98997 For more information, visit http://www.worldbank.org/prospects Taking Stock  The sell-off in Eurozone government bonds continued throughout the week. The yield on German 10-year bunds jumped as much as 21 basis points (bps) to 0.80 percent Thursday morning before easing to 0.6 percent on Friday. Similarly, France’s 10-year bond yields climbed above 1 percent for the first time since early December, while Italy’s 10- year borrowing costs rose to as high as 2.1 percent. The recent volatility in government bond markets has puzzled analysts. Some pointed to the pick-up in inflation in the U.S. and Eurozone, and others suggested that the increased volatility could be due to the fact that yields in European bond markets were reaching unsustainably low levels.  U.S. unemployment rate went down to its lowest level since May 2008, while the trade deficit climbed to its highest level in 6 years. U.S. non-farm payroll employment increased by 223,000 jobs in April, following the downwardly revised 85,000 jobs gained in March. The unemployment rate eased from 5.5 percent in March to 5.4 percent in April, the lowest since May 2008. The trade deficit soared more-than-expected in March, to its highest level since October 2008, partly due to the appreciation of the U.S. dollar (Figure 1). Imports surged 7.7 percent (m/m), while exports rose 0.9 percent.  Eurozone retail sales fell for the first time in 6 months. Eurozone retail sales declined more-than-expected in March, as sales of both food and non-food products decreased. The fall in retail sales, the first since September 2014, reversed a modest rise in February.  Brazil’s Composite Output Index continued to fall in April. The HSBC Brazil Composite Output Index tumbled to 44.2 in April from 47.0 in March (Figure 2). A reading below 50 suggests contraction in the private sector. The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the services sector plunged to a 72-month low of 44.6 in April from 47.9 in March, while the manufacturing PMI fell to 46.0 from 46.2, both on weaker new orders.  Kenya’s PMI jumped in April. The Cfc Stanbic Kenya PMI rose from 53.8 in March to 56.2 in April, the highest since December, indicating a robust improvement in operating conditions among private sector companies. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector. Higher output, new orders, and employment underpinned the increase in the PMI, with new export orders showing the sharpest rise since January 2014. Meanwhile, Kenya's central bank (CBK) held its benchmark lending rate at 8.5 percent. FIGURE 1 U.S. trade defcit in March was the largest since FIGURE 2 Brazil’s Composite Index continued to fall in April October 2008 Billion US$ Diffusion index, >50=expansion -5 53 52 -15 51 -25 50 49 -35 48 -45 47 Composite Manufacturing -55 46 Services 45 -65 44 Jan-14 Jun-14 Jan-15 Oct-08 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jul-14 Dec-14 Feb-14 Oct-14 Aug-14 Sep-14 Nov-14 Feb-15 Mar-15 Jan-14 Jul-14 Oct-14 Apr-14 Jan-15 Apr-15 Source: Haver Analytics. Source: Haver Analytics. Produced by DECPG (Derek Chen, Gerard Kambou, Xinghao Gong). Number 262 | May 8, 2015 Weekly Insight: Impact of Lower Oil Prices on Poverty Despite the recent uptick, oil prices remain about 45 percent lower than their levels in June 2014. While the direct impact of oil prices on poverty are likely to be limited, the indirect effects may be substantial and largely beneficial.  