http://www.rttnews.comGlobal financial news, market analysis, economics and forex newsen-usTue, 09 Feb 2010 16:16:02 GMTFederal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday has been postponed due to the inclement weather forecast in Washington, D.C. Bernanke was scheduled to testify on how the Fed would unwind its liquidity programs implemented during the 2008 financial crisis. The House Financial Services Committee has postponed all of its hearings for the week. No new date has been set to reschedule the hearing.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205794Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:57:16 GMTWhile the Commerce Department released a report Tuesday morning showing an unexpected decrease in wholesale inventories in the month of December, the report also showed a continued increase in wholesale sales during the month. The report showed that wholesale inventories fell by 0.8 percent in December following an upwardly revised 1.6 percent increase in November. Economists had been expecting inventories to increase by 0.5 percent.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205701Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:58:31 GMTSmall business optimism improved slightly in January, according to a report released by the National Federation of Independent Business on Tuesday, although the index of optimism remains at historically low levels in spite of the improvements in the economy in the second half of 2009.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205632Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:56:17 GMTPassenger car sales in China rose 113.21% year-on-year to 1.32 million in January, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reportedly said Tuesday. Car production increased 134% to 1.24 million units.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205533Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:07:15 GMTBrazil's industrial employment decreased 0.6% month-on-month in December, taking the annual decline to 2.7%, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics said Tuesday. In 2009 as a whole, employment in the industrial sector fell 5.3%.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205400Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:12:39 GMTLatvia's exports rose 4.4% year-on-year to LVL 315.796 million in December, a report from the statistical office showed Tuesday. But, imports plunged 27% to LVL 385.47 million. The trade balance was a deficit of LVL 69.68 million.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205343Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:57:21 GMTTuesday, a flash estimate from Latvia's statistical office showed that the non-seasonally adjusted gross domestic product rose 2.4% sequentially in the fourth quarter. It follows 3.1% growth in the third quarter. http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205300Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:35:36 GMTU.K.'s deficit on trade in goods soared to the highest since January 2009 as growth in imports outpaced the rise in exports.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205264Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:21:13 GMTConsumer prices in the Seychelles fell 2.2% year-on-year in January, the National Statistics Bureau said Tuesday. It follows a 2.5% decline in December. http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205239Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:11:59 GMTCyprus's trade deficit narrowed to EUR 369.94 million in December from EUR 408.41 million deficit in the previous month, the Statistical Service of the Republic of Cyprus said Tuesday.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205191Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:46:55 GMTIreland's retail sales volume decreased 7.5% year-on-year in December, the Central Statistics Office said Tuesday. It follows an 8.3% decline in November.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205173Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:30:21 GMTSlovenia's exports rose 3.1% year-on-year to EUR 1.22 billion in December, the statistical office said Tuesday. Imports fell 10.6% to EUR 1.36 billion. http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205164Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:17:03 GMTSlovenia's consumer prices rose 1.5% year-on-year in January, official data showed Tuesday. It follows 1.8% growth in December and 1.6% increase in January last year. http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205133Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:59:54 GMTGerman exports rose on an annual basis for the first time in fourteen months in December, data released by the Federal Statistical Office showed Tuesday. However, the year 2009 saw exports falling the most since 1950.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205125Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:50:59 GMTSouth Africa's unemployment rate stood at 24.3% in the December quarter, down from 24.5% in the previous quarter, Statistics South Africa reported on Tuesday. The number of unemployed persons in the country totaled 4.17 million, slightly lower than 4.19 million recorded three months ago.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205094Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:01:58 GMTRomania's industrial new orders fell 8.4% in December compared to November, the country's National Institute of Statistics reported on Tuesday.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205055Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:14:37 GMTRomania's trade deficit stood at EUR 850.6 million in December, narrower than the EUR 1.57 billion deficit recorded a year ago, the country's Central Statistical Office said on Tuesday.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1205026Tue, 09 Feb 2010 07:32:58 GMTNew Zealand's business confidence eased in the beginning of 2010, but continued in a positive territory, results of a survey conducted by the Bank of New Zealand showed Tuesday.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1204942Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:31:27 GMTGermany's consumer price index, or CPI, rose 0.8% year-on-year in January after an increase of 0.9% in December, the Federal Statistical Office said Tuesday. http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1204930Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:22:49 GMTFinland's trade balance logged a deficit of EUR 50 million in December following the EUR 55 million surplus recorded in the previous month, the National Board of Customs reported on Tuesday.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1204920Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:17:28 GMTMajor releases due on Tuesday include trade data from the United Kingdom as well as trade figures and consumer price inflation statistics from Germany.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1204875Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:40:26 GMTNew Zealand's human population has been outnumbered by cows, latest figures show.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1204872Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:36:28 GMTJapan's machine tool orders surged 192% year-on-year in January after an increase of 63.4% in December, Japan Machine Tool Builders' Association said Tuesday. http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1204871Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:36:14 GMTThe U.K.'s Monster employment index slipped to 111 in January from 120 in the previous month, Monster Inc. said on Tuesday.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1204840Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:24:01 GMTAustralian companies are set to hire more workers and undertake larger investment in the coming months as the economy gathers strength, a latest survey has found.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1204829Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:05:49 GMTOnline job site Seek on Tuesday reported a seasonally adjusted 10.9% increase in the number of new job advertisements placed in the website in January across all of New Zealand.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1204814Mon, 09 Feb 2010 03:23:35 GMTHeavy snow in January put a freeze on the U.K.'s housing and retail sectors, survey data has shown.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1204804Mon, 09 Feb 2010 02:43:49 GMTProducer prices in South Korea increased 2.8% year-on-year in January, faster than the 1.8% increase in the previous month, the Bank of Korea said on Tuesday.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1204802Mon, 09 Feb 2010 02:28:59 GMTThirty-two percent of surveyors in the United Kingdom expect house prices to rise rather than fall, the January issue of the Royal Institution for Chartered Surveyors' survey revealed on Tuesday.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1204714Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:41:25 GMTRetail sales in the united Kingdom were up just 1.2 percent on year in January, the British Retail Consortium said on Tuesday - marking the weakest annual gain in 15 years.http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1204693Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:18:51 GMT