Thursday, January 05, 2006

Quick Overview

  • U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Thursday the United States was "the picture of economic health" and urged lawmakers to keep taxes low as a stimulant for steady expansion.

  • The Fed said its overall holdings of Treasury and agency debt kept for overseas central banks rose $1.286 billion in the week ended Jan. 4, to stand at $1.523 trillion

  • The number of U.S. workers filing initial unemployment benefits fell by 35,000 last week to 291,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

  • The Institute of Supply Management's index of U.S. services increased from 58.5 to 59.8 in December, more than expected.

  • The U.S. Department of Energy said that:
    Supplies of crude oil were down 1.0 million barrels to 321.6 million barrels
    Supplies of unleaded gasoline were up 1.4 million barrels
    Supplies of heating oil supplies were down 500,000 barrels.
    Supplies of natural gas were up 1 billion cubic feet to 2.641 trillion cubic feet.

  • An index of services in Australia dropped from 56.5 to 51.6 in December

  • An index of services in the U.K. increased from 55.8 to 57.9 in December.,

  • An index of services in the Euro zone increased from 55.2 to 56.8

  • An index of consumer sentiment in the Euro zone improved from -13 to -11.

  • Seasonally adjusted retail sales in Germany were down 1% in November and down 0.6% YoY.

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