Summary for the 27th of February 2019


The British Prime Minister, Theresa May, said at the British Parliament yesterday that she would put forward the Brexit agreement, including any changes she has agreed with the EU, to a vote by 12th of March. If the changes got voted down, she would then forward suggestion for a hard Brexit (no deal), if this also got voted down, she would forward a postpone of the deadline for the UK to leave the EU. To postpone the deadline of leaving the EU would need the approval of all the EU countries.

The FHFA released yesterday the statistics for the US house prices. House prices rose by 5.7% from the fourth quarter of 2017 to the fourth quarter of 2018, the rising price rate has thus slowed down through 2018. The growth rate peaked in February 2018, when the price rose by 7.7%.
The US S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index shows a slowed down in price growth for the major Metropolitan Area, the growth was positive from November to December 2018.

United States Housing Starts fell sharply in December, down by -11.2%, though, The Building Permit is still rising in November and December. The expected housing market conditions for the next six month has declined, according to the NAHB statistics.

The US consumer confidence has increased in February, after several month of decline. The index rose by 9.7% to 131.7, the market was expecting 124.9. Consumers' assessment of current economic conditions rose by 3.3%, while the assessment for the next 6 months rose by 14 points. The rise might be due to the positive movements in the stock markets and the development of the risk for the government shutdown in December and January. The Fed’s signals about less contractionary monetary policy also helped in boosting the confidence.

The Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, said at the Senate Banking Committee yesterday that the Fed would be patience about rate hike. He still sees a solid economic growth, but mentioned the rise in downside risks and weak economic indicators.

Indices on the 27th of February:
Dow: -0.1% (26th of February )
S&P 500: -0.1% (26th of February)
Nasdaq: -0.1% (26th of February)
Nikkei: +0.5%  (27th of February)
Chinese indices: +0.8% (27th of February)
STOXX Europe 600 Index: -0.28% (27th of February)
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