Forex Investment and Currency Trading

South Africa Retail sales grew by 2.5% yoy in February from upward revised 0.7% in January. February gains were probably driven by the leap year effect. However, the trend in consumer demand has clearly weakened since early 2007, with the 6-month moving average at a subdued 1.0%. Retail sales will likely remain soft in the [...]

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Inflation in Brazil represents a growing challenge for Banco Central do Brasil (BCB), even though IPCA inflation is closer to its target relative to many Emerging economies where inflation is more dramatically exceeding targets. The market implication is for a 25bp hike in rates at the April 16 meeting and a move lower in USD/BRL [...]

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Brazil: The weekly central bank survey of market expectations showed a few minor changes in inflation expectations with virtually no shift in the view that inflation will likely remain at relatively elevated levels. Expectations for annual IPCA inflation in 12 months (4.29% from 4.25%) and end of 2008 (4.44% from 4.42%) both edged up slightly. IGP-DI [...]

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