Articles by: Miroslav Marinoff

Sweden business sentiment rises to over 2-year high

An indicator of business confidence in Sweden has risen to its highest level since August 2022 in December, data by the National Institute of Economic Research showed. The business confidence gauge came in at a reading of 100.6 in December, while improving from a revised up 98.6 in November. Sentiment among traders improved the most, […] Read more

China maintains lending rates at record lows

The People’s Bank of China has kept benchmark lending rates at record low levels at the December fixing, in line with market consensus. The 1-year loan prime rate, a benchmark for the majority of corporate and household loans, was left at 3.1% in December. The 5-year loan prime rate, a reference for property mortgages, was […] Read more

Norway domestic loan debt growth slows in November

The general public’s domestic loan debt in Norway has grown at an annualized rate of 3.6% to NOK 7.51 billion at the end of November, data by Statistics Norway showed. The latter was a slowdown from 3.8% YoY in October. Municipal government loan debt increased 7.6% YoY in November, while easing from 9.2% YoY in […] Read more

New Zealand trade deficit narrows considerably in November

New Zealand reported a trade deficit of NZD 0.4 billion in November, which compares with a NZD 1.2 billion trade gap in the same month of 2023. Total exports surged 9.1% year-on-year to NZD 6.48 billion in November. That reflected higher shipments of: – fruit (162% YoY); – precious metals, jewelry and coins (51% YoY); […] Read more

USD/SGD scales 7 1/2-month peak as Fed flags slower easing

The USD/SGD currency pair traded in proximity to a fresh 7 1/2-month high of 1.3634 on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve signaled fewer rate cuts in 2025 due to robust GDP growth and persistent inflation. The central bank’s dot plot projections showed just two interest rate cuts next year, totaling 50 basis points. That compares […] Read more

Spot Gold recovers after 2% drop due to technical correction

Spot Gold recouped a part of the loss from the prior trading day on Thursday, with a likely technical correction being underway. The 4-hour RSI indicated oversold conditions for the precious metal in late Wednesday trade. The yellow metal lost over 2% yesterday, plunging as low as $2,583.91 per troy ounce, after the Federal Reserve […] Read more