Thursday, February 18, 2010

Quick Overview

  • (Bloomberg) The Federal Reserve Board raised the discount rate charged to banks for direct loans by a quarter point to 0.75 percent and said the move will encourage financial institutions to rely more on money markets rather than the central bank for short-term liquidity needs.

  • US states face a funding gap of at least $1,000bn for public sector employees’ retirement benefits, threatening already strained budgets, according to a new study.

  • U.S. jobless claims rose 31,000 to 473,000 -- more than expected.

  • U.S. Producer price index rose 1.4% MoM and 4.6% YoY.

  • The Conference Board's index of leading indicators rose 0.3%.

  • The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's regional index of manufacturing rose from 15.2 to 17.6 in January

  • Japan's composite index rose 1.4 to 97.4

  • The International Monetary Fund said that it will start selling 191.3 tons of gold -- spread out over time.

  • The U.S. DOE said:
    Supplies of crude oil rose 3.1 million barrels to 334.5 million barrels.
    Supplies of gasoline rose 1.7 million barrels
    Supplies of heating oil fell 1.4 million barrels.
    Refinery use rose from 79.1% to 79.8%.
    Gasoline demand fell 1.3% YoY
    Distillate demand fell 7.4% YoY

  • Canada's consumer price rose 1.9%

  • World 2009-10 sugar production is expected to fall 9.4 million metric tons short of demand, the International Sugar Organization said Thursday. The second consecutive world deficit follows a shortfall of 11.7 million tons of sugar in 2008-09

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