The Commerce Department said new home sales spiked by 8.8 percent to an annual rate of 693,000 in March after plunging by 5.1 percent to a revised rate of 637,000 in February.

Meanwhile, the report also said median sales price of new houses sold in March was $430,700, down 1.9 percent from $438,900 a year ago.

The estimate of new houses for sale at the end of March was 477,000, while represents a supply of 8.3 months at the current sales rate.

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April saw an overall reduction in new orders for the first time in six months. Companies responded by scaling back employment for the first time in almost four years, with business confidence also waning to the lowest since last November.

Rates of inflation generally eased at the start of the second quarter, with both input costs and output prices rising less quickly at the composite level. That said, manufacturing input cost inflation hit a one-year high.

The headline S&P Global Flash US PMI Composite Output Index dropped to 50.9 in April from 52.1 in March. Although continuing to signal an increase in business activity during the month, the latest data indicated only a slight expansion and one that was the softest since December. Nevertheless, output has now risen for 15 consecutive months.

Slower increases in activity were recorded across both the manufacturing and services sectors, with rates of growth easing to three- and five-month lows respectively.

The S&P Global Flash US Manufacturing PMI posted 49.9 in April to signal broadly unchanged business conditions over the course of the month. The index was down from 51.9 in March and ended a three-month sequence of improving operating conditions.

US manufacturers drew down their stocks of purchases for the second consecutive month in April, and to a solid degree that was the most marked since August last year. Firms made some efforts to limit the pace of depletion, however, raising their purchasing activity slightly following a fall in the previous survey period.

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April data indicated a steep increase in average cost burdens across the private sector, with the rate of inflation up sharply from March and the highest since May 2023. Stronger input price inflation was overwhelmingly linked to higher staff wages, particularly in the hospitality and leisure sector. Many survey respondents noted pressure on labour costs from a near 10% annual increase in the National Living Wage and an indirect impact on pay awards to other employees.

At 54.0 in April, up from 52.8 in March, the headline seasonally adjusted S&P Global Flash UK PMI Composite Output Index signalled the strongest rate of business activity expansion since May 2023.

Service providers indicated a robust and accelerate rise in business activity during April, with the rate of growth the fastest for 11 months.

Manufacturing production declined slightly in April, reversing the positive trend seen during the previous survey period.

New business volumes increased across the private sector as a whole in April. There were also divergent trends for export sales, with service providers recording the sharpest upturn for 13 months while goods producers experienced another decline.

UK private sector employment increased marginally in April. Input price inflation accelerated sharply in April, with overall cost pressures the strongest seen for 11 months.

Business activity expectations for the next 12 months remained upbeat in April, with the degree of optimism higher than at any time in 2023.

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Business activity in the euro area grew at the fastest rate for nearly a year in April, according to provisional PMI survey data. The improvement indicates that the region continues to pull out of the recent downturn, albeit growing only modestly amid divergent sector performances. Increasingly robust service sector growth was nevertheless accompanied by signs of a further moderation of the manufacturing downturn. Jobs growth also accelerated as business confidence remained elevated by recent standards.

Although service sector output grew for a third successive month, with the rate of increase having gained momentum to register the fastest rise for 11 months, manufacturing output fell across the eurozone for a thirteenth straight month in April to act as a drag on the overall economy. The rate of decline in factory output eased, however, to the weakest for 12 months.

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The headline HCOB Flash Germany Composite PMI Output Index moved back above the 50.0 no-change threshold for the first time in ten months in April. At 50.5, up from 47.7 in March, it signaled a modest rate of expansion in private sector business activity. The upturn was led by a pick-up in services business activity, which after stabilising in March recorded its strongest growth since June 2023 (index at 53.3). The manufacturing output index meanwhile remained in sub-50 contraction territory (at 45.0), but back-to-back monthly rises saw it move close to January?s recent high and signal one of the slowest rates of decline in the past year.

April?s flash survey showed contrasting trends in demand conditions at the sector level. Whereas services new business rose for the first time in ten months, manufacturers recorded a sharp and accelerated drop in inflows of new work.

On the employment front, there was likewise a dichotomy between rising workforce numbers in the service sector and further manufacturing job cuts. The rate of hiring in the service sector even quickened slightly and was the second-fastest seen in the past ten months.

Backlogs of work continued falling across the German private sector during April, in line with the trend every month since August 2022.

Despite manufacturers reporting challenging demand conditions and maintaining a preference for lower workforce numbers, they signaled improved expectations towards future production.

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In the financial year ending March, provisionally estimated borrowing was GBP 120.7 billion, which was GBP 7.6 billion less than in the same period last year. However, it was GBP 6.6 billion more than forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

At the end of March, public sector net debt excluding public sector banks was estimated at 98.3 percent of GDP. This was 2.6 percentage points more than at the end of March 2023.

In March alone, net borrowing declined GBP 4.7 billion from the last year to GBP 11.9 billion. The expected level was GBP 8.9 billion.

Government receipts grew by GBP 6.6 billion to GBP 90.6 billion in March. Meanwhile, government expenditure declined by GBP 0.4 billion to GBP 102.5 billion.

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On prices, input cost inflation rose for a second successive month. As a result, Japanese service providers shared their additional cost burdens with clients, contributing to the strongest rise in selling prices in ten years.

The headline au Jibun Bank Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose from 48.2 in March to 49.9 in April to signal a near-stabilization of Japanese manufacturing business conditions. Both output and new orders fell at a slower rates in the latest survey period, with the decline in the latter easing to the softest in ten months. In turn, manufacturing sector confidence improved while employment growth accelerated. Finally, input cost inflation rose in April, leading average charges to rise at the fastest pace in nine months.