The indirect effects of lower oil prices on the poor would work through income growth and falling food prices. More than 70 percent of the world’s poor live in oil-importing countries, where low oil prices (to the extent that they are transmitted into local fuel prices) will support growth in real incomes. This will benefit the poor as well as the more prosperous. The poor could gain further if falling oil prices allowed expenditures or subsidies to be reallocated to better- targeted pro-poor programs. However, in oil-exporting countries, easing growth and, in some cases, tightening fiscal policy would weaken prospects for the poor.  Movements in oil prices also pass through to other commodity prices, in particular, food prices. Since food production tends to be energy intensive, falling oil prices would likely be accompanied by declining agricultural prices (Figure 3). Based on historical elasticities, a 45 percent decline in oil prices (broadly in line with World Bank forecast) could be expected to reduce agricultural commodity prices by about 10 percent (Figure 4). Changes in global food commodity prices will also be reflected in most countries’ domestic food prices – even if only with a lag, and muted by transport cost and local supply and demand conditions. For example, in the second half of 2010, global wheat prices spiked by 68 percent; over the subsequent 6 months, this was followed by a 16-45 percent increase in domestic wheat prices in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Tajikistan. During the same period, a 21 percent rise in global rice prices was followed by a broadly similar rise in domestic rice prices in these countries.  Lower food prices may benefit the majority of the poor but harm the very poorest, despite an adjustment in household behavior. Many poor households are net food buyers – and would thus benefit from lower food prices. In low-income countries, however, about half of the poor households are only marginal net food buyers and the poorest households tend to be net food sellers. Hence, while the bulk of the poor may benefit from low food prices, the poorest may see net real income losses. However, poor households will likely mitigate some of the impact of falling food prices by adjusting the hours worked or the number of household members working in employment outside the family farm. FIGURE 3 Energy intensity of agriculture and manufacture FIGURE 4 Effect of a 45 percent decline in oil prices on the prices of other commodities Share of energy component in 2007, percent Percent World Precious Raw Manufacture Fertilizers metals Food Metals materials High-income Agriculture 0 Developing