Economy in Brief

• Trade deficit in goods narrows to $70.64 billion. • Exports surge 13.9% while imports rise 4.8%. • Strength in exports is broad-based. The advance U.S. trade report showed the goods trade deficit narrowed to $70.64 billion in June [...]

• Mortgage applications decreased 0.8% in week ending July 24. • Purchase applications off 5.9% from early June, refinance applications down 38.4% from early March. • 15-year fixed rate mortgage increase to 2.85%, near record low of [...]

• Worries about the future emerge. • Reading of current conditions continues to increase. • All age groups become less confident. Consumer confidence weakened in July, according to the Conference Board. The Index of Consumer [...]

The CBI U.K. retail sales survey moved sharply higher to the still weak reading of +4 in July, rising from the -37 reading logged in June after an abysmal -50 reading in May. At least the CBI survey has climbed back to positive [...]

• Gasoline prices slip. • Crude oil prices rise slightly. • Natural gas prices weaken. Regular gasoline prices eased to $2.18 per gallon (-19.9% y/y) in the week ended July 27 from $2.19 in the previous week. The cost, nevertheless, [...]

• Manufacturing components show improvement. • Expectations are positive. Even though the Dallas Federal Reserve reported in its Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey that the General Business Activity Index remained negative at -3.0% in [...]

The German IFO diffusion index moved up to -7.5 in July from -17.1 in June. The queue standings of the index since 1991 is at its 34.6 percentile; since 2016 it is lower at its 7.3 percentile. On either historic comparison, it is a [...]

• Durable goods orders jumped for the second straight month. • Stronger transportation orders added to the record May increase. • Capital goods bookings firm. The factory sector is on the mend following the coronavirus shutdowns. New [...]