The U.K. CBI distributive trades survey surged to the highest level since January 2008 as the April reading jumped to 3 from -44 in the previous month. Meanwhile, the gauge measuring the outlook for May rose to -15 from -42 for April, and the data falls in-line with the retail sales report release last week.
Fundamental Headlines
• BofA, Citi Urged to Boost Capital – Wall Street Journal
• GM Offers U.S. a Majority Stake – Wall Street Journal
• Deutsche Bank back in black – Financial Times
• Daimler Has First Consecutive Losses in 10 Years as Mercedes Sales Decline – Bloomberg
• BP Reduces Spending Target for a Second Time After 64% Decline in Earnings – Bloomberg
GBPUSD – The U.K. CBI distributive trades survey surged to the highest level since January 2008 as the April reading jumped to 3 from -44 in the previous month. Meanwhile, the gauge measuring the outlook for May rose to -15 from -42 for April, and the data falls in-line with the retail sales report release last week however, the Confederation of British Industry warned that the timing of Easter could be distorting the index, and the April figures should taken with a grain of salt as the Europe’s second largest economy faces its worst economic downturn in over half a century. Discuss the topic and your trade ideas in the GBP/USD Forum.
CHFUSD – The UBS Swiss consumption indicator improved for the first time since last December, with the index rising to 0.985 from a revised reading of 0.887 in February as falling prices pressures lured consumers to increase their rate of consumption. Consumer prices in Switzerland dropped the most in five decades in March, helping to boost the spending power for households, and despite the minor improvement in the UBS survey, private spending may continue to fall further in the months ahead as households face a weakening labor market paired with tightening credit conditions. For more news and resources, visit the new Swiss franc Currency Room.
