Awaiting U.S. Jobs Data
September 6, 2013
The dollar has lost 0.8% against the kiwi, 0.6% versus the loonie, 0.4% relative to the yen and Australian dollar and 0.1% versus the Swiss franc. The dollar is also unchanged against sterling, the euro and yuan.
Japan’s Nikkei slumped 1.5% in part on unconfirmed news that Tokyo, heretofore the front-runner, is not going to get to host the 2020 Olympic games.
Share prices in India continued to rebound, climbing 1.5%. Equities also rose 0.7% in China, 0.5% in Indonesia, and 0.3% in Singapore and the Philippines. But European stocks are down 0.2% in France and 0.1% in Germany and Britain.
The 10-year British gilt yield dipped two basis points, and the German bund is a basis point lower.
Oil rose 0.4% to $108.85 per barrel. Gold is 0.2% lower at $1369.30 per troy ounce.
Australia’s construction PCI index dipped 0.4 points in August to 43.7. July had seen a 4.6-point rise to a 5-month peak of 44.1. Alas, these readings still connote fairly substantial contraction.
Japan’s index of leading economic indicators rose 0.6 points to 107.8. The Index of coincident indicators rose 0.9 points to 106.4 in August. Japanese reserves increased by $171 million in August to $1.2542 trillion.
German industrial production dropped 1.7% in July, erasing most of June’s 2.0% increase. Production was 2.3% below a year earlier. The German current account surplus of EUR 14.3 billion in July was close to the year-earlier surplus of EUR 14.4 billion. But the seasonally adjusted trade surplus of EUR 14.5 billion was below the 2Q average of EUR 16.0 billion per month. Merchandise exports fell 1.1% from June, while imports increased 0.5%. Moody’s reassigned a stable outlook to its ratings on German banks.
British Industrial production was unchanged on month in July and 1.6% less than in July 2012. Factory output went up only 0.2% on month and fell 0.7% compared to July 2012. The U.K. goods and services trade deficit increased 2.5-fold to GBP 3.085 billion in July. The merchandise trade deficit widened to GBP 9.853 billion from GBP 8.171 billion in June. The Halifax British house price index rose 0.4% on month in August and by 5.4% on year in June-August.
Swiss consumer prices dipped 0.1% in August and were unchanged from a year before. Swiss industrial production fell 1.1% last quarter and by 4.2% between the second quarters of 2012 and 2013.
French consumer confidence rose two points to 84 in August. Revised Greek national income accounts showed a slightly smaller on-year GDP contraction of 3.8% in the second quarter.
Investors await the U.S. Labor Department’s monthly labor force survey and what it reveals about employment growth, the unemployment rate, and average hourly earnings.
The Bank of Mexico has a policy meeting today.
Copyright 2013, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: British industrial production and trade deficit, German industrial production and current account