In the US, CB Consumer Confidence increased more than predicted to 64.5 in December from 55.2 in November indicating an elevated confidence among households. A further improvement to 68.2 is expected now.

The dollar weakened against most major currencies following Bernanke’s announcement that  interest rates will likely remain near zero until late 2014. This was despite solid economic data coming out of the US.

In the US, Existing Home Sales, monthly report to value the inhabited houses that were sold on the last month (the previous month (not including new building), rise from 4.97M on November up to 5.04M is predicted now.

In the US, Building Permits the annualized amount of residential permits released in October was well beyond predictions reaching 650,000 after 590,000 in the prior month. A small drop to 630,000 is expected now.

The eurozone crisis and the global slowdown continue to batter Britain’s weak economy. The Treasury is forecasting that growth in 2011 will be a weak 1.1%, well down from the 2% projection at the beginning of the year. There is a strong chance that the economy will dip into a recession in early 2012. The economic indicators do not paint a pretty picture. Consumer confidence is very low, unemployment is high, at 8.3%, and keys sectors such as retail and manufacturing continue to struggle.

In the US, Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) Non-Farm Employment Change, measures the number of employed people over the last month (without government & farming industry), rise is expected from 110K on October up to 131K.

British bonds did enjoy the failed German bond auction, but this wasn’t enough to lift the pound. And while Q3 GDP was reaffirmed at 0.5%, Q4 looks very worrying. We will get fresh data about November now.

In the US, Unemployment Claims, weekly report to value the unemployment that filed for insurance, is about to rise by 1K up to 404K this week.

Headline inflation pierced the 5% mark. In the current environment, this only means more trouble for Britain, as tightening monetary policy is off the cards, especially after the QE2 decision.

In the US, Unemployment Claims, weekly measurement of the persons that filed for unemployment cover, reduces from 423K on the last week to 420K this time.