Aussie's Getting Richer
Australians became richer, owned more cars and lived in larger homes in a five-year period spanning the world’s worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The proportion of households earning more than a$3,000 ($3,050) a week more than doubled from 2006 to 11%.
US stocks erased earlier losses ahead of report that show sales of previously owned American homes decreased last month. Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is signaling the Federal Reserve will probably add to its record stimulus should the economy fail to make sufficient progress in creating jobs for 12.7m unemployed Americans. The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee yesterday extended its Operation Twist program and will swap $267bn in short-term securities with longer-term debt through the end of 2012.
Spain’s government bonds climbed for a third day as the nation sold €2.2 bn (USD2.8bn) of debt due in five years or less, exceeding the maximum target for the auction. Five year Spanish yields headed for their biggest three-day drop since December and Italian securities advanced amid speculation euro-area leaders will deploy bailout facilities to buy government bonds.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel balked at committing to direct sovereign debt purchases through the Euro-area bailout fund, pushing back on calls by the bloc’s leaders who support the measure as a way to ease the crisis.
China’s stocks fell; dragging the benchmark index to the lowest level in three months, after a report showed China’s manufacturing may shrink for an eighth month in June and the US cut its economic growth estimates. China plans to lower the entry barrier for foreign institutional investors looking to buy publicly traded securities in mainland exchanges, as part of reforms to add depth to the country’s capital markets.
Gold fell by 0.33% in New York as some investors sold back purchases after prices slumped the most since August. More monetary stimulus from around the world including China, the European Central Bank and the Fed will not be crucial to keep investors positive to gold. Silver also fell by 0.45%.
Crude Oil is down by 0.49% to the lowest price in almost two weeks on signs of an economic resilience (expected) in the US, however, supply also remained low. London-traded Brent crude fell from the lowest close in more than two weeks.
The Japanese Yen continues to decline against the USD, as the pair have broken above 80 for the first time in weeks. The euro has fallen against the USD to trade at 1.2555