There were plenty of positive economic data on Wednesday.
The US saw an upward revision of estimated fourth quarter growth to 3.0 percent from 2.8 percent. Most components of GDP were revised up, with real disposable income growth raised to 1.4 percent from 0.8 percent.
Other reports showed that US economic growth has been maintained early this year. The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago said its manufacturing index for the Midwest region rose to a ten-month high of 64.0 in February from 60.2 in January. The Federal Reserve's beige book reported that the economy expanded modestly in January through mid-February.
In Japan, industrial production rose 2.0 percent in January while the Markit/JMMA manufacturing PMI stayed just above 50 in February, coming in at 50.5 compared to 50.7 in January.
In the UK, mortgage approvals jumped to 58,728 in January, the highest since December 2009, from 55,019 in December, marking the biggest monthly increase since June 2009. Consumer confidence held steady in February at a seven-month high.
In the euro area, the inflation rate fell to 2.6 percent in January from 2.7 percent in December while in Germany, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.8 percent in February, staying at the lowest in more than two decades.
Markets, though, were focused on the ECB's second round of long-term refinancing operation, which ended up seeing 800 banks take up 530 billion euros. The injection of funds helped push Italian and Spanish government bond yields down.
1 comment:
It looks like absent a major blow-up, things may be on the mend a bit. Maybe the fact that there was not a huge sell-off after Greece's technical default is a good sign.
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