SSA -1 US -2 Canada -3 EU-12 -4 China -5 Brazil -6 India -7 Turkey -8 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 -9 Source: Baffes (Global Food Security, 2013). Source: Baffes (Resources Policy, 2007). Produced by DECPG (Franziska Ohnsorge, Gerard Kambou and Xinghao Gong). Number 262 | May 8, 2015 Major Data Releases Fri, 1 May - Thu, 7 May 2015 Upcoming releases: Fri, 8 May - Thu, 15 May 2015 Country Date Indicator Period Actual Forecast Previous Country Date Indicator Period Previous United States 5/1/2015 PMI Manufacturing APR 51.5 51.61 51.5 Turkey 5/8/2015 Industrial Production (Y/Y) MAR 1.0% China 5/3/2015 PMI Manufacturing APR 50.1 50.1 49.6 United States 5/8/2015 Participation Rate APR 62.7% Turkey 5/4/2015 PPI (Y/Y) APR 4.8% 4.5% 3.4% Malaysia 5/11/2015 Industrial Production (Y/Y) MAR 5.2% South Africa 5/5/2015 Unemployment Rate Q1 24.3% 24.3% 24.3% Germany 5/13/2015 GDP (Y/Y) Q1 1.4% Brazil 5/5/2015 PPI (Y/Y) MAR 1.0% 1.5% 2.8% Eurozone 5/13/2015 GDP (Y/Y) Q1 0.9% Malaysia 5/7/2015 Interest Rate Decision APR 3.3% 3.3% 3.3% France 5/13/2015 GDP (Y/Y) Q1 0.1% Economic Developments indicators expressed as %ch y/y, except Industrial Production quarterly figures are %ch q/q, annualized 2014 2014 2015 2010 2011 2012 2013 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Industrial Production, S.A. World 8.8 4.7 3.1 2.5 3.7 2.3 2.5 3.9 3.7 3.6 3.5 3.5 3.4 2.7 3.4 3.1 2.9 3.3 2.6 2.46 - High Income Countries 7.7 2.9 1.1 0.6 3.0 0.3 0.5 3.1 3.0 2.8 2.2 2.3 2.4 1.3 1.7 1.8 1.4 1.9 1.6 1.3 - Developing Countries 10.9 7.8 6.3 5.5 4.8 5.4 5.4 5.0 4.9 4.8 5.5 5.4 5.0 4.8 6.0 5.1 5.1 5.3 4.1 4.22 - East Asia and Pacific 14.2 11.3 9.0 8.9 4.8 8.0 6.7 8.6 7.5 7.9 8.2 8.6 7.8 6.6 7.6 7.1 6.6 7.3 6.5 6.26 4.8 East Asia x. China 8.9 0.7 4.1 4.7 -0.7 7.8 4.2 5.2 0.8 2.5 4.0 4.7 1.1 4.6 5.7 4.4 3.5 4.4 4.5 3.23 - Europe and Central Asia 10.9 13.1 8.9 2.2 5.3 2.0 1.5 -0.9 4.2 4.2 6.6 3.6 4.0 2.4 2.8 2.5 2.1 1.3 -0.1 1.87 - Latin America and Caribbean 5.9 2.5 -0.1 0.9 1.2 -2.9 -0.1 -2.6 1.5 -2.3 -1.2 -2.8 -1.6 -1.0 -1.4 -0.8 -1.5 -1.0 -2.4 -2.6 - Middle East and N. Africa 2.0 -8.5 5.6 -6.7 17.0 2.8 25.2 -2.0 -8.9 -9.1 -7.4 -4.7 -1.7 9.7 17.2 10.8 12.7 7.3 -0.4 -0.41 5.36 South Asia 9.3 5.5 1.1 1.7 7.1 5.8 2.1 -3.0 0.1 4.2 5.3 4.5 1.9 2.6 4.0 -0.9 5.9 3.7 3.4 5.31 - Sub-Saharan Africa 4.7 3.4 3.2 1.0 -2.8 -0.9 -5.1 10.9 -0.1 0.2 -1.6 0.6 -7.4 -0.6 6.4 1.6 -0.9 0.4 -1.4 -0.2 - Inflation, S.A. 1 High Income Countries 1.7 2.8 2.0 1.5 1.4 2.0 1.8 1.5 1.5 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.5 1.2 0.9 1.0 1.1 Developing Countries 5.8 7.5 6.5 7.4 7.4 7.7 7.9 7.9 7.5 7.5 7.9 7.7 7.9 8.0 7.8 7.7 7.7 8.2 7.7 7.9 7.8 East Asia and Pacific 3.4 5.6 2.8 3.0 2.9 2.9 2.5 2.2 2.9 2.5 3.1 3.0 2.8 2.5 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.3 1.5 2.0 2.0 Europe and Central Asia 7.3 8.2 8.7 6.2 5.8 7.4 7.9 8.1 6.1 7.0 7.6 7.5 7.7 8.0 8.0 8.2 8.4 7.8 7.6 8.3 9.1 Latin America and Caribbean 6.4 7.5 6.7 9.8 12.5 13.9 15.5 16.9 12.9 13.6 13.9 14.2 14.9 15.5 16.0 16.3 16.6 17.6 17.2 17.0 16.5 Middle East and