Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Chispas who wrote (11538)	9/9/2004 9:12:21 AM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 116555

import/export prices bls.gov The U.S. Import Price Index rose 1.7 percent in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Higher prices for both petroleum and nonpetroleum imports contributed to the overall increase. In contrast, August export prices fell 0.5 percent as lower prices for agricultural exports more than offset an increase in nonagricultural export prices.

To: Chispas who wrote (11538)	9/9/2004 9:17:57 AM
From: mishedlo	Respond to of 116555

Forex - Pound near 6-month euro lows after poor UK trade data Thursday, September 9, 2004 1:07:10 PM LONDON (AFX) - The pound remained near six-month lows against the euro in the wake of news that the UK's trade position deteriorated further in July as the country sucked in more imports than it has ever done before in a single month The office of National Statistics said the UK's deficit in goods increased to 5.2 bln stg in July, up from 5.1 bln the previous month, and blamed the development on a marked increase in oil imports, which pushed the oil balance into deficit for the first time since August 1991 The oil deficit stood at 61 mln stg in July compared with the 193 mln surplus the previous month News of the deficit has raised fears about the impact of high oil prices on the economy as well as longer-term concerns about the depletion of the UK's oil assets in the North Sea The data is further bad news on the UK economic front following the unexpected weakness in the manufacturing sector and evidence suggesting that the consumer sector is struggling in the wake of higher borrowing costs "The UK economy could soon be left without a leg to stand on," warned Paul Dales, UK economist at Capital Economics The pound is currently standing at just over 103 on its trade-weighted index against nearly 107 at the beginning of August In the wake of the data, the euro jumped to 0.6834 stg, its highest level since mid-March Elsewhere, there was little impact on the pound from today's rate decision to keep interest rates on hold at 4.75 pct Meanwhile, the dollar bounced back against the yen after disappointing Japanese data offset the impact of yesterday's comments from the US Federal Reserve's chairman Alan Greenspan News that Japan's core private-sector machinery orders, a key gauge of trends in capital spending, fell 11.3 pct in July from a month earlier, pushed the dollar up towards the 110 yen mark again Overall though, dollar sentiment remains relatively fragile following Greenspan's testimony to the House Budget Committee In his speech, the Fed chief said the US economy had regained its footing after experiencing a soft patch earlier in the summer, but noted that inflation expectations had diminished despite the rise in oil prices through mid-August "This conclusion is a far cry from the debate at the June FOMC meeting where the atmosphere was one of uncertainty but concern that price stability could be threatened," said Divyang Shah, global strategist at IDEAglobal.com Though another 0.25 point rate hike to 1.75 pct is expected on Sept 21, Greenspan's comments have raised question marks about future rate increases at a time when European Central Bank officials have been hinting that European rates may be on the rise from their current 2.00 pct sooner than anticipated "That means that the dollar is likely to remain vulnerable against the euro in the near-term," said CIBC World Markets analyst Audrey Childe-Freeman. Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims figures in the US failed to impact on the dollar, even though the number of workers filing for state unemployment benefits plunged by 44,000 in the week ending Sept 4 to 319,000 That was the biggest decline in initial claims since December 2001 and represented the lowest number of new claims since the week of July 3 A US Labor Department spokesman cautioned that it had problems adjusting the data for seasonal factors fxstreet.com