Basis Points The New York Fed's Empire State business conditions index, a gauge of manufacturing activity, plunged 29.2 points this month to negative 43.7, the second lowest reading ever. The biggest drop took place in the depths of the pandemic in May 2020. (MarketWatch) Germany's economic outlook brightened unexpectedly in January, as expectations of lower interest rates in 2024 helped boost sentiment. The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment over the next six months ticked up 2.4 points from December to 15.2 this month, better than expectations of a decline to 12.0 in a consensus of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. (Dow Jones Newswires) Company insolvencies in England and Wales rose on year in December and surged in 2023 as a whole, according to new government figures. The number of companies that went bust r ose 2% on year to 2,002 in December, bringing the total for 2023 to 25,159, up 14% on year, the government's Insolvency Service said. December's figure was an improvement on November's 2,470. (DJN) Consumer prices in Canada rebounded in the final month of last year, as the country's consumer-price index fell 0.3% in December from the previous month and increased 3.4% from a year earlier , the government statistics agency said Tuesday. That compares with November's 0.1% monthly gain and represents a quickening after annual inflation held steady at 3.1% that month. (DJN) Canadian housing starts rebounded in December after a surprise decline in the prior month, but ended the year down from 2022 at a time when the deficit of housing units is at or near a record high. Housing starts came in at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 249,255 units in December, an 18% increase from the month before, and for 2023 actual housing starts fell 7% to 223,513 units from the prior year, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Tuesday. (DJN) U.K. inflation rose unexpectedly in December, driven by new taxes on tobacco products, potentially pushing out calls for interest-rate cuts at the Bank of England. The consumer price index jumped 4.0% on year in the final month of 2023, from a 3.9% increase in November, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected inflation to ease to 3.8%. (DJN) Singapore's non-oil domestic exports dropped unexpectedly in December as a decline in shipments of electronics outweighed growth in non-electronics. Non-oil domestic exports fell 1.5% in December from a year earlier, Enterprise Singapore said Wednesday, which follows a 1.0% expansion in November. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had projected a 4.2% increase. (DJN) Feedback Loop
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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-17-24 0716ET