N. Africa 7.0 12.0 13.8 19.2 13.2 9.7 10.1 10.8 11.3 10.1 9.9 9.2 9.9 10.2 10.1 10.6 10.6 11.3 10.4 10.9 11.1 South Asia 10.3 9.8 9.4 10.1 8.1 7.8 6.7 4.2 8.1 8.4 8.1 6.8 7.3 6.9 5.8 4.8 3.5 4.4 5.1 5.1 4.9 Sub-Saharan Africa 7.5 10.1 11.1 8.1 8.6 9.2 9.8 8.4 8.5 8.7 9.2 9.7 9.9 10.1 9.3 8.4 8.4 8.6 7.6 7.6 7.6 1 Inflation is calculated as the GDP-weighted average for all groups. Trade and Finance indicators expressed as %ch y/y, except International Reserves are %ch p/p and trade quarterly figures are %ch q/q, annualized 2014 2015 2010 2011 2012 2013 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Exports, Nominal, US$, S.A. World 21.9 19.2 0.2 2.1 -2.4 4.8 2.3 -14.8 3.0 3.0 4.3 3.7 6.1 1.1 2.9 -1.1 -4.2 -3.3 -10.0 -5.5 - High Income Countries 19.4 18.6 -1.1 1.3 0.7 2.9 -1.8 -18.0 5.3 3.8 4.3 2.9 5.5 -0.1 1.2 -2.7 -5.7 -4.9 -11.5 -12.0 - Developing Countries 28.3 20.7 3.3 3.8 -9.2 9.3 12.1 -7.5 -2.2 1.0 4.1 5.5 7.5 4.0 6.7 2.6 -0.8 0.3 -6.6 10.3 -16.5 East Asia and Pacific 30.8 19.7 6.3 6.4 -12.2 13.5 22.1 3.2 -3.7 2.0 5.1 7.6 11.2 8.1 12.7 8.3 3.5 5.8 -3.3 29.6 -14.5 Europe and Central Asia 15.5 20.3 -0.1 -0.3 7.6 -4.3 -6.4 -29.0 8.9 3.2 6.7 5.4 6.0 -3.8 -1.0 -6.1 -9.3 -11.7 -13.0 -15.8 - Latin America and Caribbean 28.4 23.3 1.7 0.6 -10.2 8.2 3.4 -25.0 -3.1 -0.7 1.0 1.5 5.4 -0.8 -0.4 -4.5 -9.1 -6.9 -8.8 -13.5 -4.3 Middle East and N. Africa 24.3 15.1 2.1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - South Asia 34.3 31.6 -1.8 6.2 -8.0 5.0 7.4 -3.1 1.7 4.5 10.1 8.2 0.5 1.1 -0.9 -5.7 8.2 -1.9 -9.4 -13.3 -18.8 Sub-Saharan Africa 32.7 19.1 -2.9 0.2 -7.1 2.0 -18.2 -28.2 -7.9 -10.3 -8.2 -4.1 -9.2 -7.7 -7.5 -9.4 -16.7 -14.8 - - - Imports, Nominal, US$, S.A. World 21.1 19.7 0.6 1.3 3.7 -1.7 1.7 -16.9 3.7 1.8 1.8 5.5 3.2 0.3 3.6 -2.2 -4.5 -4.2 -14.4 -14.4 - High Income Countries 17.9 17.8 -1.0 0.3 4.5 1.0 -2.5 -19.8 7.6 4.4 4.2 6.4 5.5 0.3 2.0 -3.5 -5.7 -4.9 -14.1 -14.4 - Developing Countries 29.7 24.5 4.6 3.5 1.9 -7.8 12.5 -9.9 -4.7 -3.8 -3.6 3.2 -2.0 0.3 7.4 0.8 -1.7 -2.7 -15.2 -14.7 -8.9 East Asia and Pacific 37.3 24.2 5.7 6.1 2.0 -12.9 13.9 -8.4 -10.2 -1.9 -3.7 3.7 -2.5 -0.8 7.1 2.9 -5.1 -3.3 -17.6 -17.4 -9.8 Europe and Central Asia 20.6 27.1 -0.2 2.9 -11.3 -6.7 -5.9 -8.9 -0.4 -6.0 -2.3 0.1 -7.2 -4.2 -4.5 -7.5 -8.1 -9.2 -16.7 -15.2 - Latin America and Caribbean 29.0 22.5 3.8 2.9 3.9 -3.4 6.0 -7.5 2.7 -4.7 -2.4 2.6 -0.8 -1.9 7.4 -4.4 0.1 3.3 -8.5 -8.6 0.0 Middle East and N. Africa 15.0 18.0 9.8 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - South Asia 33.9 31.4 4.0 -4.0 10.8 8.9 35.5 -15.0 1.4 -9.4 -10.0 8.8 4.2 7.0 23.7 7.1 21.4 -2.5 -12.2 -12.5 -11.0 Sub-Saharan Africa 13.3 24.3 3.5 2.4 -4.7 12.5 4.4 - 3.5 0.1 6.1 2.6 1.1 2.7 2.9 6.5 - - - - - International Reserves, US$ High Income Countries 10.2 11.3 9.2 3.6 0.8 0.7 -1.8 -1.4 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.5 -0.4 0.0 -1.3 -0.6 0.0 -0.9 0.2 -0.1 -0.6 Developing Countries 15.6 10.5 5.2 8.2 1.8 1.5 -1.9 -1.7 0.7 1.0 0.1 0.4 -0.2 -0.1 -1.7 -0.7 -0.3 -0.7 -0.7 -0.2 -1.6 East Asia and Pacific 19.3 11.9 4.5 12.2 3.0 1.2 -2.5 -1.4 0.8 0.9 0.1 0.3 -0.5 0.1 -2.1 -0.8 -0.3 -0.4 -0.8 -0.2 -1.9 Europe and Central Asia 9.3 5.5 7.8 3.6 -2.9 3.4 -1.7 -7.2 0.6 1.6 0.7 1.0 -1.1 1.1 -1.7 -2.0 -1.1 -4.2 -0.9 -3.2 -2.0 Latin America and Caribbean 16.2 16.3 8.4 -1.1 0.2 3.4 1.2 -1.2 0.1 1.5 0.6 1.2 1.1 0.0 0.1 -0.1 0.7 -1.8 0.4 -0.3 -0.4 Middle East and N. Africa 6.1 3.0 5.9 3.0 -1.9 -2.2 -3.8 -3.2 -0.8 -0.8 -0.9 -0.6 -0.4 -1.1 -2.3 -0.2 -1.0 -2.1 -3.7 -- South Asia 6.1 -0.9 0.4 -0.2 3.8 5.6 -0.6 2.1 3.3 2.9 1.1 1.5 1.3 -0.4 -1.4 0.5 -0.3 1.9 1.8 3.3 1.0 Produced by DECPG (Trang Nguyen, Gerard Kambou and Xinghao Gong). Number 262 | May 8, 2015 Financial Markets 1 2013 2014 2014 2015 MRV Chg since 2010 2011 2012 2013 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr Sep-12 '08 3 Interest rates and LIBOR (%) U.S. Fed Funds Effective 0.18 0.10 0.14 0.11 0.09 0.07 0.09 0.09 0.10 0.10 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.12 0.12 0.11 0.11 0.12 0.13 -1.97 ECB repo 1.00 1.25 0.88 0.55 0.35 0.25 0.22 0.12 0.05 0.16 0.15 0.15 0.06 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.00 0.05 -4.20 US$ LIBOR 3-months 0.34 0.34 0.43 0.27 0.24 0.24 0.23 0.23 0.24 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.25 0.25 0.26 0.27 0.28 0.28 -2.54 EURIBOR 3-months 0.75 1.34 0.49 0.15 0.20 0.27 0.27 0.13 0.00 0.21 0.17 0.16 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.06 -4.89 US 10-yr Treasury yield 3.20 2.77 1.79 2.33 2.73 2.75 2.61 2.49 2.27 2.59 2.53 2.41 2.52 2.29 2.32 2.20 1.88 1.98 2.04 1.92 2.22 -1.50 German Bund, 10 yr 2.78 2.65 1.57 1.63 1.79 1.68 1.43 1.07 0.77 1.35 1.19 1.01 1.00 0.87 0.79 0.64 0.45 0.35 0.26 0.16 0.65 -3.54 Spreads (basis points) JP Morgan Emerging Markets 301 341 342 319 342 352 300 301 367 282 282 310 312 349 350 402 443 420 411 388 363 6 Asia 206 218 216 219 237 231 197 195 202 189 195 202 187 207 193 206 233 215 208 206 190 -106 Europe 247 301 320 267 290 301 265 262 319 236 244 274 270 295 293 368 417 396 384 350 331 18 Latin America & Caribbean 360 404 393 379 409 429 360 366 471 343 336 373 390 443 455 516 560 531 521 488 458 70 Middle East 342 366 449 435 428 408 376 369 398 360 372 379 358 395 388 411 452 452 443 441 406 -92 Africa 274 364 337 322 338 332 287 280 319 278 278 292 270 307 306 343 385 364 371 361 338 338 Stock Indices (end of period) 2 Global (MSCI) 331 300 340 409 409 411 429 417 417 429 423 432 417 419 426 417 410 432 425 436 435 35.9 High-Income ($ Index) 1280 1183 1339 1661 1661 1674 1743 1698 1710 1743 1714 1749 1698 1708 1740 1710 1678 1773 1741 1778 1773 38.2 United States (S&P-500) 1258 1258 1426 1848 1848 1872 1960 1972 2059 1960 1931 2003 1972 2018 2068 2059 1995 2105 2068 2086 2080 66.2 Euro Area (S&P-350$) 1124 1005 1143 1339 1339 1361 1401 1411 1401 1401 1380 1404 1411 1382 1425 1401 1502 1603 1624 1618 1589 37.5 Japan (Nikkei-225) 10229 8455 10395 16291 16291 14828 15162 16174 0 15162 15621 15425 16174 16414 17460 0 17674 18798 19207 19520 19292 57.9 Developing Markets (MSCI) 1151 916 1055 1003 1003 995 1051 1005 956 1051 1066 1088 1005 1016 1005 956 962 990 975 