HONG KONG, May 2 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Korean rates to remain on hold for time being
The Bank of Korea meets on Thursday 8th to decide on the next move in interest rates in what is becoming an increasingly challenging environment.
Pipeline inflation pressures are rising with import prices up 28% in March, the fastest in a decade. Money supply expanded by an annual 13.2% in February, which was the most rapid in over five years.
House prices lose momentum in Australia
First quarter house price data is released in Australia on Monday 5th. This is likely to show a market slowdown in the residential market.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) meets on Tuesday 6th against a backdrop of inflation moving some way above 2% to 3% target range. With the quarterly gain in house prices in the first three months of the year likely to drop to its lowest level since the middle of 2005, the RBA will in all probability choose to leave the cash rate steady at 7.5% in the near term.
US commercial property continues to demonstrate resilience
A further update on the developments in the US commercial market is likely with the publication of first quarter results on the Transactions Based Index during the course of the coming week. However, it's premature to conclude that the commercial property sector will emerge quite so unscathed from the credit crunch. Banks have tightened up on lending criteria, the CMBS market remains on ice and the risk is that tenant demand will gradually slow.
Euro area Bank Lending Survey to show tighter credit conditions
The ECB's euro area bank lending survey for the first quarter is due on Friday 9th. The May survey is likely to show that credit standards will remain tight, indeed this was the expectation of respondent banks back in January. Aside from the hard data, key anecdotal evidence in the form of the recently released Bank of England's Q1 Credit Conditions Survey also reinforces the view that credit conditions are likely to have deteriorated further in the euro area.
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