Asia

China Central Bank Calls For Faster Home Lending In Slump. China’s central bank called on the nation’s biggest lenders to accelerate the granting of mortgages, a sign that developers’ prices cuts and incentives alone won’t boost a slumping housing market and economy. The People’s Bank of China told 15 banks yesterday to “improve efficiency of service, give timely approval and distribution of mortgages to qualified buyers,” according to a statement posted on its website. It also urged lenders to give priority to families buying their first homes and strengthen their monitoring of credit risks. (Bloomberg)

S. Korea Unemployment Rate Inches Up In April. South Korea's unemployment rate rose slightly in April, with the number of newly created jobs falling for the second consecutive month, government data showed Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted jobless rate stood at 3.7 %, compared to 3.5 % in March, Statistics Korea said. The number of newly created jobs stood at 581,000 from a year ago, compared to an on-year rise of 835,000 in February and 649,000 in March. Despite the slowdown in job creation, senior Statistics Korea official Kong Mi-Suk said the fact that new job growth was still hovering around the half-million mark was a "positive" sign. (Reuters)

USA

Wholesale Prices In U.S. Climb By Most In More Than A Year. Prices paid to American factories and service producers rose in April by the most in more than a year, indicating a diminishing risk of deflation as demand improves. The 0.6 % increase in the producer price index was the biggest since September 2012 and exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists, figures from the Labor Department showed today. Over the past 12 months, costs climbed 2.1 %. Food prices surged by the most in three years. (Bloomberg)

Europe

IMF Sees 25% Chance Of Euro Zone Deflation By 2015. The International Monetary Fund sees a 25 % chance of the euro zone slipping into deflation by the end of next year, the fund's chief economist said on Wednesday. For now, the IMF is predicting low inflation in the euro zone, Olivier Blanchard told a forum in New York. But "we think that there is a 25 % probability that we see deflation in the euro zone by the end of 2015''. (Reuters)

UK Unemployment Rate Falls To Five-Year Low. The number of people out of work in the UK fell by 133,000 to a fresh five-year low of 2.2 million in the three months to March, official figures show. The jobless rate also fell to a five-year low of 6.8%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The number of people in work rose to 30.43 million, the highest since records began in 1971, helped by a rise in self-employment. Average earnings in the three months to March were up 1.7% from a year earlier. (BBC)

Bank Of England Dampens Interest Rate Rise Speculation. The Bank of England has reiterated it is in no rush to raise rates, with governor Mark Carney saying they may remain low "for some time". Nevertheless, the economy has "edged closer" to the point where interest rates would need to rise, he said. The comments led to a fall in the value of the pound against other currencies. There has been market speculation that interest rates will rise before the second quarter of next year, when a general election is due to be held. (BBC)

Wealth Fund Growth Boosts Norway’s Budget As Economy Slows. Norway’s new government is tapping more oil revenue than previously estimated this year to support a slowing expansion in Scandinavia’s richest nation. The government will use a record 140.9 billion kroner ($24 billion), of its oil revenue to plug budget deficits, up from 139 billion kroner estimated in November, according to a budget handed out in Oslo today. That’s equal to 2.8 % of the wealth fund, down from a 2.9 % estimate in November. (Bloomberg)

Currencies

Pound Falls As U.K. Rate Hike Appears On Hold. The dollar rose against the pound Wednesday, reversing an earlier loss, after Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney emphasized the U.K. economy hasn’t strengthened enough to warrant a rate hike just yet. The pound fell to $1.6769 from $1.6829 late Tuesday. The ICE dollar index, a measure of the currency’s strength against six rivals, fell to 80.060 from 80.118 late Tuesday. The greenback fell to 101.86 yen from ¥102.26 late Tuesday. The euro moved up to $1.3715 from $1.3703. The Australian dollar rose to 93.79 U.S. cents from 93.56 U.S. cents in late trading Tuesday. (Market Watch)

Commodities

U.S. Crude, Brent Hit 3-Week Highs On Cushing, Gasoline Draw. Global oil prices rose on Wednesday as a draw on U.S. crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, contract delivery point and gasoline stocks pushed Brent and U.S. crude to three week highs. Brent crude for June delivery extended gains for a second day to settle 95 cents higher at $110.19 a barrel, its highest settlement since April 24. U.S. oil settled 67 cents up at $102.37 a barrel, its highest settlement since April 21. (Reuters)

Palladium Rallies To 2011 Highs On South Africa Tensions. Palladium hit 2-1/2 year highs on Wednesday as platinum group metals continued a sensational run higher spurred by continued concerns about supplies from major producer South Africa, while gold rose on expectations of more stimulus measures in Europe. Notching up its best one-day of gains since early January, platinum rose 2.08 % to trade at $1,479.75 per ounce at 4:42 p.m. EDT (2042 GMT). Palladium surged to $827.50 an ounce, its highest since August 2011. In gold, spot prices were up 1 % to $1,305.39 an ounce. Silver, in the spotlight after news the 117-year old London "fix", used as the global price benchmark, will stop in August, rose to a one month high of $19.97 an ounce. (Reuters)