The world slowly continues its exit from the great recession. However, the global zero rate policies shave their mark in too many financial figures. Japan published a rather impressive Current Account Balance on Monday, presenting an increase to ¥ 587.3…
From east, it’s seems we will be getting some good news, the Japanese economy and Chinese economy optimism is growing… The Fed’s statement from Wednesday insinuated that tapering could be around the corner, while the Bank of Japan policy board statement,…
Most of the developed world did not observe major difficulties last week. Japan Japan’s Trade Balance data were published on Monday, indicating a Year over Year increase of 12.2% in Exports and a 19.6% Year over Year increase in imports. This…
Europe Most of the data published regarding the European economy were disappointing, suggesting the continued recession. Industrial production in the Eurozone decreased during the month of January by a monthly rate of 0.4% (versus an expected -0.1%), to a level…
The Group of 20 finance chiefs sharpened their stance against governments trying to influence exchange rates. Two days of talks between G-20 finance ministers and central bankers ended last week with a commitment not to: “Target our exchange rates for…
Europe Last week’s biggest news was the publication of the fourth quarter’s growth data. We briefly note that a sharper than expected contraction was recorded in Germany (-0.6% in quarterly terms), France (-0.3%), Spain (-0.7%) and Italy (-0.9%). We note…
Uncertainty regarding election results in Italy and concerns of corruption scandals involving Spain’s Prime Minister, led to a rise in the risk premium of the peripheral countries in the last two weeks, fearing that the possible change of government in…
Some of the major headlines in economical news over the last couple of weeks included statements by global economy officials regarding the “Currency war”: The fear that central banks will divert their attention from maintaining price stability to a constant…
The improvement in Europe’s financial markets has not yet been reflected in the real economy. Economic data regarding the Eurozone continues pointing to the recession prevailing in the continent, and expectation surveys indicate the further contraction expected. However, the deterioration…
Last week was characterized by the PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Indices) published worldwide. The Global manufacturing PMI rose slightly in December to a level of 49.8. While the PMI indicates expectations for further industrial expansion in the U.S. and in China,…
