Economic News

PARIS (AFX) - The ruling centre-right UMP party's candidate, interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy, would win a second-round contest for April's presidential election, with 55 pct of the vote, compared with 45 pct for centre-left PS candidate Segolene Royal, according to a CSA poll. A CSA survey a week ago had put Sarkozy ahead in the second round with 54 pct and 22 consecutive surveys have now indic ...

BENICASSIM, Spain (AFX) - European Central Bank board member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo said the ECB is concerned over the continued strong growth rates of money and credit in the euro zone. "Signals from the monetary pillar haven't been reassuring. It's a cause for concern," he said in a speech. M3 money supply growth accelerated to 9.7 pct year-on-year in December. "It's the f ...

NEW YORK (AP) - The chairman is coming to BookExpo America. Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reverse Board chairman and author of a widely anticipated memoir, will be the keynote speaker June 1 at the publishing industry's annual national convention, to be held in New York from June 1-3. "We are enormously honored that Dr. Greenspan has agreed to appear at BEA," Lance Fensterman, BookExp ...

LONDON (AFX) - The dollar remained weaker going into the weekend after US economic data for wholesale prices, the housing market and consumer confidence came in on the soft side. The US PPI fell 0.6 pct in January, the largest monthly fall since October, while housing starts slumped 14.3 pct from December to January. The University of Michigan consumer sentiment indicator for February also fell,  ...

The number of new homes built in the US fell to a near-decade low in January, a further sign that the housing slowdown is accelerating, official figures show. The Commerce Department said new home construction dropped 14.3% last month, a figure far greater than forecast. The Federal Reserve recently warned of the potential impact of the housing slowdown on the wider economy. Separate data on Friday showed wholesale prices down to their lowest in three months. Drag on growth Figures released ...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Wholesale prices fell in January by the largest amount in three months amid retreating energy prices while new home construction plunged to the lowest level in nearly 10 years. The Labor Department reported Friday that wholesale inflation declined 0.6 percent last month, the largest drop since a 1.8 percent fall in October. The improvement came from a 4.6 percent drop in energy ...

The European Commission has raised its forecast for economic growth in the eurozone this year and cut its prediction for inflation. It raised its prediction for growth in 2007 to 2.4% from 2.1%, although this is still down from 2.7% in 2006. The inflation forecast has been lowered from 2.1% to 1.8%, compared with last year's figure of 2.2%. The Commission attributed the fall in inflation to productivity, competition and the stronger euro. European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner J ...

LONDON (AFX) - Gold edged lower as the past week's gains of more than 2 pct were seen as slightly overdone, even though most players believe the metal's uptrend is still firmly in place. At 10.56 am, spot gold was quoted at 665.43 usd an ounce, down from 667.30 usd seen yesterday in late New York trades yesterday. On Wednesday, the metal touched a seven-month high of 671.70 usd. "Friday vol ...

(Adds more detail on growth) BRUSSELS (AFX) - The European Commission raised its euro zone growth forecast for 2007 to 2.4 pct from its previous estimate of 2.1 pct published in November. This compares with record growth of 2.7 pct in 2006. In its second set of interim forecasts for the euro zone, based on figures from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, the commission also lower ...

BRUSSELS (AFX) - The European Commission raised its euro zone growth forecast for 2007 to 2.4 pct from its previous estimate of 2.1 pct published in November. This compares with record growth of 2.7 pct in 2006. In its second set of interim forecasts for the euro zone, based on figures from France, Germany, Italy and Spain, the commission also lowered its 2007 inflation forecast to 1.8 pct from  ...