Thursday 29 August 2013

US pending home sales and German consumer confidence fall, Brazil raises interest rate

Following Tuesday's positive economic data from the US and Germany, reports on Wednesday took a negative turn.

In the US, the housing market produced more signs that it has cooled. Pending home sales fell 1.3 percent in July, the most this year and after a 0.4 percent decline in June.

In Germany, consumer confidence has slipped. GfK's consumer confidence index for September fell to 6.9 from 7.0 in August.

Weaker growth in the developed economies may not be the main concern of policy makers in emerging economies at the moment though.

On Wednesday, Brazil’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point for a third straight meeting to 9.0 percent. This move came after the real fell 10 percent in the last three months.

No comments:

Post a Comment