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The Bank of Japan on Tuesday decided to retain its target of doubling the monetary base in two years, but stopped short of announcing any new steps to curb bond market volatility. Meanwhile, the central bank upgraded its view of the economy. The BoJ said its money market operations will continue to target an expansion of monetary base at an annual pace of JPY 60-70 trillion, as announced in April.
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The success of the bond-purchase program of the European Central Bank will have no impact on the ruling whether the measure was constitutional or not, the German Constitutional Court said on Tuesday. Germany's highest court in Karlsruhe is holding a two-day hearing to decide whether the ECB's bond buying program called the Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) violates the German law.
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U.K. industrial production recoded moderate growth in April, contradicting market expectations for stagnation, as strong performance by the mining sector more than offset a contraction in the manufacturing sector.
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Wholesale inventories in the U.S. rose in line with economist estimates in the month of April, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday. The report said wholesale inventories edged up by 0.2 percent in April following a revised 0.3 percent increase in March. The modest growth matched economist estimates.
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Australian consumer confidence rebounded in June after sharp deterioration in the past two months as their view of family finances improved markedly, a survey by Westpac and the Melbourne Institute revealed Wednesday. Still, households remained downbeat about the prospects of the broader economy, the survey found. The headline consumer confidence index rose 4.7 percent to 102.2 in June.
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Core machine orders in Japan plunged a seasonally adjusted 8.8 percent on month in April to 723.3 billion yen, the Cabinet Office said on Wednesday - falling for just the second time in seven months.
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Portugal's EU measure of inflation accelerated more-than-expected in May, after slowing in the previous month.
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Iceland's central bank left its interest rates unchanged for the fifth time in June.
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Fitch Ratings raised India's credit rating outlook to 'stable' on Wednesday, signaling support to the government's structural reforms and efforts to trim the country's massive budget deficit. The upgrade will be most welcome to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government at a time when the rupee has weakened significantly and economic growth slowed to a decade-low in the fiscal year ended March 31.
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A bigger-than-expected decline in jobless claims as well as a fall in unemployment indicate that the U.K. economy is recovering as suggested by recent economic data. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits decreased by 8,600 in May from April, the Office for National Statistics reported Wednesday. It was sharper than the expected drop of 5,000.
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The Bank of Korea is on Thursday scheduled to conclude its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The central bank is widely expected to keep rates on hold at 2.50 percent.
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The World Bank lowered its growth forecasts for the global economy on Thursday, citing deeper-than-expected recession in the euro area and muted growth in developing countries. Releasing the June edition of the Global Economic Prospects, the lender said it now expects the world economy to grow 2.2 percent this year, decelerating from the 2.3 percent expansion in 2012.
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The number employed persons in Australia unexpectedly increased in May, owing to an increase in part-time employment, the latest report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday. The report also revealed a marginal dip in the unemployment rate. The number of employed persons rose 1,100 from a month earlier to 11.66 million in May. Economists expected a decline of 10,000.
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Business inventories in the U.S. rose in line with economist estimates in the month of April, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday. The report said business inventories increased by 0.3 percent in April compared to a revised 0.1 percent decrease in March. The modest rebound matched the expectations of economists.
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With prices for fuel imports seeing a significant decrease, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing an unexpected drop in U.S import prices in the month of May. The report said import prices fell by 0.6 percent in May following a revised 0.7 percent decrease in April. Economists had been expecting import prices to come in unchanged.
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The members of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy board said that the Japanese economy had finally started to move to the upside, minutes from the board's meeting on May 21 and 22 revealed on Friday. On the matter of ending the deflation that has plagued Japan for more than 15 years, some of the board members admitted that it could be difficult to attain the bank's new CPI target of 2 percent.
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Food prices in New Zealand were up a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent on month in May, Statistics New Zealand said on Friday
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Annual inflation in India continued to ease in May, with wholesale prices rising at the weakest pace in three-and-a-half-years. However, a rate cut is highly unlikely on Monday as the extreme weakness of the rupee could lift import costs of the nation, which relies heavily on overseas crude oil. Inflation based on the wholesale price index eased to 4.7 percent, a 43-month low.
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Consumer sentiment in the U.S. has unexpectedly deteriorated in the month of June, according to a report released by Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan on Friday, with the consumer sentiment index pulling back off a nearly six-year high. The report showed that the preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for June came in at 82.7, down from the final May reading of 84.5.
