Switzerland’s trade surplus increased in January as imports declined sharply from the previous month, the Federal Customs Administration reported Tuesday. The trade surplus rose to CHF 4.7 billion in January from CHF 2.7 billion in December.
Month-on-month, exports slid 4% m/m in real terms, after surging to a record level in December (+9.7% m/m). At the same time, imports slid 5.3% versus a 0.6% fall in the previous month.
The global economic order is expected to shift from advanced to emerging economies over the next few decades, and by 2040 India could edge past the US to become the world’s second largest economy in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, consulting firm PwC said in a new report titled “The World in 2050.”
The report, called "The long view: how will the global economic order change by 2050?," ranked 32 countries, based on their projected Gross Domestic Product by Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).
Switzerland’s consumer sentiment improved strongly in the three months to January to its highest level in two-and-a-half years, survey results from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, or SECO, showed Tuesday.
The consumer confidence index climbed to -3 from -13 in October, marking its highest level since July 2014, the survey conducted among roughly 1,200 consumers revealed. The reading is above its long-term average, after six below-average quarters.
"Consumers are clearly more optimistic about where they feel the economy is going as well as being less gloomy about the future development of unemployment and their own financial situation. This is thus the first time that consumers have rated the outlook in many areas as positively as they did shortly before the Swiss franc shock in early 2015" SECO said.
Stoxx 600 index had in the first two months of 2015 an incredible performance of about 25%, resulting the best equity index where to invest. But unluckily, in the month of April, the situation changed when the Index arrived at the 400 price level zone, a point where we had in the past, in 2000 and 2007, the beginning of two bear markets.
But this time, after the third historical top, prices created a double bottom at 300. Then in 2016 we had a trending range between 300 and 350 that was broken at the beginning of December.
The sharp rally that has started at the beginning of November in the equity markets is still running even if a bit tired after six weeks. Not all the sectors performed the same, this is normal, but the differences in this bullish wave have been particularly strong.
They call it the Trump effect, the sharp and mostly unexpected rebound that, from the lows of early November, gave a boost to the equity markets worldwide. Not all the markets reacted the same and the swings were also influenced by volatile currencies. Just think at the big correction of the Japanese yen that dropped more than 10% against the Greenback in a few days.
The rise in the U.S. interest rates is a major concern for the financial community. The leading topic is structural: return of inflation and a Central Bank far less dovish than before. Furthermore, the Trump election and his proposals to cut taxes and boost spending via tax credits on infrastructure has fuelled strong reactions in the bond market.
The media has credited Trump for the rally in yields and the recent swoon in the equity market. The argument goes that Trump’s policies notably with higher spending, lower taxes and less regulation will be positive for growth and inflation.
