Tuesday, August 10, 2010

European Market Updates+U.S. Economic News

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The major European markets are trading mixed amid some volatility on Tuesday. The French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are rising 0.61% and 0.26%, respectively, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is receding 0.73%.

In economic news, Germany’s consumer price inflation accelerated to 1.2% in July from 0.9% in June. The reading represented an upward revision to the preliminary estimate of 1.1%. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose at a 0.3% rate compared to the 0.1% increase in the previous month.

A separate report showed that Germany’s wholesale price inflation rose 5.3% in July compared to the 5.1% growth in the previous month. However, on a monthly basis, wholesale prices fell 0.3% following a 0.2% drop in the previous month.

A report from the U.K. Office for National Statistical Office showed that U.K.’s trade deficit narrowed to 7.4 billion pounds in June from a deficit of 7.8 billion pounds in May. The narrowing was aided by a faster rate of increase in exports than the imports.

Meanwhile, French industrial production fell 1.7% month-over-month in June following a 1.9% increase in May. Economists had expected a more modest decline of 0.2%. Manufacturing outputfell 1.3%, marking the first drop for the year.

U.S. Economic News

The Labor Department released a report showing an unexpected decrease in labor productivity in the quarter, as a significant increase in hours worked in the second quarter outpaced an increase in output.

Productivity fell by 0.9% in the second quarter following an upwardly revised 3.9% increase in the first quarter. Economists had expected productivity to edge up by 0.1% compared to the 2.8% growth that had been reported for the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department also said that unit labor costs rose by 0.2% in the second quarter compared to a revised 3.7% decrease in the first quarter. Labor costs had been expected to increase by about 1.4%.
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The Commerce Department is due to release its wholesale inventories report at 10 AM ET. Economists expect wholesale inventories at the end of June to show a 0.4% increase.

In May, wholesale inventories saw a 0.5% month-over-month increase. However, the previous month's increase was downwardly revised to show 0.2% growth. Wholesale sales fell 0.3%, marking the first decline since February 2009.
Source:InvestorsHub

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