Economic Reports Economic Forecasting

BERLIN— A closely watched survey shows that business confidence in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, has declined slightly although managers' outlook for the months ahead remains at least slightly optimistic. The Ifo institute said Monday that its monthly confidence index was down to 101.8 points for June from 102.3 last month. Economists had forecast a...

LONDON, June 21- Copper prices steadied near three-week lows on Thursday as investors kept a wary eye on a trade dispute between Washington and Beijing that could curtail demand for metals in China, the world's largest consumer. Fears of a full-blown trade war with the United States have magnified concerns over China's economic outlook following...

BRASILIA/ SAO PAULO, June 20- Brazil's central bank kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, as expected, refraining from hiking even after the country's currency fell to its weakest levels in more than two years. The bank acknowledged, however, that a nationwide protest by truckers in the final weeks of May had raised uncertainty over the economic outlook,...

June 20- The U.S. jobs market does not appear overly tight and the Federal Reserve should continue with a gradual pace of interest rate rises amid a strong economy to balance its employment and inflation goals, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday. Powell also cautioned central banks against trying to run an excessively hot labor market for too long in...

TOKYO, June 20- Japanese manufacturers' confidence improved for a second straight month in June but the service sector's mood slumped from May's record high level, a Reuters poll found, suggesting some fragility in the outlook after a first-quarter contraction. President Donald Trump's "America First" policy raises fears of protectionism and global trade war,...

PARIS, June 19- French economic growth should slow this year in the face of a stronger euro, higher oil prices and uncertainty about protectionism, the INSEE stats agency forecast on Tuesday. Like other euro zone countries, France saw growth slow sharply in the first quarter after a particularly strong end to 2017 as oil prices rose 23 percent and the euro gained...

BERLIN, June 19- Germany's Ifo institute on Tuesday cut its forecasts for growth in Europe's biggest economy this year and next, citing a weak start to the year and increased global risks. Ifo said the economic upswing in Germany should continue but at a slower pace, echoing an assessment by the Bundesbank last week. In addition to weak industrial activity and...

SYDNEY, March 21- Business confidence among Asian companies rose in the first quarter to the highest level in seven years, a Thomson Reuters/ INSEAD survey showed, as a fresh surge by the Chinese economy offset concerns about rising trade barriers. The Thomson Reuters/ INSEAD Asian Business Sentiment Index, representing the six-month outlook of 67 firms,...

NEW YORK, June 18- U.S. long-dated Treasury yields drifted higher on Monday, as stocks on Wall Street trimmed losses, in thin trading after a hectic week when the Federal Reserve struck an upbeat tone on the American economy. Yields had fallen earlier, in line with U.S. stocks, as investors worried about an escalating U.S.- China trade war. The official Xinhua news...

SHANGHAI, June 18- Goldman Sachs said it expected China to adopt a slightly easier monetary stance in the face of tit-for-tat tariffs between Beijing and Washington that, while likely to have limited immediate impact on the economy, were at risk of escalating. On Friday, the Trump administration imposed tariffs on $50 billion of imports from China, a move that...

JOHANNESBURG, June 15- Fitch affirmed South Africa's sub-investment grade credit rating and kept its stable outlook on Friday, citing signs of improvement in governance standards and prospects of mild cyclical economic recovery. Fitch rates both South Africa's foreign and local currency debt at' BB+', one notch below investment grade. Investor sentiment has...

JOHANNESBURG, June 15- Fitch affirmed South Africa's sub-investment grade credit rating and kept its stable outlook on Friday, citing signs of recovery in governance standards and prospects of mild cyclical economic recovery.

*Wants 75-80 pct of Peru's debt to be denominated in soles. LIMA, June 14- Peru's new finance minister told Reuters on Thursday he thinks the economy will grow by about 4 percent this year, faster than the government's current view of 3.6 percent, thanks to recovering business confidence and investments. In his first interview with foreign media since taking...

SANTIAGO, June 14- Chile's central bank on Thursday revised upward its forecast for full-year 2018 growth amid an increase in investment and consumption that it said would spur inflation toward the bank's target of 3.0 percent. In a presentation before senators in Congress, Central Bank President Mario Marcel said he expected GDP growth in the South American...

RIGA, June 14- The European Central Bank raised its inflation forecasts for this year and next but lowered its 2018 growth projection, ECB President Mario Draghi told a news conference on Thursday. The ECB, which targets inflation at just below 2 percent, sees price growth at 1.7 percent this year and in 2019 and 2020. With oil prices up more than 60 percent since last...