The News / Hottest

Existing home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of March, according to a report released Monday by the National Association of Realtors, which attributed the drop in sales to inventory constraints.

More...

Growth of China's manufacturing sector slowed more than expected in April as new order flows from abroad decreased, flash results of a survey by Markit Economics and HSBC revealed Tuesday. The headline purchasing managers' index, which measures the performance of the manufacturing sector, fell to 50.5 in April from 51.6 in March. However, the reading still remained in the growth zone.

More...

Singapore is on Tuesday scheduled to release March figures for inflation, highlighting a light day in Asia-Pacific economic activity.

More...

Euro area private sector activity remained weak during April as demand declined further and the worrying trend is likely to intensify in the coming months, adding pressure on the European Central Bank to take steps to support the economy, results of a survey showed Tuesday.

More...

India's economic slowdown appears to have bottomed out and growth is expected to gain steam in the current fiscal year, a report by a group advising the government on economic policy, said Tuesday. Releasing a review of the economy in 2012-13, Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chakravarthy Rangarajan said the economy can achieve faster growth.

More...

After reporting a sharp drop in new home sales in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing a relatively modest rebound in sales in the month of March.The report showed that new home sales rose 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 417,000 in March from the February rate of 411,000. Economists had expected sale to climb to an annual rate of 419,000.

More...

After reporting a sharp drop in new home sales in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing a relatively modest rebound in sales in the month of March.

More...

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced Wednesday its decision to leave interest rate unchanged at levels it has been in the past two years, as Governor Graeme Wheeler expects inflation to remain contained even as economic growth gathers momentum. Wheeler said the central bank has decided to keep the benchmark official cash rate, or OCR, unchanged at 2.5 percent at this meeting.

More...

A sharp deterioration in German business confidence due to increasing caution among companies, cast doubt about the ability of the economy to recover strongly even in the second quarter. The business confidence index fell more-than-expected to 104.4 April from 106.7 in March, survey conducted by the Ifo Institute among 7,000 firms revealed Wednesday.

More...

The Bank of England and the HM Treasury on Wednesday announced an extension of the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) for one year with an aim to boost credit supply to small businesses. "The scheme will be extended for one year, meaning that drawings will be permitted until the end of January 2015," the central bank said in a joint statement with the Treasury.

More...