NEWS / Foreign Exchange

US: Pending home sales rebound slightly in February

US: Pending home sales rebound slightly in February

In the US, the pending home sales rose 0.7% M/M in February compared to a downwardly revised fall of 4.2% M/M in January. The pending home sales lead the existing home sales. Hence, the rebound offers some comfort for the housing market.

The ICSC-UBS retail sales rose 0.3% W/W in the week ended March 31, following a 0.2% W/W rise in the previous week marking the fourth consecutive week of growth. Annual growth accelerated to 4.9%, the strongest pace in two months, compared to 2.7% in the week earlier. Warmer weather conditions and Easter promotions supported sales, according to ICSC.

The March Car sales disappointed. According to provisional data, it seems domestic car sales amounted to a 12.3 million annual rate, down from 12.8 million rate in February. This suggests that households are trimming spending on big ticket items, as result of higher gasoline prices, sub-prime mortgage market woes and slower income gains. The big three saw sales decline, but especially Ford sold less cars, partly deliberately as it trimmed its unprofitable fleet sales.

EMU: Core PPI remains rather high

In the euro zone, the PPI rose 0.3% M/M and 2.9% Y/Y in February compared to an upwardly revised 3.1% Y/Y in January and a cycle high of 6% Y/Y. Excluding energy, the PPI are however still close to the cycle highs of 3.6% Y/Y at 3.4% Y/Y in February. Even while headline PPI has fallen since mid-2006, underlying inflationary pressures are still there.