Stocks rose on Friday. The S&P 500 and the STOXX Europe 600 both climbed 0.3 percent, the former regaining the 2,000 level in the process and hitting a record high.
US stocks rose despite mixed US economic data on Friday.
Consumer spending fell 0.1 percent in July, the first drop in six months. Income rose 0.2 percent, the smallest increase since December.
However, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index rose to 82.5 in August from 81.8 in July and the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago’s business barometer rose to 64.3 this month from 52.6 in July.
Data released earlier on Friday showed that Japan's economy started the third quarter on a weak note.
Household spending fell 5.9 percent in July from a year earlier, worse than the 3.0 percent fall in June, while industrial production rose 0.2 percent in July, barely rebounding after falling 3.4 percent in June.
The jobless rate rose to 3.8 percent in July from 3.7 percent in June but the jobs-to-applicants ratio remained at a 22-year high of 1.10.
Inflation excluding fresh foods was 3.3 percent in July, unchanged from the previous month. Excluding the effect of the April sales tax hike, the inflation rate was 1.3 percent.
However, inflation in the euro area fell further in August to 0.3 percent from 0.4 in July, according to a report on Friday. Another report showed that the eurozone unemployment rate for July was 11.5 percent, unchanged from the previous month.
The euro area's largest economy, Germany, showed more signs of weakness on Friday, reporting that retail sales fell 1.4 percent in July.
The UK housing market, though, showed surprising strength in August. Nationwide reported on Friday that British house prices rose 0.8 percent this month, faster than the 0.2 percent rise in July.
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