The German IFO business confidence survey bounced back from a 26-year low as the index rose to 83.7 from 82.1 in April, while the gauge for future expectations increased to 83.9 from 81.6 in the previous month. Furthermore, the current assessment rose to 83.6 from 82.7
[U][B]Fundamental Headlines[/B][/U]
[I]• Chrysler Is Near Bankruptcy Filing[/I] – Wall Street Journal
[I]• Morgan Stanley Eyes Big Trading Change[/I] – Wall Street Journal
[I]• Microsoft growth hits buffers after 34 years [/I] – Financial Times
[I]• Bank of America’s Lewis May Face SEC Review of Merrill Disclosure to Cuomo[/I] – Bloomberg
[I]• Nomura Posts $2.2 Billion Loss as Staff Costs Double on Lehman Acquisition[/I] – Bloomberg
[B]EURUSD[/B] – The German IFO business confidence survey bounced back from a 26-year low as the index rose to 83.7 from 82.1 in April, while the gauge for future expectations increased to 83.9 from 81.6 in the previous month. Furthermore, the current assessment rose to 83.6 from 82.7, and the data suggests that firms are turning less pessimistic towards the economy as policymakers continue to take unprecedented steps to steer the region out of a deepening recession. Meanwhile, Bundesbank President Axel Weber said that he expects a recovery in 2010 as economic activity in emerging markets improve, and the remarks suggests that the ECB may a neutral policy stance going forward and wait for the current measures to carry through the real economy as the central bank expect the growth rate to push higher next year. Discuss the topic and your trade ideas in the EUR/USD Forum.
[B]GBPUSD[/B] – Economic activity in the U.K. contracted the most since 1979 as the advanced GDP reading showed that the economy contracted 1.9% in the first quarter, which crossed the wires much weaker than the 1.5% contraction projected by the economists, and lowered the annual rate of growth to -4.1% from -2.0%. The breakdown of the report showed service-based activity fell 1.2% from the previous quarter, while industrial outputs slumped 5.5% to mark the largest quarterly drop since comparable records began in 1948, and the data emphasizing the dire state of the economy as firms continue to cut back on production. Moreover, manufacturing output fell by an even sharper as production slipped 6.2% from the fourth quarter, which was also the worst reading on record. Meanwhile, a separate report showed that retail spending in U.K. unexpectedly increased 0.3% in March, which raised the annual reading to 1.5% from 0.4% in the previous month. Despite the rise in household spending, the outlook for Europe’s second largest economy remain bleak as GDP contracts more than 1% for two consecutive quarters, which is the first since World War II, and as the IMF lowers the GDP forecasts for the region, growth prospects are likely to deteriorate further as the downturn in the global economy intensifies. Discuss the topic and your trade ideas in the GBP/USD Forum.
