Horror stories told by central bankers will not end in an interest rate shock
by Guardian Staff from on (#2VFFS)
Traders got into a panic about impending rate increases last week, but they have taken fright too soon
Wherever investors looked last week, the picture was rosy. The eurozone, for so long the laggard in the global growth league, could be seen zipping along following first-quarter GDP growth that hit 0.6%.
German business confidence hit a record high, and France and Italy finally joined the party with higher than expected output. In the US, official estimates upgraded growth for the first quarter to an annualised 1.4% from an initial estimate of 0.7%. Even Japan, the standard-bearer for more than 20 years of economic stagnation, is due to exceed expectations this year as exports soar.
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