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Sustained increases in new orders added pressure on the capacity of manufacturing firms and their services counterparts, which in turn underpinned recruitment. Jobs growth was notably stronger among the former. The survey's price measures showed slower rates of inflation for both aggregate input costs and output charges.

Rising from 61.8 in March to 62.2 in April, the headline HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index ? a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of India's manufacturing and service sectors ? indicated the fastest rate of increase in aggregate business activity since mid-2010. Survey participants overwhelmingly attributed the expansion to buoyant demand from domestic and external clients.

Growth in India remained broad-based across the manufacturing and service sectors. The former saw the sharper rate of increase, albeit one that was softer than in March. In the service economy, business activity rose to the greatest extent in three months.

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The Judo Bank Flash Australia Composite PMI Output Index posted 53.6 in April, up from 53.3 in March. The latest reading signaled that private sector activity expanded for a third straight month and at the quickest pace since April 2022.

While business activity growth was again limited to the service sector, the rate at which manufacturing output fell slowed to the least pronounced in eight months and was only marginal. This was supported by a slower reduction in goods new orders, while quicker inflows of services new business led to overall new orders rising at the fastest pace in nearly two years.

The Judo Bank Flash Australia Services PMI Business Activity Index posted 54.2 in April, down from 54.4 in March. This marked a third successive monthly expansion, at a slower but still solid pace.

The Judo Bank Flash Australia Manufacturing PMI rose to 49.9 in April, up from 47.3 in March. This indicated that manufacturing sector conditions near-stabilized at the start of the second quarter.

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The country produced 63.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the January-March period, up 5.2 percent from a year earlier.

China's natural gas imports posted fast growth during this period, NBS data also revealed.

A total of 32.79 million tonnes of natural gas was imported in the first three months of the year, up 22.8 percent year on year, according to the bureau.

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Among three major industry classifications, the mining sector's utilization rate came in at 75 percent and the rate for the manufacturing sector stood at 73.8 percent. The utilization rate of the sector responsible for the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas and water stood at 71.2 percent, according to the data.

In terms of major industries, coal mining and beneficiation, food manufacturing, and textiles reported utilization rates of 71.6 percent, 69.1 percent and 78 percent, respectively.

Other sectors including general equipment manufacturing, automotive manufacturing, as well as computers, information and other electronic equipment recorded rates of 78.2 percent, 64.9 percent, and 74.7 percent, respectively, according to the data.

Industrial capacity utilization refers to the ratio of actual output to production capacity. The government's statistical authorities release utilization rate data based on surveys covering around 110,000 enterprises across the country. The data is released on a quarterly basis.

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International Monetary Fund or IMF stated in a latest update that Asia and Pacific economic growth surprised on the upside in the second half of 2023 as robust domestic demand fueled activity, especially in emerging Asian economies. Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and most notably India, recorded sizable positive growth surprises, according to IMF's press briefing on the Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and Pacific.

Growth for the region reached 5 percent in 2023, much stronger than a growth of 3.9 percent in 2022, and this represents a 0.4 percentage points higher than what we had projected in the October 2023 Regional Economic Outlook, and the momentum carries over into 2024. We now project the region to grow by 4.5 percent in 2024 and upward revision of 0.3 percentage points relative to October. With this, Asia would contribute about 60 percent of global growth. The region is projected to grow by 4.3 percent in 2025.

IMF stated that In China and India, it expects investment to contribute disproportionately to growth, much of it public, especially in India. In emerging Asia, outside China and India, robust private consumption will remain the main growth engine. In some advanced economies, such as Korea, we expect a positive impulse from exports, driven in part by strong global demand for high end semiconductors. Domestic demand would strengthen only gradually.

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Within retail, sales were mixed, with automotive fuel and non-food stores sales volumes rising by 3.2% and 0.5%, respectively. This was offset by falls in food stores and non-store retailers of 0.7% and 1.5%.

Looking at the quarter, sales volumes increased by 1.9% in the three months to March 2024 when compared with the previous three months. This was following low sales volumes over the Christmas period for retailers.

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In March 2024, lower energy prices continued to be the main reason for the year-on-year decline in producer prices. Intermediate goods were also less expensive than in March 2023, whereas higher prices had to be paid for consumer and capital goods.

Energy prices in March 2024 were down 7.0% from March 2023. Compared with February 2024, energy prices remained unchanged. Intermediate goods prices were 3.7% lower in March 2024 than a year earlier. Compared with the previous month, they increased slightly by 0.1%.

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The report said initial jobless claims came in at 212,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised level.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also came in unchanged from the previous week's revised average at 214,500.

Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, crept up by 2,000 to 1.812 million in the week ended April 6th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also rose to 1,805,250, an increase of 4,250 from the previous week's revised average of 1,801,000.

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NAR said existing home sales plunged by 4.3 percent to an annual rate of 4.19 million in March after surging by 9.5 percent to a rate of 4.38 million in February.

The report also said housing inventory at the end of March totaled 1.11 million units, up 4.7 percent from 1.06 million units in February and up 14.4 percent from 970,000 units a year ago.

The unsold inventory represents 3.2 months of supply at the current sales pace, up from 2.9 months in February and 2.7 months in March 2023.

NAR also said the median existing home price was $393,500 in March, an increase of 4.8 percent compared to $375,300 in the same month a year ago.

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The report said the leading economic index fell by 0.3 percent in March after rising by 0.2 percent in February. The modest advance in February marked the first increase by the leading index in two years.

The report also said the coincident economic index rose by 0.3 percent in March after inching up by 0.1 percent in February.

Meanwhile, the Conference Board said the lagging economic index came in unchanged in March after rising by 0.3 percent in February.

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