市场消息

Investing.com – The number of houses that were built in the US in April fell by 3.7% compared to the previous month and amounted to 1.287 million in terms of annual rates, according to the data of the Ministry of Commerce of the country.

According to the updated data, in March the number of new buildings grew by 3.6% – to 1.336 million, while earlier it was reported about the increase of only 1.9% – up to 1.319 million.

Wall Street analysts forecast a 2.2% decline last month from the previously announced March level to 1.29 million.

Investing.com – BERLIN (Reuters) – Staying in the framework of a nuclear deal with Iran, even after exiting the US, is the best way to remove international concerns about Tehran’s role in the region and its ballistic missile development program, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

“The question is whether you can agree on more, withdrawing from the agreement, or staying in it … we believe that it is more convenient to discuss the problem while remaining within the framework of the agreement,” Merkel said in the Bundestag on Wednesday.

The European powers promised to keep the nuclear deal this week after the US withdrew from it, although they admitted that they can hardly give Iran any guarantees.

The deal, concluded between Iran and six world powers, withdrew most of the international sanctions from Tehran in 2016 in exchange for the curtailment of its nuclear program under the strict control of the IAEA.

“This agreement is far from ideal, but Iran, according to all international nuclear agencies, fulfills all obligations contained in the agreement,” Merkel said.

Last week, US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw from the agreement, which he called the “worst deal”, and to restore the sanctions regime against Iran.

“Despite all the disagreements that we have to this day, transatlantic relations are and remain a paramount task,” Merkel told parliamentarians, “However, these relations should be able to overcome disagreements.”

Investing.com – LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) – The pound on Wednesday again fell to the lowest level since the beginning of the year against the dollar amid renewed fears over the talks on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU and relatively modest wage growth in the country.

The British government said on Tuesday that in June it will publish detailed plans for future relations with the European Union, trying to overcome the impasse in the Brexit talks.

The disagreements within the government about the future of cooperation with Brussels and repeated complaints from EU officials for lack of clarity about what Britain wants, convinced investors that Brexit talks still pose a real threat to the pound, less than a year before , as the country should leave the block.

Published on Tuesday, data showed that British employers hired far more employees than expected in early 2018. These statistics may indicate that the weakness of the economy observed at the beginning of the year may be temporary.

However, wage growth statistics remain mixed, with annual increases in wages, excluding bonuses, of 2.9 percent in the three months to March, as Reuters analysts expected.

The pound fell to 13:18 Moscow time by 0.2 percent to $ 1.3479, trading near the low of 2018 $ 1.3452, set on Tuesday.

In relation to the euro, the pound rose by 0.1 percent to 87.560 pence for the euro.

Investing.com – Consumer prices in the euro area in April 2018 increased by 1.2% relative to the same month in 2017, the final data of Eurostat show. In March, the eurozone recorded inflation of 1.3%.

The dynamics of the indicator coincided with preliminary data and forecasts of analysts ..

As of March 2018, prices increased by 0.3%.

Consumer prices without taking into account volatile factors such as the cost of energy, food and alcohol (the CPI Core index, which is monitored by the European Central Bank), rose 0.7% in annual terms in April after rising 1% a month earlier.

In 28 EU countries, the annual price increase slowed to 1.4% after rising 1.5% a month earlier. In the monthly expression in the EU, prices rose by 0.2%.

In April, deflation in annual terms was observed in Cyprus (-0.3%) and in Ireland (-0.1%), the lowest inflation – in Portugal (0.3%).

The highest growth in consumer prices was recorded in Romania (4.3%), Slovakia (3%) and Estonia (2.9%).

In Germany, annual inflation in April slowed to 1.4% after 1.5% a month earlier. In France, consumer prices rose by 1.8% after an increase of 1.7% in March. In Italy, inflation slowed from 0.9% to 0.6%, in Spain from 1.3% to 1.1%.

Investing.com – SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices are falling on Wednesday under pressure from a high supply, despite a reduction in production by OPEC countries and the imminent introduction of US sanctions against Iran, a major oil exporter.

By 9:15, futures for the North Sea blend of Brent dropped 0.3 percent to $ 78.23 per barrel.

Futures contracts for US light crude WTI traded at $ 71.08 per barrel, which is 0.3 percent lower than the last close.

Despite the decline in prices, oil quotes remain near the peaks from November 2014 – $ 79.47 for Brent and $ 71.92 for WTI.

Analysts predict that oil markets will remain at this level for most of the year, taking into account the forthcoming introduction of US sanctions against Iran and strong demand for oil.

“The rising price of oil carries an increased risk for all commodities,” Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) said in a research note to customers this week.

Investing.com – The US dollar against the euro is stable after a significant jump the day after the rise in US Treasury yields.

