.

The sharp increase in total orders was led by external demand, which soared 297% in January compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, domestic orders climbed 78.9%.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)

South Korean PPI On Tap For Tuesday

FxOpen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:00:09 GMT

South Korea is scheduled to release January numbers for its producer price index on Tuesday, headlining a light day for Asian economic news.

Analysts are expecting PPI to climb 2.7 percent on year following the 1.8 percent annual expansion in December.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)

Swiss Retail Sales Rise In December

FxOpen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:19:15 GMT

Monday, Swiss retail sales grew 4.7% year-on-year in December, data released by the Federal Statistical Office showed.

ING Bank economist Julien Manceaux pointed out that the latest year-on-year figure was the best since June 2008. The economist expects a subdued employment growth to remain the dark side of the current recovery.

"This should continue to weigh on consumer confidence in the months ahead, which is likely to slow down the recovery," Manceaux said. "Switzerland should nevertheless still grow at a healthy pace in 2010." ING forecast at least 1.5% growth in Swiss GDP for 2010.

Month-on-month, retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 3.1% in December. Excluding fuel, retail sales grew 4.8% from a year ago in December and 2.7% on a monthly basis.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)

Taiwanese Jan. Exports Surge More Than Expected

FxOpen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:54:18 GMT

Taiwan's exports surged 75.8% on a yearly basis to US$21.75 billion in January, the Ministry of Finance said in a report on Monday. At the same time, imports jumped 114.7% to US$19.25 billion. Economists had expected an annual increase of 62.9% in exports and 100.8% growth in imports.

The trade balance showed a surplus of US$2.49 billion in January, larger than the consensus forecast of US$1.96 billion.

Taiwan's exports surged 75.8% on a yearly basis to US$21.75 billion in January, the Ministry of Finance said in a report on Monday. (Market News Provided by RTTNews)

India GDP Growth May Rise To 7.2% In 2009-10: Govt

FxOpen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 01:54:55 GMT

India's economy is likely to grow 7.2% in the 2009-10 fiscal year, advance estimates of the Central Statistical Organization showed on Monday. The economy had expanded 6.7% in 2008-09.

For the fiscal year ending on March 31, the financing, insurance, real estate & business services sector is forecast to show the biggest growth of 9.9%, slightly less than the 10.1% logged in the previous year. Manufacturing, one of the key sectors driving GDP growth, is expected to grow a robust 8.9%, much greater than the 3.2% recorded for the previous fiscal.

Mining and quarrying, utilities as well as trade, hotels, transport and communication are expected to show more than 8% growth each in 2009-10. However, construction sector is forecast to show only 6.5% expansion compared to 5.9% in the previous year. Further, farm output is expected to shrink 0.2% in 2009-10 after growing 1.6% in the previous year.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)

Japan Sees Y900.8B Current Account Surplus

FxOpen — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:54:56 GMT

Japan posted a current account surplus of 900.8 billion yen in December, the Ministry of Finance said in a preliminary report on Monday - up 452.8 percent on year.

That came in below analyst expectations for a surplus of 1.011 trillion yen following the 1.103 trillion yen surplus in November.

The trade balance showed a surplus of 631.2 billion yen - below expectations for a surplus of 669.4 billion yen after the 490.6 billion yen surplus in the previous month.

The trade balance was 631.2 billion yen, up from 490.6 billion in November. Imports were down 6.0 percent on year to 4.496 trillion yen after plunging an annual 18.2 percent to 4.213 trillion yen in the previous month. Exports jumped an annual 11.7 percent to 5.127 trillion yen after falling an annual 7.0 percent to 4.704 trillion yen a month earlier.

Goods and services came in at 505.0 billion yen, up from 439.5 billion yen in November.

Seasonally adjusted, the current account surplus was 1.100.5 trillion yen - again missing forecasts for a 1.250 trillion yen surplus after the 1.304 trillion yen surplus a month earlier.

Also on Monday, the Bank of Japan said that bank lending in Japan was down 1.7 percent on year in January, following a 1.2 percent annual contraction in December.

Including trusts, bank lending was down 1.5 percent on year after falling an annual 1.0 percent in the previous month.

Adjusted for special items, lending was down 1.4 percent on year after the 0.9 percent annual contraction a month earlier.

Lending from foreign banks plunged 33.0 percent on year after falling a revised 36.9 percent on year a month earlier.

Finally, the central bank said that the M2 money stock plus CDs was up 2.9 percent on year in January, standing at 766.5 trillion yen. That was slightly below analyst expectations for a 3.0 percent annual increase following the revised 3.1 percent annual gain in December.

The M3 money stock climbed 2.1 percent on year to 1,066 trillion yen - again, roughly in line with expectations for a 2.2 percent annual increase after the 2.2 percent annual gain a month earlier.

Seasonally adjusted at an annualized rate, M2 was up 2.8 percent, while M3 added 1.9 percent.

The L money stock was up 1.2 percent on year.

(Market News Provided by RTTNews)