The mortgage interest rate in the United States fell for the third consecutive week, and the demand for home purchases rose. The mortgage interest rate in the United States fell for the third consecutive week. Freddie Mac said in a statement that the average interest rate of 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 6.6%, down from 6.69% last week. Redfin Corp' s data for the four weeks ending December 8 show that buyers have been pushing forward in recent weeks, and the purchase contract has increased by 4.1% year-on-year. However, the broker said that affordability still faces challenges, because interest rates are still at a high level and the median selling price has increased by 6% year-on-year. "Demand is adapting to the new normal after the election," said Chen Zhao, head of economic research at Redfin.The USD/CHF broke through the 0.8900 mark, and the latest price was 0.8901, up 0.67% in the day.The African Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that Congo will vaccinate children against Japanese monkeypox from next week.
President of the European Central Bank: The euro zone economy continues to be weak and is still preparing to cut interest rates further. On December 12, local time, after the European Central Bank announced its decision to cut all three key interest rates by 25 basis points, President Lagarde of the European Central Bank subsequently held a press conference. She said that the Governing Council of the European Central Bank unanimously agreed to cut interest rates by 25 basis points, mainly based on the latest assessment of the current inflationary pressure, future prospects and the transmission degree of monetary policy to the real economy. On the same day, the European Central Bank also released the latest macroeconomic forecast, further lowering its expectations for economic growth in the euro zone. Lagarde said that poor economic development and continued weakness are worrying. She said that trade friction may drag down economic growth, and extensive geopolitical development is one of the upward risks of inflation. In view of the fact that the current economic growth in the euro zone is hit by domestic political instability in various countries, especially large economies such as Germany and France, and may face the threat of punitive tariffs imposed by US President-elect Trump, the European Central Bank is still preparing to cut interest rates further. Lagarde said that the ECB Council is determined to ensure that inflation is sustainable and stable at the medium-term target of 2%. The next interest rate decision is scheduled for January 30, 2025.ECB sources: Some people think that the ECB overestimates economic growth. In the case of Trump's tariff increase, the economic growth next year may be less than 1%.African stock market | On Thursday (December 12th), the FTSE /JSE Africa Top 40 tradable index closed down 0.18% to 78,341.48 points. The South African rand is currently down 0.58% against the US dollar, reaching a fresh low of 17.8027 rand.
In the third quarter of the United States, the net worth of households changed by $4,765.9 billion, and the previous value was $2,760 billion.Bitcoin exceeded $102,000/piece, up 0.87% in the day.The USD/CHF broke through the 0.8900 mark, and the latest price was 0.8901, up 0.67% in the day.