How bad is the global economy? Well, maybe not so bad after all, at least for the time being.
Japan's all-industries index managed to rise by 0.8 percent in April.
In the UK, retail sales jumped 3.5 percent in May.
The US data were somewhat mixed though. Bloomberg reports:
The Conference Board's leading-indicator measure rose 0.1 percent in May, the New York-based research group said today. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's general economic index dropped to minus 17.1, lower than forecast, from minus 15.6 in May. Its prices-paid gauge soared to the highest level since 1980...
A government report today showed the number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to 381,000, from 386,000 the prior week. Total benefits rolls slipped to 3.06 million for the week ended June 7.
One piece of good news yesterday was that oil prices fell after China announced that it would be raising fuel prices, which should help cool demand.
Meanwhile though, demand for stocks in China may be cooling faster than the authorities there wish. Chinese stocks plunged yesterday, the CSI 300 Index falling 7.3 percent to close 53 percent below its peak in October.
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