Australian Producer Prices increase 1.0%. Swiss prices up. US Leading Indicators dip. | CountingPips Forex & Currency Trading Blog

July 21, 2008 - Forex Economic News

Australian Producer Prices increase 1.0%. Swiss prices up. US Leading Indicators dip.

Highlighting the limited economic release schedule for today was data on producer prices out of Australia and Switzerland while the leading indicators index was also released out of the United States.

Australia's producer prices showed an increase of 1.0 percent in the 2nd quarter following an increase of 1.9 percent in the 1st quarter of 2008 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The increase of 1.0 percent was below many market forecasts that were expecting prices to rise by 1.6 percent for the April to June quarter. Year-over-year producer prices increased by 4.7 percent for the quarter following up the year-over-year increase of 4.8 percent in the 1st quarter.

Switzerland's combined producer and import price index also increased for the month of June according to the Switzerland Federal Statistical Office today. The producer and import price index increased by 0.6 percent in June following a 1.2 percent rise in May. Economic forecasts had predicted a 0.5 percent increase for the month. Producer prices alone increased by 0.5 percent while import prices increased by 0.8 percent in June. Year-over-year price statistics showed a gain of 4.4 percent in producer prices while import prices increased 4.7 percent for the year through June.

U.S. Leading Indicators edge down.

The U.S. Leading Indicators Index published by the Conference Board today showed a slight decrease in June. The Leading Indicator Index, which measures future economic activity, registered a 0.1 percent decrease in June following a revised decline of 0.2 percent in May. The indicators contributing to the decline in June were stock prices, real money supply and weekly initial claims. Building/Housing permits, interest rate spread and supplier deliveries were all positive sectors impacting the leading index. The coincident index, which is viewed as a measure of current economic activity, showed an increase in June with a 0.1 percent rise as industrial production increased for the month. The lagging index fell by 0.3 in June. Market forecasts were on target expecting the leading indictor index to decline by 0.1 percent for the month.

Tags: producer prices, australia, swiss, leading indictors

Blog Home