FXIS Market Insights

Noteworthy... 
• US retail and food services sales in May 2010 decreased 1.2% to $362.5 billion from April (ESA)
• The ECB raised its GDP growth forecast for 2010 but lowered its prediction for 2011 (WSJ)
• Chinese exports surged 48.5% in May from a year earlier, while imports rose 48.3% (Reuters)
• Brazil's central bank raised its benchmark interest rates to 10.25% from 9.50% (FT)
• The Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised rates 0.25% to 2.75% (WSJ)
• The Australian jobless rate fell to 5.2% in May from 5.4% in April (Reuters)
• Bank of England kept its key lending rate at a record low 0.5% (Reuters)
• US trade deficit widened to $40.3 billion in April, up by 0.6 percent from March (ESA)
• The European Central Bank left its key interest rate unchanged at 1% (AP)
• Bernanke points to modest US recovery, federal budget deficit is on an “unsustainable” path (FT)
• Gold reached a new high Tuesday, with Spot Gold as high as $1,252.10 (Reuters)
• Brazil's GDP expanded 9% from a year earlier and 2.7% from the previous quarter (Bloomberg)
• Emirates places record $11bn order for 32 Airbus A380 superjumbo jets (Telegraph-UK)
• Global economy spends over $550bn in energy subsidies each year, 75% more than expected (IEA)

Weekly Market Barometers

Chart Of The Week  
Just in time for the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa, Paul Hickey and Justin Walters from the Bespoke Investment Group came up with a neat table. They reviewed the historical performance of the markets during and immediately after past World Cups.  You can't really expect anything conclusive from this, but as an admirer of the "beautiful game" it's one of those trivia that might stick.

Source: http://www.bespokeinvest.com/

Have a great week-end and enjoy the beautiful game!

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