US DATA: May housing starts +3.5% to 560k and permits +8.7% to 612k, a
little better than expected but really just a rebound from Apr weakness.
Starts were strong in South & West, weaker in NE and mixed in MW where
multis fell, for overall advances across categories. Single starts +3.7%
to 419k; also +2.5% permits to 405k, suggesting residential hsg will be
steady ahead. There were 418k units under construction in May, also a
steady state. So bottom line is hsg remains depressed but is edging up.
–
Q1 Current acct -$119.3b (3.18% of GDP) vs -$112.2b in Q4:2010 (3.02%).
Goods deficit rose (already known), but surpluses on income & services
rose and transfers fell. Financial inflows were $181.9b vs $29.3b in Q4.
Foreigners bought $3.5b Tsys, sold $36.6b Agcys, sold $4.6b corp bonds,
and bought $33.9b stocks; bank deposits and loans to the US rose
$363.7b vs +$30.2b in Q4, confirming most of the flows were short-term.