The Magazine for Asian Investors
According to the U.S. Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the average mortgage rate for U.S. home loans rose above 6.5% for the first time since August 2008 and more than doubled from a year ago. The average interest rate on 30-year…
The U.S. Commerce Department reports that new home sales rose 28.8% in August to 685,000 units. On a year-over-year basis, new home sales declined 0.1% in August. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department raised the number of new home sales in July…
A survey by the Conference Board showed that the consumer confidence index rose to 108 in September, the highest level since April, from 103.6 in August. The consumer confidence index was supported by strong labor market trends and lower energy…
According to the U.S. Commerce Department, orders for U.S. durable goods such as aircraft, automobiles and heavy machinery that last at least three years fell 0.2% in August, following a 0.1% decline in July. New orders for durable goods were…
S&P Global reported that the U.S. manufacturing and services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 49.3 in September, its highest level in three months, from 44.6 in August. The PMI remains below 50, indicating that the U.S. business sector is…
Initial jobless claims rose 5,000 to 213,000 last week, according to the Labor Department. However, it was below analysts’ estimates of 218,000. Jobless claims are below 215,000, the weekly average for the pre-COVID-19 pandemic period in the United States. Meanwhile,…
According to the U.S. Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the number of mortgage applicants rose 3.8% last week. The mortgage interest rate also rose. The number of people applying for refinance loans rose 10% last week, but fell 83% from the…
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in the U.S. announced that its Homebuilder Confidence Index fell three points to 46 in September, declining for the ninth consecutive month and below analysts’ expectations of 47. In addition, the sentiment index…
U.S. Treasury note yields continued to rise today as the Federal Reserve (Fed) is set to raise interest rates by 0.75-1.00% at its monetary policy meeting next week. The yield on the 2-year U.S. Treasury note, which response to the…
According to the U.S. Commerce Department, business inventories rose 0.6% in July from the previous month, following a 1.4% increase in June. Business inventories increased by 18.4% year-on-year in July. Retail inventories rose by 1.2%, while wholesale inventories increased by…
