The US housing market was boosted at the end of the year 2015 that marked the best year for existing and fresh home sales since 2007. Nearly 501,000 fresh homes were sold the previous year, an increase of 14.5% from 2014.
Industry
Gold price retreats from 12-week high on US Fed statement
Gold soared to three-month high early this week as investors switched over to safe have following the concerns about the global economy. The US Federal Reserve indicated a challenging global economy and this may not prevent it from raising interest rate. Gold price reached to $1,127.80 on 27 January and this propelled investors to book profits.
Gasoline tumbles to 7-year low at $1.91/gallon
The average gasoline price fell to seven year low and is hovering at $1.91 per gallon in the US. If crude oil price continues to move upwards, then the gas price fall may rebound in the near future. According to AAA, the average may not go above $3 a gallon in 2016. Gasoline price fell 14 cents during the past two weeks.
Apple Rumor : Apple's New Special Edition 4-Inch iPhone To Be Called "iPhone 5se"
Apple is rumored to launch a new hybrid iPhone called iPhone 5se and new Apple Watch models. The rumor mill has churned out the latest on Apple: Apple will be releasing a new special edition phone based on one of its earlier iPhones, which is expected to be smaller and supports Apple Pay and for capturing Live Photos.
After Getting Dragged Down by Chinese Market, U.S. Stocks Bounce Back
U.S. stocks bounced back after being dragged down on Wednesday by volatility in China. Global market followed to regain, while oil price began to stabilize.
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Freeport-McMoRan said that it has planned to trim up to $10 billion debt through earnings from joint venture transactions and asset sales. The mining group also reported a loss of $4.1 billion for the fourth quarter.
Korean automaker KIA will launch its sporty hatchback KIA Rio GT in 2018. The car will compete against Ford Fiesta ST in sportscar segment.
Introduction of risk based regulation centering Basel III accord has pushed up costs of fund. As an aftermath, the January 20 auction of the UK sovereign bonds has witnessed the lowest demand in nearly seven years. Ahead of rising concerns over the increasing challenges in the UK gilt market, many of the world’s biggest banks are shrinking their bond-trading activities. However, concerns of the investors and dealers have been communicated to the regulators concerned through a meeting held on Tuesday.
The policy making committee of the Federal Reserve Bank has announced keeping key interest rates unchanged on Wednesday. The inflation rate exists below predictions and job growth remains satisfactory. But ahead of global economic turmoil and considering strong Dollar outlook, Fed has decided to let the tightened monetary policy to go further. However, it hints for hiking interest rates during its next meeting scheduled to be held in March.
As China crisis deepened, global stock market dropped on Tuesday and London's FTSE 100 experience a big loss of £20 billion ($28.5 billion). The market bounced back yesterday following the gain of Sage and oil price.
European venture capital closed € 3.3 billion ($3.59 billion) funding in the Q4 of 2015, a huge raise from the previous quarter. United Kingdom is still the top spot for venture capital funding and information technology companies are still the favorite sector.
Wynn Palace, an under construction casino, is widely expected to attract Chinese consumers and thus transform Macau to a popular tourist region. The casino project has been expected to be completed by June 25 followed by a revision on deadline. But work progress seems to be slow and the contractor for the $4.1 billion project is probably going the miss the extended time frame further. Steve Wynn, founder of Wynn Macau Ltd. has sent a letter to the construction company cautioning to count compensation up to $200 million if it fails to meet the revised deadline.
Google is always pioneer in offering innovative promotional measures. In a similar, it has reduced Nexus 5X and certain color containing 6P model prices by $50 dollar. Combining this discount offer with previously declared $30 price cut has made the devices cheaper and within the capability of mid income group. However, buyers from Europe seem to be more beneficial since the discount amount remains higher there.
Association of British Insurance (ABI) will lead the newly created Automated Driving Insurance Group. The group is established to discuss issues regarding driverless car.