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With a sharp drop in utilities output offsetting increases in mining and manufacturing output, the Federal Reserve released a report on Friday showing that U.S. industrial production unexpectedly came in unchanged in the month of May. The report said industrial production came in flat in May following a revised 0.4 percent decrease in April.
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An index measuring tertiary industry activity in Japan was flat on month in April, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Monday, standing at a seasonally adjusted 99.7.
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An index measuring the strength of the services sectors in New Zealand continued to show expansion in May, BusinessNZ said on Monday, posting a score of 56.2.
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Singapore's non-oil exports declined more than expected in May, due to a drop in electronic shipments, the latest data from International Enterprise (IE) Singapore showed Monday. The non-oil domestic exports (NODX) fell 4.6 percent year-on-year in May, following a 1 percent decrease in April. Economists had forecast a 1 percent decline in exports.
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Asking price for a property in the UK rose to a fresh record high in June, lifted by a jump in prices in the South East and London, a survey by Rightmove revealed Monday. The average property asking price was GBP 252,798 in June compared with GBP 249,841 in May. Prices increased 1.2 percent month-on-month in June, posting the sixth consecutive monthly rise. London set another record in May.
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Conditions for New York manufacturers improved modestly in the month of June, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday, with the index of activity in the sector climbing into positive territory. The New York Fed said its general business conditions index rose to a positive 7.8 in June from a negative 1.4 in May
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Conditions for New York manufacturers improved modestly in the month of June, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Monday, with the index of activity in the sector climbing into positive territory.
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Homebuilder confidence in the U.S. jumped much more than expected in the month of June, according to a report released by the National Association of Home Builders on Monday, with the group's homebuilder confidence index surging up to a seven-year high. The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index soared to 52 in June from 44 in May.
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Homebuilder confidence in the U.S. jumped much more than expected in the month of June, according to a report released by the National Association of Home Builders on Monday, with the group's homebuilder confidence index surging up to a seven-year high.
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Producer prices in South Korea were down 0.4 percent on month in May, the Bank of Korea said on Tuesday - accelerating from the 0.3 percent decline in April.
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Japan is on Tuesday scheduled to release final May numbers for industrial production, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.
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Passenger car registrations in Europe dropped sharply in May and hit the lowest level recorded for the month in twenty years, as the region's ongoing recession continued to weigh on sentiment, dragging demand for many leading car brands. The data has dealt a fresh blow to manufacturers' hopes of the sector recovering from the downtrend.
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A leading indicator of Chinese economic activity rose marginally in May and at a slower pace than a month earlier, suggesting more sluggish growth for the overall economy in the months ahead. The Conference Board said that its leading economic indicator rose 0.3 percent month-on-month in May, slower than a 1.5 percent increase in April. Only three of the six components contributed positively.
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After reporting decreases in consumer prices in each of the two previous months, the Labor Department released a report on Tuesday showing a modest increase in prices in the month of May. The Labor Department said its consumer price index inched up by 0.1 percent in May after falling by 0.4 percent in April and dipping by 0.2 percent in March.
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New residential construction in the U.S. showed a significant rebound in the month of May, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday, although housing starts still came in well below economist estimates. The report said housing starts climbed 6.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 914,000 in May from the revised April estimate of 856,000.
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Japan posted a merchandise trade deficit of 993.916 billion yen in May, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday - slipping into the red for the 10th consecutive month.
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Japan saw a merchandise trade deficit of 993.916 billion yen in May, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday.
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A leading indicator of Australian economic activity continued to signal above-trend growth for the economy in the coming quarters, a report from Westpac and Melbourne Institute showed Wednesday. The annualized growth rate of the leading index, which indicates the likely pace of economic activity three to nine months into the future, was 5.4 percent in April, comfortably above its long term trend.
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Outgoing Bank of England Governor Mervyn King was outvoted in his final policy meeting, as most policymakers overturned his call for additional stimulus citing sustained economic recovery, the minutes of the session held on June 5 and 6 showed Wednesday. As seen in the past few months, King, Paul Fisher and David Miles sought an increase in quantitative easing by GBP 25 billion.
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New Zealand's gross domestic product expanded 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the previous three months, Statistics New Zealand said on Thursday.
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New Zealand's gross domestic product was up 0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the previous three months, Statistics New Zealand said on Thursday.
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