Wednesday 22 November 2006

Global economic outlook falls

Bloomberg reports that according to Germany's Ifo institute, confidence in the global economy's growth prospects fell in the fourth quarter while inflation risks eased.

The World Economic Climate index fell to 104.7 from 105.6 in the third quarter, the institute said in an e-mailed statement today. A gauge of current conditions rose to 120.5 from 115.1...

The measures for North America and Europe declined in the fourth quarter, according to the Ifo. The index for Asia rose to 109.3 from 102.8.

The Bank of Japan at least thinks that the Japanese economic expansion remains on track, according to the minutes from its October 12-13 meeting.

Meanwhile, a survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed export orders rebounded to +3 this month, the first positive balance since February 1996 and the highest since August 1995, helping total orders recover to -6 from -20 in October. Price expectations also rose.

Elsewhere, the economic news yesterday was somewhat downbeat.

In Italy, industrial sales fell 5.9 percent in September from August on an adjusted basis while orders fell 5.2 pct.

In Canada, a record fall in gasoline prices and tumbling auto sales drove Canadian retail sales down by a sharper-than-expected 1.2 percent in September, the largest monthly setback so far this year. However, the composite leading indicator did rise 0.2 percent in October, down from a 0.4 percent rise in September.

And the global utilisation rate of microchip plants fell to 88.6 percent in July-September, according to data compiled by the Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics (SICAS) group.

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