The US dollar is traditionally moving in the same direction with the interest rates of the US government securities. On Tuesday, the yield of 10-year US Treasuries rose above the 3% mark, to its highest level since 2011.

Support for the yields of US Treasury securities was reduced by the risk of escalating the trade dispute between the US and China in a trade war, said analyst Richard Herrick Perry.

“The difference in the interest rates of government securities affects the dynamics of currencies, and in this case, supported the strengthening of the dollar against the yen,” – quotes the expert MarketWatch.

On Wednesday, traders will follow the statistics on the US economy, including reports on housing construction and industrial production.

“On Tuesday, the economic statistics were taken positively, and they also increased the expectations of the tightening of the policy by the Federal Reserve, which led to an increase in the yield of government securities and the US dollar,” says Zhang-chan, senior economist at St.George Bank in Sydney.

As of 9:41 Moscow time, the euro/dollar pair is trading at $ 1.1834 compared to $ 1.1838 at the close of the previous session. The value of the US currency against the yen slightly decreased – to 110.28 yen against 110.35 yen the day before. The euro to the Japanese currency fell to 130.50 yen compared to 130.63 yen at the close.

On Tuesday, the dollar gained 0.7% against the euro and 0.6% against the yen. The ICE index, which tracks the fluctuations of the dollar against the six major world currencies, rose by 0.7%, which was the most significant jump in seven weeks, according to FactSet.

Investing.com – Japan’s GDP in the first quarter of 2018 decreased by 0.6% in annual terms, according to the data of the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan. The decline in the quarterly indicator occurred for the first time since the end of 2015.

Experts interviewed by Nikkei Quick, on average, predicted a drop in the Japanese economy by only 0.1%.

The dynamics of GDP growth for the 4th quarter was revised for the worse. According to revised data, in the fourth quarter of 2017, Japanese GDP grew by 0.6%, and not by 1.6%, as previously reported. The economic recovery in Japan was marked for eight consecutive quarters, which was the longest period of continuous GDP growth since the late 1980s.

The volume of GDP in January-March decreased by 0.2% compared to the fourth quarter, while analysts did not expect it to change.

Consumer spending, which accounts for about 60% of Japan’s GDP, remained unchanged in the first quarter compared to the previous year, due to both unfavorable weather conditions in the country in January and February, and to rising prices for fresh food and gasoline.

Capital investments in the business declined 0.1% in January-March.

In the fourth quarter of last year, consumer spending in Japan increased by 0.2%, company investment – by 0.6%.

The positive contribution of exports, which is one of the main engines of the growth of the Japanese economy, in GDP dynamics in the first quarter was only 0.1 percentage points, in particular, due to the weakening growth in demand for electronic components.

The cabinet of Japan is expected to resume economic growth in the short term, noting the improvement of wages, as well as the strengthening of the global economic recovery, writes MarketWatch.

Investing.com – In April 2018, consumer prices in Germany, calculated according to national standards, increased by 1.6% compared to the same month in 2017, according to the final data of the Federal Statistical Office of the country (Destatis). In March, annual inflation was also 1.6%.

Relative to the previous month, prices have not changed.

Both indicators coincided with both preliminary data and forecasts of analysts.

Prices for drinks and food products in April rose by 0.1% compared with March and by 3.3% in annual terms. Prices for alcohol and tobacco increased by 1.4% per month and by 4.1% – for the year. Clothing and footwear went up by 0.6% per month and fell 0.1% in annual terms. Services have become cheaper by 0.6% per month and more expensive by 1.5% – in annual terms.

Consumer prices calculated according to the standards of the European Union, last month increased by 1.4% in annual terms and decreased by 0.1% per month. Both indicators coincided with both analysts’ expectations and preliminary data.

The volume of industrial production in the euro area in March 2018 increased by 0.5% compared with February, when the decline was 0.9%, according to Eurostat.
Relative to March 2017, industrial production increased by 3%.

The dynamics of industrial production was worse than analysts’ expectations. Experts predicted an increase in the first indicator by 0.7%, the second – by 3.6%.

In 28 EU countries, industrial production in March increased by 0.4% compared to the previous month. In annual terms, the increase was 3%, as in the euro area.

The largest increase in industrial production in relation to the previous month was recorded in Estonia (4.1%), Portugal (3.7%) and Greece (2.6%). The most significant decrease was registered in Ireland (-7%), Croatia (4.3%) and Latvia (3.5%).

In annual terms, the most significant increase was observed in Lithuania (11.5%), Estonia (7.6%) and Finland (7%). The decline was recorded in Ireland (-14.7%), Malta (-3.2%) and Slovakia (-2.3%)