Forex / Economy news

WASHINGTON (AP) - Taking into account the mind-sets of both the public and investors about where prices are headed is a key factor for policymakers working to tame inflation, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday."Undoubtedly, the state of inflation expectations greatly influences actual inflation and thus the central bank's ability to achieve price stability," Bernanke said in a mostly academic speech to a conference of the National Bureau of Economic Research...

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - For the fifth time since becoming Michigan's governor, Jennifer Granholm will travel overseas to try and bring business back home.Granholm on Tuesday said she will visit Sweden and Germany next month to try and create more jobs in Michigan...

OTTAWA (AP) - The Bank of Canada raised its key overnight rate by one-quarter of a percentage point to 4.50 percent Tuesday, the highest in six years, a move that will likely keep the Canadian dollar flying high and help cool the country's hot economy...

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - The US today is less prone to dramatic inflation swings than it was in the 1980s, in part because of the expectations that inflation will remain stable, Federal Reserve Board chairman, Ben Bernanke, said today.Speaking in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Bernanke said US inflation expectations are more "anchored" than they were in the early 1980s, meaning expectations are less likely to change because of higher inflation of a short-term period...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The dollar slumped to an all-time low against the euro and a 26-year low against the pound after a leading credit ratings agency warned of a potential crisis in the US housing market.The news that Standard and Poors placed 12 bln usd worth of US subprime bonds on review for a possible downgrade prompted frenzied selling of the dollar as it reignited concerns about the outlook for the world's largest economy...

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - Inventories at US wholesalers rose 0.5 pct in May while sales jumped 1.3 pct, the Commerce Department said.The seasonally adjusted inventory increase was a bit more than the 0.4 pct expected. However, sales came in close to double the expected number for the second month in a row...

MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Italy's industrial output is expected to have fallen 0.4 pct in June from May on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to the ISAE economic institute.On a yearly basis, gross industrial output is estimated to have risen 0...

OTTAWA (Thomson Financial) - The Bank of Canada said it raised its key lending rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.5 pct, in an attempt to quell mounting inflationary pressures with its first rate increase in a year.Last week, analysts pointed out that the economy was at full capacity and inflation recently inched above the central bank's 2...

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - Former French finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn is the EU candidate to head the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a source for the EU's Portuguese presidency said.Earlier, a diplomatic source told Thomson Financial News that Strauss-Kahn has the support of the majority of EU finance ministers to become the successor to current IMF managing director Rodrigo Rato who will step down in October...

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia said euro zone finance ministers last night maintained their pledge to achieve budget balance by 2010, but acknowledged the difficulties France and Italy face in reaching this goal...

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - Germany's finance minister Per Steinbruck says it is too early to tell whether France's plans to balance its budget by 2012 -- instead of 2010 as agreed by finance ministers in April -- will undermine the credibility of the stability and growth pact...

ZURICH (Thomson Financial) - UBS AG sees GDP growth of around 2.8 pct for the second and third quarters of 2007, according to its latest economic outlook survey.The study shows that, overall, Switzerland's industry is "powering ahead", especially in the watch, chemicals and pharmaceuticals segments...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Demand for short-term fixed rate mortgages is still strong among UK homeowners, a leading industry lobby group said.The Council of Mortgage Lenders said that 73 pct of all mortgages taken out during May were of the fixed variety, albeit mostly on a short-term basis, against 72 pct in April...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The leader of the UK's biggest business lobby group conceded companies may not be getting their message across on a range of issues as clearly as they should."In a cynical age, (UK business) has to do more to persuade the public that it deserves to be trusted, and that society has a very real interest in the health of the business sector," Richard Lambert, the director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, said in a speech today...

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - French finance minister Christine Lagarde reiterated France's intention to postpone the budget break-even until 2012 -- from the 2010 deadline that all EU member states agreed in April -- to undertake economic reforms in the country...

KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Financial) - Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said Tuesday Malaysia has the capacity to absorb any cut in the gas subsidy as inflation is currently at a "very low" level."We believe that any adjustment in (gas) prices may have an impact on prices but we do not envisage it to be significant if such an adjustment is made...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Wall Street on Tuesday will see whether a six-week decline in gasoline prices helped boost retail sales in the first week of July.Two sets of weekly retail sales data will be released. The International Council of Shopping Centers-UBS Index comes out at 7:45 a...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Government data out Tuesday is expected to show that wholesale inventories grew at a slightly faster rate in May than in the month before.Moderate growth in wholesale inventories -- goods held by distributors -- often signals confidence in future retail sales...

VIENNA (Thomson Financial) - Austrian Finance Minister Wilhelm Molterer said it is "not impossible" that the country's budget deficit in 2007 will drop to 0.7 pct of GDP, according to a report by Austrian press agency APA.To date, Austria has aimed at reducing its budget deficit for the current year to 0...

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - EU finance ministers gave final approval to the entry of Cyprus and Malta into the euro zone on Jan 1, 2008, officials said.This brings to 15 the number of countries sharing the single European currency.victoria.main@thomson...