By FXEmpire.com

As the world waits for the Broadway theatrics to begin on the show called the “EcoFin Summit”, where the players are all Finance Ministers from the EU, as they spend their days chasing headlines and getting their photos in the news, the markets are sidetracked and lose focus.

This week eco data from around the globe has been fairly positive but has been widely ignored.

According to the first estimate, German CPI inflation slowed more than expected in June. The annual rate of inflation eased from 2.2% to 2.0%, while the consensus was looking for a more moderate slowdown, to 2.1%. Regional details show that prices of clothing and footwear, household energy, transportation and leisure & entertainment dropped in June, which was only partly offset by higher prices for food & beverages and household goods.

German inflation is now again at 2%, much earlier than most had expected, helped by a sharply lower oil price. The German rate of inflation matches now exactly the ECB’s target, for the first time since early 2011, giving the ECB more room to cut rates and support the economy. The report just doesn’t make sense; it is more like a statistical anomaly.

After two months of declines, US durable goods orders rebounded in May. On a monthly basis, durable goods orders rose by 1.1%, more than twice the expected rate (0.5%), but the previous figure was downwardly revised. The details show that part of the strength was based in transportation due to an increase in non-defense aircraft and also orders for vehicles and parts rose in May. While the headline figure was significantly stronger than expected, the details are poor. Overall, the trend in orders has slowed significantly, although the average level of non-defense capital goods less aircraft is still up for the second quarter.

In the UK CBI survey showed a strong pick up in retail sales. According to the CBI distributive trades survey, UK retail sales picked up sharply in June. A resulting balance of +42% reported stronger sales than last year, significantly stronger than the expected +25%, and the fastest growth rate since December 2010. Also orders strengthened significantly in May, (+23% from =7%), but surprisingly, sales for time of the year remained poor. According to the CBI, the Jubilee provided a boost to retail sales, but remarkably, also the expectations strengthened significantly, an encouraging sign for the coming months.

In Japan this morning retail sales skyrocketed. Markets had expected a 3.1% increase, but the results reports surprised traders, coming in at 3.6%. Government data showed that retail sales in Japan rose more-than-anticipated in May, advancing 3.6% after a 5.7% increase the previous month.

New Zealand’s trade balance came in at NZD +0.35b in May, a shade lower than the previous month (NZD +0.33bn in April). The very similar number obscures a solid increase in volumes: export volumes increased by NZD 500m and import values increased by 600m. While New Zealand’s trade situation is slipping compared to last year (the deficit of NZD 805m YTD is weaker than last year’s June deficit of NZD541), it’s worth noting that at least it is weaker on higher volumes of imports and exports (i.e. higher output and higher consumption), as opposed to lower volumes as we are seeing elsewhere.

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Originally posted here