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The US Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index which had improved considerably in May, retreated in June. The Index now stands at 49.3 (1985=100), down from 54.8 in May. The Present Situation Index decreased to 24.8 from 29.7. The Expectations Index declined to 65.5 from 71.5 in May.

Irish Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP) for the first quarter of 2009 fell sharply according to data today from the CSO. Compared with the corresponding quarter of 2008, GDP at constant prices was 8.5 per cent lower while GNP - -  which excludes profits from multi-national companies - -  was 12.0 per cent lower. The seasonally adjusted estimates show that, compared with the previous quarter, GDP fell by 1.5 per cent and GNP by 4.5 per cent. Service exports at €16,050m fell €360m largely due to insurance and financial services. Service imports rose. Ireland’s External Debt increased to €1.69 trillion at end March 2009.

The Competition Authority today published its report on the Irish  Retail-related Import and Distribution sector. It finds that increasingly price-conscious consumers are shopping around for the best prices and spurring more competition between retailers and their suppliers. This is causing prices to fall. For example, between January and May 2009 grocery prices fell by over 2%. The Authority says the State must lead in reducing the cost of doing business and price reductions on medicines for consumers must also come from the State.  Meanwhile, supermarket leader Tesco confirmed on Tuesday that it had increased prices of 200 items.

Data through April 2009, released today by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of US home prices, show that, although still negative, the annual decline of the 10-City and 20-City Composites improved. Annual prices in Phoenix are down 35%; Las Vegas 32% and San Francisco 28%.

The Central Bank of Ireland said today that Irish residential mortgage lending was €18 million lower in May than the prior month - - the second consecutive month of decline. The annual growth rate was down to 2.6 per cent in May, an historic low. Mortgage debt outstanding has remained relatively flat since the beginning of 2009. The Bank said following a fall of over €100 million in April 2009, residential mortgages (including securitised mortgages) declined by €18 million in May. This trend of repayments exceeding new mortgage lending has not been evident at any stage prior to April since the series began in 1990, and reflects the continuing low levels of activity in the housing market. The annual growth rate of Private Sector Credit (PSC) adjusted to account for exchange-rate movements, slowed to 0.8 per cent in May, from a revised 1.6 per cent in April. This compares with an annual growth rate of 15.1 per cent in May 2008.

Eurozone annual inflation turned negative in June for the first time on record, falling 0.1% over 12 months, according to a flash  estimate today from the Eurostat, the  EU statistics office.

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Principal news stories from the Irish Independent, Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Financial Times and New York Times.

The seasonally adjusted headline Nomura/JMMA Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 48.2 in June, from 46.6 in the previous month, to signal that operating conditions in Japan’s manufacturing sector worsened for the sixteenth month in succession. However, the overall deterioration was the least marked since April 2008, largely reflecting an expansion of output and slower reductions in new orders and employment. Having registered a record low at the beginning of the year, the headline index has now risen for five months in a row and gained over eighteen points.