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Showing 261 - 270 of 898 results for "Optimism"

Less than expected but good

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 23 MAR 2017
Japan's latest trade stat indicates that the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) optimism, noted in its March monetary policy statement that, "Exports are expected to follow a moderate increasing trend on the back of an improvement in overseas economies" is perhaps ...

RBNZ on ice

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 23 MAR 2017
... returned to the target band" and "Longer-term inflation expectations remain well-anchored at around 2 percent". Despite this optimism, the RBNZ kept the official cash rate unchanged at 1.75% at its March policy meeting as widely expected because of two ...

One Direction and the BOE

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 20 MAR 2017
... in the jobless rate. This is an indication that's further underscored by rising business confidence. The CBI business optimism index surged to a reading of +15 in the March quarter from -8 in the previous quarter and the Brexit-induced dive to -47 in ...

One small rise in rates, one giant step towards normalisation

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 16 MAR 2017
... by 10 bps to 2.5%. And oh, commodity prices also soared. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB index closed 1.7% higher signalling optimism over global growth. All these because fairy godmother Janet Yellen did what one and all expected - a 25 basis point lift in ...

No other way but up

BENJAMIN ONG  |  MONDAY, 13 MAR 2017
... the previous month came amidst the increase in the participation rate from 62.9% to 6.30% -- indicating both increased optimism among workers of landing jobs and the economic strength. The gains in US equities -- Dow up 0.2%, S&P up 0.3%, Nasdaq up 0.4% ...

Low-flation at the core

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 10 MAR 2017
... it to of €60 billion a month starting April and run until the end of 2017. The ECB's policy statement revealed its optimism over the region's cyclical recovery... "Euro area real GDP increased by 0.4%, quarter on quarter, in the fourth quarter of 2016 ...

In search of that elusive Australian animal spirit

BENJAMIN ONG  |  FRIDAY, 24 FEB 2017
... statistician's report on "Private new capital expenditure and expected expenditure" (Capex) raises doubts over my own optimism with regards to wages - that would spark a virtuous circle of spending, profits, investments, hiring, etc. - based on the sharp ...

The power of optimism

BENJAMIN ONG  |  THURSDAY, 23 FEB 2017
... Sydney on the 22nd of February 2017, as he spoke about the "Shared Experiences" between the two countries. Governor Lowe's optimism is understandable - mainly because it could turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. As the 'Camp Quality' -- an Australian ...

A bump up in credit

BENJAMIN ONG  |  WEDNESDAY, 1 FEB 2017
NAB's cautious optimism over Australian business conditions (see "Five minutes of sunshine?" report in this section), should be allayed by the Reserve Bank of Australia's private sector credit report. Total private sector credit increased by 0.7% in ...

Consumer-powered

BENJAMIN ONG  |  TUESDAY, 31 JAN 2017
... spending as indicated by the decline in the savings rate to 5.4% from 5.6% in November. This suggests increasing consumer optimism - one confirmed by the rise in the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index to a 13-year high of 98.5 in January. ...