Forex / Economy news

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - Consumer confidence in China improved in the second quarter of this year from the previous three months, with the index rising 1.0 point to 96.8 points, the National Bureau of Statistics said.The bureau did not provide monthly figures in the data released on its website...

KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Financial) - The industrial production index (IPI) for May rose 3.1 percent on a year-on-year basis, boosted by positive growth in the mining and electricity sectors, the department of statistics said.In May, the mining index recorded growth of 13...

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - Here are the highlights of US economic indicators to be released this week. Thomson IFR Markets provided the median forecasts.MONDAY, JULY 9Increased consumer borrowing in April should lead to a noticeable increase in consumer credit in May, says Gary Thayer, chief economist at A...

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - The following are the final consensus forecasts compiled by Thomson's IFR Markets for the major US economic indicators to be released in the coming week.Forecast PreviousMONDAY, JULY 9US May consumer creditmonthly change (bln usd) 6...

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Japan's core private-sector machinery orders surged a seasonally-adjusted 5.9 percent in May from April to 1.072 trillion yen, growing at a much faster pace than the markets had expected, the government said Monday.In view of the increase, the government has upgraded its assessment of the trend of core private-sector machinery orders for the first time in nearly a year...

SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) - Job advertisements in newspapers and on the Internet averaged 249,915 per week in June, 0.8 percent fewer than in May but 36.1 percent more than a year earlier, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) said.The survey for May showed a jump of 0...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China's consumer price index is expected to rise by 3 pct in the first half, the official People's Daily reported, citing an unidentified price department official at lead state planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)...

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Outstanding loans by Japanese banks rose 0.7 percent in June from a year earlier to 385.45 trillionyen, the Bank of Japan said on Monday.The growth was smaller than the 0.9 pct increase in May and was much slower than the 2...

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Japan's most widely-watched measure of money supply, M2 plus certificates of deposit (CDs), rose 1.8 percent year-on-year in June, ahead of market forecasts and the previous month's 1.5 percent increase, the Bank of Japan said Monday...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China's excess liquidity situation cannot be resolved with exchange rate adjustments alone, and a combination of policies needs to be employed to address the issue, Yi Gang, assistant governor of the People's Bank of China (PBoC), said at a conference over the weekend...

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France (Thomson Financial) - European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said it would be an "enormous error" to underestimate the success of the euro.Speaking at an economic forum in southern France, he said the euro has been a "remarkable success" and Europe now has its lowest unemployment rate for 25 years...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China is preparing to raise the barrier to some forms of investment by foreign private equity funds, the Economic Observer reported.The newspaper, citing a newly drafted circular by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), said that the administration wants to tighten restrictions on the use of special purpose vehicles for mergers and acquisitions...

AIX-EN-PROVENCE (France) (Thomson Financial) - The French government does "not necessarily" need to sell more assets in order to reduce France's public debt, finance minister Christine Lagarde said at an economic forum in southern France."The state manages its portfolio like a good asset manager," she said...

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - The International Monetary Fund executive board will meet Monday to consider the selection process for a successor to IMF chief Rodrigo Rato, a spokeswoman said Friday."There will be an informal meeting of the executive board on July 9 on the selection process of the managing director," the spokeswoman, Conny Lotze, said...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The UK economy continued to grow at a steady rate during the three months to June, albeit a touch slower than in the previous three months, a leading economic think-tank said.The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) estimates GDP growth for the period at 0...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Higher fuel costs drove the cost of operating U.S. airlines higher by more than 10 percent in the first quarter, the industry's trade group said Friday.The Air Transport Association said its quarterly index of airline costs rose 10.6 percent year over year, driven by an increase of 12...

(AP) - Major business events and economic events scheduled for the coming week (some dates are tentative):MONDAY, July 9WASHINGTON -- Treasury bill auction, 2 p.m.; Federal Reserve reports on consumer credit for May, 3 p.m.NEW YORK -- Alcoa Inc. reports second-quarter financial results...

HOUSTON (AP) - Though the U.S. is still the world's leading oil consumer, its might in the global petroleum business is dwindling.Developing countries are locking up a bigger share of the world's oil and gas resources to profit from high prices and fuel industrial growth...

BUDAPEST (Thomson Financial) - Hungarian Finance minister Janos Veres vowed today to keep up the pressure on the illegal "black economy" in a bid to boost budget revenues and counter the highest budget deficit in the European Union.The Hungarian government is currently introducing measures to boost budget revenues by reducing illegal employment, and clamping down on tax fraud, contraband and forged goods...

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - The US will contribute 4.6 mln usd to a new program aimed at spurring investment in infrastructure development in Latin America, the US Treasury Department announced today.The initial program will be funded at 17.5 mln usd, and will also benefit from a 1...