On Wednesday, the Bank of England released the minutes of its June 5 policy meeting and announced that the Monetary Policy Committee voted 8 to 1 for the interest rate to remain at 5.00%. "Eight members of the Committee (the Governor, Rachel Lomax, John Gieve, Kate Barker, Charles Bean, Tim Besley, Andrew Sentance and Paul Tucker) voted in favour of the proposition," the MPC said. "David Blanchflower voted against, preferring a reduction of 25 basis points." In its minutes, the MPC said that it saw no reason for a rate decrease in June, but that its position could change, adding that the inflation path was trending higher than forecast in May on the back of rising oil and food prices.

The British Retail Consortium's industrial orders index rebounded into positive territory in June for the first time since March 2008 on Wednesday morning, reaching a score of 1, an 11-point rebound from May's level.

On Wednesday, an Austrian newspaper quoted European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaus Liebscher forecasting economic growth in the country to slow to 2.2% in 2008 and to 1.7% in the following year before picking up steam and increasing 2.4% in 2010. Regarding the euro, Liebscher acknowledged that the currency has helped to limit the effects of surging oil and food prices in the euro zone. However, Liebscher added that inflation in Austria was still expected to average 3.1% in 2008.

Speaking in Cologne, Germany on June 17, European Central Bank Executive Board member Jürgen Stark reiterated that, with inflation expected to remain at high levels over the coming months and increasing upside risks to price stability seen, the ECB was in a "state of heightened alertness" and would do all that was necessary to anchor inflation expectations. Stable prices are the best way that the ECB can contribute to economic growth, Stark said. Stark also noted that some signs of second-round inflation effects had been seen in a few euro zone countries and emphasized that such effects must be prevented from occurring.

According to data released by Eurostat on Wednesday, the monthly decline in euro zone construction output slowed to 0.8% in April following the 2.8% drop seen in March, revised down from the -2.2% initially recorded. The euro zone state with the strongest increases in construction output in April was Portugal, where output rose 10.6%. Conversely, Spain recorded the greatest fall in production, with a reading of -6.5%. On an annual basis, construction production fell 2.4% in April, unchanged from the previous month's decline. March's reading was revised down from an initial reading of -1.4%.

On Wednesday, Germany's Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), in cooperation with Credit Suisse, recorded weakening economic outlook for the next six months in Switzerland and announced that its expectations indicator for the country declined further to -63.8 in June. Economists had expected a slight fall to -60.8 from the -60.4 recorded in the previous month.

According to Westpac, Australia's leading economic index advanced by 0.4% in April and a previous 0.2% gain was revised to a 0.1% increase.

Preliminary Balance of Payments Imports rose by 7.0% in May month-over-month figures, an increase from the April decline of -3.0%

The Bank of Japan released the minutes from their April 30 meetings, and from their May 19-20 board meetings. The BOJ members agreed unanimously that global inflation risks were heightening and that the BOJ must watch the economy and prices carefully. A few members said that bank should also focus on inflation expectations and closely follow prices being set by companies.

Japan's leading index and coincident index remain unchanged in April coming in at 92.8% and 101.7% respectively.

Annual Japan's Tokyo department sales declined in May by 2.3%, down from the prior month's -0.7% decrease. Nationwide Sales fell by -2.7% in May year-over-year figures, a increase from the previous month -3.4% result.

JP BOJ to Publish Minutes of April 30, May 19-20 Board Meetings

AU Westpac Leading Index (M/M) April +0.4% vs Revised: +0.1% Prior +0.2%

AU Preliminary BoP Imports (M/M) (SA) May +7.0% vs Prior: -3.0%

JP Leading Index CI April Final 92.8% vs Prior: 92.8%

JP Coincident Index CI April Final 101.7% vs Prior: 101.7%

JP Tokyo Department Store Sales (Y/Y) May -2.3% vs Prior: -0.7%

JP Nationwide Department Sales (Y/Y) May -2.7% vs Prior: -3.4%

EU ECB's Tumpel-Gugerell Speaks in Stockholm

GB Bank of England Minutes of Interest Rate Decision

EU Construction Output SA (M/M) April -0.8% vs Revised: -2.8% Prior: -2.2%

EU Construction Output WDA Y/Y April -2.4% vs Revised: -2.4% Prior: -1.4%

GB UK CBI June Monthly Industrial Trends

By Steve Stecyk, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , with contributions from Todd Wailoo, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , and Erik Kevin Franco, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , edited by Cristina Markham, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

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