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The expiration of the 2010 Home Buyer Tax Credits on April 30 are unlikely to put off Americans looking to purchase homes who believe now is a good time to buy and are confident that home prices will rise according to a survey released by Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services, Inc., a Prudential Financial, Inc. company.

Merchandise trade volumes continued to grow in the fourth quarter of 2009 in the G7 countries, albeit at a slower pace than in the third quarter. Recent monthly data on merchandise trade values confirm the continued recovery into early 2010. However, both volumes and values of trade remain below their pre-crisis levels of mid-2008.

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® (LEI) for the Euro Area increased 1.0 percent and The Conference Board Coincident Economic Index® (CEI) remained unchanged in March.

After months of focusing on savings, American families are responding to growing economic concerns by turning their attention to paying down debt.

The European strategy for encouraging the development and eventual widespread use of clean and energy efficient vehicles aims to help the European car industry to strengthen its leading role globally basing its production on clean and energy-efficient technologies. This strategy is laid down in a Communication, tabled by the European Commission. It delivers on the consensus between Member States and European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani's commitment to move on from short-term recovery measures to a medium-term orientation that strengthens the competitiveness of the European automotive industry by linking it to clean technologies. The strategy also contributes to the Europe 2020 objectives of smart and sustainable growth. It contains an Action Plan composed of concrete and ambitious measures to be implemented by the Commission.

EU energy efficiency legislation for buildings and the new layout of the EU energy efficiency label were approved by the Industry Committee on Wednesday. These measures - which come in addition to the EU's 2008 climate change package - were agreed with the Council last year and are to be put to a final vote by the full Parliament in May.

Americans' confidence in their ability to access and pay for healthcare continued to decline last month, according to a new consumer sentiment index from Thomson Reuters.

The latest edition of the PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Manufacturing Barometer reports that cautious optimism continues to grow in regard to the U.S. and global economies among U.S.-based industrial manufacturers, according to the Q1 2010 report. Over half of industrial products manufacturers (53 percent) are optimistic about the U.S. economy's prospects over the next 12 months. Only 10 percent are pessimistic, a sharp contrast to 55 percent a year ago; while 37 percent remain uncertain.

Data through February 2010, released by Standard & Poor's for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, show that the annual rates of decline of the 10-City and 20-City Composites improved in February compared to January 2010. For the first time since December 2006, the annual rates of change for the two Composites are positive. The 10-City Composite is up 1.4% from where it was in February 2009, and the 20-City Composite is up 0.6% versus the same time last year. However, 11 of 20 cities saw year-over-year declines.

Between 2000 and 2009, EU27 exports of goods to Japan fell in value by around 20%, from 45 bn euro to 36 bn, while EU27 imports from Japan decreased by almost 40%, from 92 bn to 56 bn. As a result, the EU27 deficit in trade with Japan decreased from 47 bn in 2000 to 20 bn in 2009 and the share of Japan in the EU27's total external trade in goods fell significantly. In 2009, Japan accounted for 3% of EU27 exports and 5% of EU27 imports, and was the EU27's sixth most important trading partner.