74877

                      DECPG Daily
        Economics and Financial Market Commentary
                    January 17, 2013
           Allen Dennis (84812), Eung Ju Kim (85804), Sanket Mohapatra (37721),
                            Ekaterine T. Vashakmadze (36773)
  You’ll find recent issues of this Daily and lots of other current analysis and h igh-frequency data at our
                                    website: http://www.worldbank.org/gem

Financial Markets… U.S. and European stocks rose today, amid better- than-forecast
initial unemployment claims and housing data in the US and increased revenues for
European retailers. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 1,478.14 at 10:43 a.m. EST. The Dow
Jones Industrial Average added 58.25 points, or 0.4%, to 13,569.48. The Stoxx Europe
600 Index (SXXP) rose 0.4% to 287.04 at 3:49 p.m. in London, the biggest increase
since Jan. 9.
The euro approached a 10-month high against the dollar, appreciating 0.5% to $1.3358
at 10:57 a.m. New York time after climbing earlier as much as 0.7%, and rose 1.6%
against the yen to 119.37 yen, as Spain’s borrowing costs fell at a 4.5 billion -euro ($6
billion) sale of bonds. The UK pound sterling depreciated 0.7% to a nine-month low of
83.62 pence per euro at 4:06 p.m. London time, after reaching 83.65 pence, the
weakest since March 29.
High-income Economies…US initial unemployment claims fell by 37,000 to a five-year
low of 335,000 in the week ended January 12. The four-week moving average of claims,
a better measure of trends, dropped to 359,250 from 366,000, suggesting that the pace
of firings by firms is subsiding. US new housing construction accelerated 12.1% (m/m)
in December to a 954,000 unit annual rate, the highest since June 2008.
The Netherlands’ unemployment rate rose to 7.2% in December from 7% the previous
month. The unemployment rate has been rising almost continuously since June 2011
when it stood at 5%.
Ireland’s consumer price inflation rose to 1.2% (y/y) in December from 0.8% in
November, rising by 0.1% (m/m) according to the central statistical office. On an EU
adjusted (HICP) basis, inflation edged up to 1.7% (y/y) in December from 1.6% in
November, with prices unchanged from the previous month.
Hong Kong’s unemployment rate edged down to 3.3% in the three month period ending
in December from 3.4% in the September-November period, as business activity during
the year-end holiday season helped to support the labor market.
Developing Economies…Brazil's central bank held its benchmark Selic rate steady at
7.25%. Brazil's headline inflation rate rose to 5.84% in December, remaining above the
midpoint of the central bank’s target range (4.5%, +/- 2 percentage points).
Serbia's central bank raised its benchmark policy rate by 25 basis points to 11.50%, its
seventh rate increase since mid-2012, in its effort to contain pressures on inflation and
foreign exchange reserves. The headline inflation increased to 12.2% (y/y) in
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December, remaining above the central bank’s targeted range of 4.0%, +/ - 1.5
percentage points, and core inflation was at 8.2%.
Sri Lanka's central bank held its benchmark repurchase rate steady at 7.50%. Sri
Lanka's inflation rate eased to 9.2% (y/y) in December from 9.5% in November. The
rupee has been appreciating against the US dollar on the back of growing foreign
exchange inflows.
World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects, January 2013: Video clips




http://go.worldbank.org/RWLJPPA0D0
http://go.worldbank.org/RWLJPPA0D0
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/world-bank-sees-ongoing-economic-weakness-in-2013-




~_In2m09Sc20sZ3QIAacmA.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/world-bank-sees-ongoing-economic-weakness-in-
2013-~_In2m09Sc20sZ3QIAacmA.html

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