EUROPE

Spain has joined the UK in a recession. Spain’s GDP fell 0.3% in the Mar 2012 quarter. This follows a similar 0.3% fall in the Dec 2011 quarter. [More]. On 24 Apr 2012 the UK announced it had entered a recession with a fall in its GDP of 0.2% in the Mar 2012 quarter.

USA MARKET

Economy

• Household consumer spending rose 0.3% in Mar 2012 and the Feb 2012 growth estimate was raised to 0.9% from an earlier estimate of 0.8%. The Mar 2012 growth number was below expectations (0.4%).
• Manufacturing activity fell in Apr 2012. The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc’s barometer decreased sharply to 56.2 in Apr 2012 from 62.2 in Mar 2012. The Apr 2012 figure of 56.2 was below the range of economists’ estimates (58 – 62.9). [More]

Commodities

• Gold Futures (Jun): down $0.60 to $1,664/oz
• Oil Futures (WTI LSC Jun): down $0.06 to $104.87/barrel.

Treasury yields

• 30-year: 3.11%
• 10-year: 1.92%
• 5-year: 0.81%

Share market indices

• S+P 500: 1,398 -0.39%
• DJIA: 13,214 -0.11%
• NASDAQ: 3,046 -0.74%

Tech stock news

• Apple’s [NASDAQ:AAPL] low taxation has an increased public profile.

PORTFOLIO

NASDAQ

• Apple [AAPL] $584.24 -3.15%.
• Amazon [AMZN] $231.90 +2.22%
• Google [GOOG] $605.23 -1.61%

NYSE

• Linkedin [LNKD] $108.45 -1.16%
• VMware [VMW] $111.77 -0.57%

AUSTRALIAN CURRENCY

Portfolio valuation rate (USD/AUD): 1.0472

The Reserve Bank of Australia announced a 50 basis point reduction in its official cash rate, from 4.25% to 3.75%.