Saturday 21 December 2013

US and UK growth revised up, eurozone consumer confidence improves, BoJ policy unchanged

Economic data on Friday were positive.

In the US, third quarter growth was revised up to a 4.1 percent annualised rate from a previous estimate of 3.6 percent. The latest estimate is the strongest growth rate since the last three months of 2011.

In the UK, third quarter growth was confirmed at 0.8 percent but growth in earlier quarters was revised up, resulting in year-on-year growth being raised to 1.9 percent from an earlier estimate of 1.5 percent.

In the euro area, the European Commission's consumer confidence index improved to -13.6 in December from -15.4 in November.

In Germany, consumer confidence hit its highest level in nearly 6-1/2 years. GfK's consumer confidence index for January came in at 7.6, rising from 7.4 the previous month.

And in Japan, the Bank of Japan introduced no fresh measures to stimulate the economy at its monetary policy meeting on Friday, saying that the economy was “recovering moderately” while efforts to stoke inflation were taking hold.

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