U.S. Consumer Price Index Rose 0.4% In April
U.S. consumer price index rose 0.4% in April vs. 0.4% consensus and March reading of 0.5%. On year level CPI inflation is running at 3.2%.
Global Macro Perspectives
U.S. consumer price index rose 0.4% in April vs. 0.4% consensus and March reading of 0.5%. On year level CPI inflation is running at 3.2%.
U.S. producer price index rose 0.8% in April vs. 0.6% consensus. March reading was at 0.7%. On year level PPI is up 6.6%.
U.S. retail sales were reported up 0.5% in April vs. o.6% consensus. March reading was at +0.9% (revised from +0.4%). On year level retail sales are up 7.6%.
Initial jobless claims in the U.S. were reported at 434.000 vs. 430.000 consensus and last week revised (up 4.000) reading of 478.000.
Not looking good.
Mixed bag of data. Low refinery utilization rates, low net imports, low product stocks. On the other hand high level of crude oil .
Driving season could begin to lower the crude inventory.
*** The Big Picture: How Microsoft Caused the DotCom Bubble and why their Skype ‘Hail Mary’ is irrelevant ***
*** The Big Picture: Please Take My Money for a 1% Return Back ***
*** FT Alphaville: From Quito, to Kingston, to Athens? ***
*** FT Alphaville: Chinese commodity imports are falling ***
*** Streetwise Professor: No Margin For Error ***
*** The Source: Silver’s Modern Day Panic ***
*** The Atlantic: The World’s 26 Best Cities for Business, Life, and Innovation ***
hina fixed asset investments were up 25.4% y-o-y in April; March reading was at 25.0%. Consensus was at 24.9%.
China retail sales rose 17.1% y-o-y in April vs. 17.4% March reading. Consensus was at 17.6%.
Industrial production in China was up 13.4% y-o-y in April; March reading was at 14.8%. The consensus was at 14.6%.
Somewhat soft.
China Consumer Price Index was up 5.3% in April, vs. 5.2% consensus and 5.4% March reading. Food CPI edged lower from 11.7% y-o-y to 11.5% y-o-y; Non-food CPI remained at 2.7% y-o-y.
China Producer Price Index was up 6.8% vs. 7.0% consensus and 7.3% March reading. Declining which is a good sign for the CPI.
Overall, PBOC efforts to contain inflation are catching up.
The most broad measure of money supply – M2 rose 15.3% y-o-y in April vs. 16.6% consensus and 16.6% rise in March.
Chinese banks issued CNY 740 billion of new loans in April vs. CNY 679.5 billion in March and consensus of CNY 700.0 billion. The government has not provided a target for this year, but inferring on Q1 numbers the pace of loan growth could be similar to last years pace.
*** FT Alphaville: Roubini’s guide to a Greek debt restructuring ***
*** FT Alphaville: A proclamation from the Spanish Ministry of Public Works… ***
*** FT Alphaville: There’s no change for the US driver… ***
*** Zero Hedge: Reuters Special Report On What Caused The “Causeless” Crude Crash; Other Hedge Fund Casualties Identified ***
*** Zero Hedge: Sprott Launches Physical Silver Mutual Fund, Will Likely Soak Up Much Marginal Silver Inventory ***
*** The Slope Of Hope: How Long to Hold Silver? ***
*** Econompicdata: Secret Sauce Continues to Grip It and Rip It ***
*** Phil Pearlman: The Rise of the Market Participant Editor in Finance Media ***
China trade balance was reported at USD 11.4 billion vs. USD 0.1 billion in March and USD 3.2 billion consensus. Export and import growth were running at 29.9 and 21.8 percent vs. 35.8 and 27.3 percent y-o-y in March
Strong set of figures.
*** FT Alphaville: Kicking the Greek debt can further down the road ***
*** FT Alphaville: A (hard) Greek restructuring by the numbers ***
*** FT Alphaville: The underlying trend in UK house prices ***
*** Calculated Risk: Employment: A comment on the Birth/Death Model ***
*** Zero Hedge: Silverfinger – The True Story Of Nelson Bunker Hunt ***
*** The Aleph Blog: Why Amateurs Should Invest in Common Stocks ***
Baltic dry index rose 5.6% last week; Capesize Index was up 0.1%; Panamax Index rose 22.0%; Supramax Index was down 0.3%; Handysize Index fell 0.6%.
Commodities stockpiles were not released, but judging by the price action I suspect no major changes.