Thursday 28 November 2013

US durable goods orders fall but index of leading indicators rise

Economic data on Wednesday were mixed.

In the US, the Chicago Federal Reserve's national activity index fell to -0.18 in October from +0.18 in September. However, the index's three-month moving average rose to +0.06 from -0.02, its first positive reading in eight months.

Among other reports from the US, durable goods orders fell 2.0 percent in October after having risen 4.1 percent in September but other economic indicators were mostly positive.

The number of jobless claims last week fell by 10,000 to 316,000. The final reading of the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment in November was 75.1, up from 73.2 a month earlier and better than the preliminary reading of 72.0. The MNI-Chicago business barometer stayed well in expansion territory in November, falling to 63.0 from 65.9 in October. The Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators increased 0.2 percent in October.

Economic data from Europe on Wednesday were also mostly positive.

In the UK, third quarter economic growth was confirmed at 0.8 percent. However, retail sales slowed in November, with the sales balance in the Confederation of British Industry monthly distributive trades survey falling to +1 from +2 in October.

In Germany, GfK's consumer sentiment indicator rose to 7.4 for December from 7.1 in November.

No comments:

Post a Comment