Forex / Economy news

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - Euro zone GDP growth is expected to reach 0.7 pct in the second, third and fourth quarters, according to the main economic institutes from Germany, France and Italy.Euro zone GDP also grew 0.7 pct in the first quarter.The forecasts by Germany's Ifo institute, France's Insee and Italy's Isae institute show an upward revision from their previous projections for the second and third quarters...

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - The US trade deficit rose 2.3 pct in May to 60.0 bln usd as Americans imported more and more expensive oil and other commodities.Economists were looking for a 60.0 bln usd deficit, expecting imports to recover from their April slide...

RIGA (Thomson Financial) - The council of the Bank of Latvia decided on Thursday to leave refinancing rates unchanged at the 6 pct level, the president of the bank said. Other interest rates have remained unchanged as well. As a result, the rate on overnight loans is to stay at 7...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Nationwide Building Association said it will reintroduce a 25-year fixed rate mortgage only a day after UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressed the need for such products to encourage home ownership.Nationwide said the product would have a rate of 6...

OTTAWA (Thomson Financial) - Canada's trade surplus fell slightly to 5.9 bln cad in May, Statistics Canada said, the second consecutive month of falls after imports and exports hit record levels in May.It said May exports fell 1.2 pct to 39.9 bln cad, largely the result of declines in automotive products, agricultural and fishing products and forestry products...

NEW YORK (AP) - The nation's consumers, uninspired by this season's fashions and rattled by high gas prices and the weak housing market, shopped gingerly last month, extending the misery of retailers who have struggled with a spending slowdown since February...

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - The number of people filing new claims for unemployment insurance fell by 12,000 last week, the Labor Department said today.Labor said 308,000 new claims were filed for the week ending July 7, down from the revised 320,000 from the prior week...

STRASBOURG, France (Thomson Financial) - Portuguese Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, whose country holds the EU presidency, said the current level of the euro is not a problem for the euro zone economy."I don't think and don't believe that we have a problem in exchange rates at the moment," Teixeira dos Santos told the European Parliament economic and monetary affairs committee...

SINGAPORE (Thomson Financial) - It may take one to two years for Singapore to conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) with China based on its experience in negotiating with other countries, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said.Wong's press secretary on Thursday clarified a report in the Straits Times quoting the deputy premier as saying that Singapore can expect to conclude an FTA with China next year...

STRASBOURG, France (Thomson Financial) - The European Parliament expressed concern over the appreciation of the euro but rejected calls for closer coordination of exchange rate policy by the European Central Bank and finance ministers.The plenary session of the parliament voted in favour of a report from its economic and monetary affairs committee on the ECB with few amendments...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The robustness of UK business in the face of higher interest rates and a stronger pound will give the Bank of England room to raise borrowing costs still further, a leading business lobby said, but it warned that rate-setters could go too far...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic lawmakers on Thursday are expected to propose raising taxes on tobacco products to fund a health care program, potentially posing a threat to Philip Morris, Reynolds American Inc. and other cigarette maker investors.Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus is scheduled to release his proposal for expanding the government program that provides health care to 6 million children who don't qualify for Medicaid but whose families cannot afford insurance...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The European Central Bank today said that M3 money supply in the euro zone remains strong but warned that the elevated annual rate could be misleading."Over the course of 2006 and in early 2007 developments in the annual growth rate of the broad aggregate M3 may overstate the dynamism of the underlying rate of monetary expansion," the ECB said in an article published in its monthly bulletin today...

MANILA (Thomson Financial) - The Philippine central bank has cut banks' overnight borrowing rate to 6.0 percent from 7.50 percent previously and the overnight lending rate to 8.0 percent from 9.75, while deciding to "maintain a neutral monetary policy stance" during its policy meeting today...

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - Euro zone GDP growth grew 0.7 pct in the first quarter from the fourth quarter, and was up 3.1 pct year-on-year, EU statistics office Eurostat said.The figures show an upward revision of provisional figures reported on June 1...

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - Euro zone May industrial output rose 0.9 pct from April, and was up 2.5 pct year-on-year, EU statistics agency Eurostat reported.Economists polled by Thomson Financial News had forecast a month-on-month rise of 1.0 pct and an increase of 2...

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - The European Central Bank said it is monitoring inflation risks closely and remains ready to raise interest rates further if necessary."The governing council will continue to monitor closely all developments to ensure that risks to price stability over the medium term do not materialise," the ECB said in its July monthly bulletin...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The UK manufacturing sector saw a "major improvement" in activity during the second quarter, a survey by a leading business lobby found.The latest quarterly poll by the British Chamber of Commerce found that the manufacturing sector's home sales and orders were both at 12-year highs, while exports, investment and employment were also very strong...

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Bank of Japan (BoJ) governor Toshihiko Fukui gave no new hints Thursday about when the monetary authority might hike its key interest rates as he reiterated that the bank will gradually adjust rates taking into account downside risks and the upside potential for the economy...

WASHINGTON (XFN-ASIA) - The United States said it is considering forging a bilateral investment agreement with Taiwan but ruled out a free trade pact in the immediate future.The two sides raised the possibility of an investment accord during annual talks under a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, which usually precedes a free trade pact...