Consumer confidence is down but home prices are rising in America. The dataset is contradictory, as usually happens in situations of slow growth, when the statistics are not unique (otherwise the growth would not be slow!). In these situations, the markets also advance between ups and downs, waiting for a more decisive trend to form. Today expectations are concentrated on tonight's data in the US (GDP and surroundings) which should portray a situation only slightly better than the one communicated last month; and above all on the speeches by Bernanke and Draghi in Jackson Hole, which should give a more precise idea of what central banks - the only actors capable of resolving the crisis - intend to do to get the Western economy out of the rut of uncertainty .
The MSCI Asia Pacific index is rising slightly - by 0,2% - after yesterday's largest fall. However, the euro has recovered, well above 1,25 and oil remains at 96. Gold maintains its leap for a few days, on 1670 per ounce, but does not seem able to go further.
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