1048 1040 21.6 EM Asia 468 379 447 446 446 444 472 460 457 472 485 489 460 467 467 457 468 479 481 514 507 54.9 EM Europe 529 395 473 438 438 409 435 374 297 435 403 399 374 369 353 297 286 313 302 338 344 -32.3 EM Europe & Middle East 450 336 402 372 372 348 360 321 257 360 340 337 321 314 303 257 247 269 258 286 291 -28.9 EM Latin America & Caribbean 4614 3602 3798 3201 3201 3194 3370 3171 2728 3370 3399 3664 3171 3158 3008 2728 2555 2654 2451 2693 2717 -23.2 Exchange Rates (LCU / USD) High Income Euro Area 0.76 0.72 0.78 0.75 0.73 0.73 0.73 0.76 0.80 0.74 0.74 0.75 0.78 0.79 0.80 0.81 0.86 0.88 0.92 0.92 0.89 26.1 Japan 87.76 79.74 79.85 97.61 100.51 102.78 102.14 104.04 114.62 102.07 101.75 102.98 107.39 108.02 116.40 119.44 118.33 118.78 120.37 119.53 119.32 10.5 Developing Brazil 1.76 1.67 1.95 2.16 2.28 2.36 2.23 2.28 2.55 2.23 2.22 2.27 2.34 2.45 2.55 2.65 2.64 2.82 3.15 3.04 3.04 70.7 China 6.77 6.46 6.31 6.15 6.09 6.10 6.23 6.16 6.15 6.23 6.20 6.15 6.14 6.13 6.13 6.19 6.22 6.25 6.24 6.20 6.21 -9.3 Egypt 5.63 5.94 6.07 6.87 6.89 6.96 7.07 7.15 7.15 7.15 7.15 7.15 7.15 7.15 7.15 7.15 7.27 7.59 7.60 7.60 7.58 39.8 India 45.73 46.67 53.41 58.55 62.00 61.75 59.82 60.59 61.96 59.76 60.06 60.83 60.87 61.40 61.70 62.77 62.20 62.06 62.48 62.69 64.24 40.5 Russia 30.37 29.41 31.06 31.86 32.56 35.07 34.96 36.31 47.98 34.37 34.75 36.17 38.01 40.96 46.30 56.67 64.33 64.16 60.13 52.82 50.44 97.6 South Africa 7.32 7.26 8.21 9.65 10.16 10.86 10.54 10.77 11.22 10.68 10.66 10.66 10.99 11.06 11.09 11.51 11.56 11.58 12.08 11.99 12.01 50.3 Memo: USA nominal effective rate 100.19 98.53 102.00 104.76 106.30 108.31 108.66 110.57 114.05 109.31 109.43 110.61 111.67 112.66 113.83 115.67 117.82 119.65 121.74 121.37 120.41 25.7 1 MRV = Most Recent Value. 2 MSCI Indices for Asia, Africa, and Europe and C. Asia, for 2008 are calculated from February-December, due to data availability. 3 Change expressed in levels for interest rates and spreads; percent change for stock market and exchange rates. Commodity Prices 2013 2014 2014 MRV Chg since 2010 2011 2012 2013 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr Sep-12 '08 3 1 Oil price, $/b, nominal 79 104 105 104 105 104 106 100 75 108 105 100 96 86 77 61 48 55 53 53 53 -45.8 2 Non - Oil Index .. 97 85 79 75 76 77 73 70 76 75 74 71 70 71 69 66 65 63 63 63 .. 2 Food Index .. 99 97 89 85 86 89 75 74 86 79 76 72 72 75 75 73 72 70 69 69 .. 3 Metals and Minerals Index 103 117 99 94 92 88 87 89 83 87 90 90 87 84 84 80 75 74 73 72 74 -28.7 Baltic Dry Index 4 2755 1545 916 1215 1876 1375 983 948 1103 912 796 948 1101 1096 1332 881 727 539 576 596 596 -87.6 1 Simple average of Brent, Dubai and WTI. 2 Base Date = Jan 3, 2011 due to data availability. The Index component combination in the Weekly tables differs from that of the Pink Sheet. 3 Base Date = Jan 4, 2010 due to data availability. The Index component combination in the Weekly tables differs from that of the Pink Sheet. 4 Base Date = May 1, 1985 Produced by DECPG (Trang Nguyen, Gerard Kambou and Xinghao Gong). Number 262 | May 8, 2015