EUR review

Jun 16, 2015 16:27 pm UTC| Commentary

Western Union notes:The euro lost some of its resilience as mounting unease over Greece helped steer nervous investors toward alternative currencies like the pound.Sterlings outperformance against the euro translated into...

BoJ likely on hold at its 18-19 Monetary Policy Meet

Jun 16, 2015 15:22 pm UTC| Commentary

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) will hold its Monetary Policy Committee meeting on 18-19 June. BofA Merrill Lynch expect it to maintain the current framework for monetary easing, including the scale of asset purchasing and the...

U.S. residential construction likely to contribute to Q2 growth at a faster pace

Jun 16, 2015 14:48 pm UTC| Commentary

U.S. housing starts fell in May, a more-than-expected 11.1% in the month, to 1,036,000 units annualized. Still, this is not a knock-me-over-with-a-feather shock given that April starts surged at their fastest pace in over...

Poor retail sales data supports the fairly bleak outlook for Brazil retail sector

Jun 16, 2015 14:26 pm UTC| Commentary

Brazil April retail sales surprised on the downside, printing at -0.4% m/m sa (-3.5% y/y), and when including auto construction materials, broad retail sales fell by -0.3% m/m sa (-8.5% y/y), while expectations were for a...

U.S. housing outlook remains bright

Jun 16, 2015 14:08 pm UTC| Commentary

U.S. housing starts pulled back to 1.036 million annualized from an upwardly revised 1.165 million in April, falling shy of expectations for a more modest pullback to 1.09 million. Offsetting the disappointment, April and...

BCB revised its policy rate

Jun 16, 2015 12:05 pm UTC| Commentary

On 3 June, the BCB hiked its policy rate (SELIC) by 50bps to 13.75%, reaching 275bps of cumulative tightening since October 2014. Before 2014s presidential election, the BCB was much criticised for falling behind the curve...

Unexpected fall in Singapore's employment rate

Jun 16, 2015 11:53 am UTC| Commentary

Singapores employment unexpectedly fell in Q1, according to data released yesterday, led by the manufacturing and construction sectors. Total employment fell 6.1k, the first fall since Q2 09, with manufacturing declining...