New Zealand`s trade surplus widens

The trade balance produced a surplus of 631 million in March, up from February`s 83 million.

The key points of the trade report include:

• Quarterly exports fall 0.6 percent 
• Quarterly imports fall 3.3 percent  
• Trade deficit in the March 2015 quarter 
• Monthly exports fall 2.0 percent 
• Monthly imports rise 4.1 percent 
• Trade surplus in March 2015 of $631 million 
• Exchange rate movements 

UK Q1 prelim GDP slows down to 0.3%

The UK economy slowed down in the first quarter, as indicated in the preliminary GDP. The economy only grew at 0.3%.

The key points of the report include: 

• Change in gross domestic product (GDP) is the main indicator of economic growth. GDP is estimated to have increased by 0.3% in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2015 compared with growth of 0.6% in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2014.

• Output increased in services by 0.5% in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2015. The other 3 main industrial groupings within the economy decreased, with construction falling by 1.6%, production by 0.1% and agriculture by 0.2%.

• GDP was 2.4% higher in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2015 compared with the same quarter a year ago.

• In Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2015, GDP was estimated to have been 4.0% higher than the pre-economic downturn peak of Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2008. From the peak in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2008 to the trough in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2009, the economy shrank by 6.0%.

• The preliminary estimate of GDP is produced using the output approach to measuring GDP. At this stage, data content is less than half of the total required for the final output estimate. The estimate is subject to revision as more data become available, but these revisions are typically small between the preliminary and third estimates of GDP.

• All figures in this release are seasonally adjusted.

The full report can be found here. 

In the money call warrants (Week 18)

As part of my once a month free analysis of in the money call warrants, here is the list of call warrants trading at a discount:

No	Call warrant	Discount rate (%)
1	Cliq WA	5.3
2	Crest Builder WB	4.2
3	IHH CV	7.6
4	Malaysian Building Society WA	4.8
5	Maxco CM	2.5
6	N2N WA *	4.8
7	Maybulk CT	4.1
8	Sunway C4	8
9	Thong Guan WA	7.3
10	YTL CM	6.1

Note that the N2N WA is an American styled call warrant which means it can be converted on any date up to expiry. The trading idea is to buy the warrant, convert to the money share and either collect the difference between acquisition cost and market value or hold it for more capital gains. 

Durable good orders fall

Core durable good orders fell for the seventh straight month according to Bloomberg. March recorded a contraction of 0,2%.

One of the contributors to this figure is the drop in bookings of military capital goods.

Germany`s business climate at a 10 month high

Business confidence in Germany is at a 10 month high. The IFO business climate recorded a level of 108.7 compared to March`s 107.9.

Australian unemployment rate in March drops to 6.1%

The employment change increased by 37.7 thousand new jobs being created in March. The unemployment rate dropped slightly to 6.1% from 6.2% recorded in February.

The full labour report can be found here. 

GDT: -3.6%

The GDT price index, the leading indicator for dairy prices in New Zealand contracted by 3.6%.

ECB`s press conference was delayed

Mario Draghi was attacked by a random woman who threw confetti at him during the press conference. The minimum bid rate remained at 0.5%.

The ECB webcast can be streamed here.

China`s economy slows down to where it needs to be

China`s GDP slowed down to 7.0%, in the last quarter, making it the slowest growth since 2009. Industrial production dropped to 5.6% compared to the prior period`s growth of 6.8%.

Bloomberg has a write up for this.

Julian Suresh Caniah has been buying up Cliq

Julian Suresh Caniah, a director of Cliq Bhd has been buying up the company`s shares.

Over the last two weeks, he has purchased 1.1 million shares bringing his ownership to a total of 22.5 million shares. This represents a 3.57% direct interest in the company.