Donât Throttle Back Now
Author:
May 4, 2021
On one hand, dealers can’t stop that good feeling. On the other, there may be some frustration. While consumer demand for boats appears to be holding strong despite inventory issues, there’s a series of other storms building that will likely come ashore soon, so it’s time to assess and plan a course of action.
The waves are the return of stiff competition that the boating industry successfully navigated around during Covid. Now the rising Consumer Confidence Index (from 90.4 to 109.7 in March) is signaling that people are more optimistic as vaccination counts rise, government stimulus checks arrive, businesses fully reopen, and airlines add flights for increased passengers.
Following
4/30/2021 9:55:43 PM GMT
Gold turns south as US T-bond yields gain traction.
Upbeat US data helps USD gather strength in the second half of the week.
Initial support for gold aligns at $1,760 ahead of $1,740.
The XAU/USD pair failed to break above $1,800 in the previous week and opened in a calm manner on Monday as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of key macroeconomic events of the week. After fluctuating in a relatively tight range around $1,780, the pair lost its traction on Thursday and dropped to its lowest level in two weeks at $1,756. With the US preserving its strength ahead of the weekend, XAU/USD struggled to stage a convincing rebound and closed the week in the negative territory below $1,770.
Furniture World News
MONTHLY RESULTS
New Orders
According to our latest survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors, February 2021 new orders were 34% higher than February 2020 orders continuing the string of strong double-digit growth in new orders, now up 9 months in a row. January’s new orders were up 27%. New orders were up for 94% of the participants.
For the first two months of the year, new orders were up 31% over the same two months of 2020. Year to date, new orders were up for 88% of the participants. We are not sure what we will see for the next two months as March 2020 was when we first saw the drop off of business due to the onset of the pandemic. So, the next few months will likely show some drastic variations, which will take a while for the numbers to get sorted out.
Consumer confidence deteriorates in 1QCY21
Strict restrictions in wake of rise in Covid cases hit consumer trust
KARACHI:
The confidence of consumers in Pakistan’s economy deteriorated in the first quarter of 2021 due to toughening restrictions following a surge in Covid-19 cases in the country to contain the third wave of the pandemic.
During the Jan-Mar quarter, all consumer confidence parameters recorded a decline.
The consumer sentiment factor registered a strong deterioration as it fell 16% owing to uncertain economic conditions on account of re-imposition of smart lockdowns across the country, stated the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) report for the first quarter of 2021. The report, prepared by Dun and Bradstreet Pakistan and Gallup Pakistan, assessed consumer confidence in the overall state of the economy as well as their personal financial situation.