Commodities, Bond Yields, Stocks and Sterling Lower
February 17, 2017
The dollar gained 0.5% against sterling, which was depressed by a poor report on British retail sales. The greenback also rose 0.4% versus the kiwi, 0.3% vis-a-vis the Australian dollar, 0.2% relative to the euro, Swiss franc, yuan, and peso. But it lost 0.4% against the Japanese yen.
Prices for copper and other industrial metals slumped a bunch on concerns about Chinese demand. West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 0.4%, but gold went up 0.2% overnight.
Ten-year German bund and British gilt yields slid four basis points each. A similar move is suggested by trading in Treasury futures.
Equities fell 0.9% in China and Hong Kong, 0.6% in Japan, and 0.5% in Indonesia. European stock markets so far are down 0.8% in France, 0.6% in Spain and 0.2% in Germany but up 0.2% in the U.K..
British retail sales volume excluding automotive fuel dropped 0.2% in January, which slashed the on-year increase to 2.6% from 4.7% the month before. The rise in calendar 2016 had also been 4.7%. Total retail sales volume dropped 0.3% on month after a 2.1% decline registered in December. The surprising post-Brexit resilience of the British economy is starting to erode.
Retail sales volume in New Zealand increased by a slightly smaller-than-forecast 0.8% last quarter, matching the downwardly revised gain in 3Q16. Sales had increased 2.2% in the second quarter. New Zealand’s manufacturing PMI fell 2.8 points in January to 51.6, a lower score than seen in 2016.
Real GDP in Singapore posted on-year growth of 2.9% last quarter compared to 1.2% in 3Q. The recovery was more extensive than anticipated.
Euroland recorded a EUR 31.0 billion seasonally adjusted current account surplus in December, the third largest monthly surplus of 2016.
Construction output in the euro area dipped 0.2% in December but posted on-year advances of 3.2% that month, 2.2% in the fourth quarter, and 1.6% in all of 2016.
Portuguese PPI inflation more than doubled to 3.0% in January.
The U.S. index of leading economic indicators will be reported by the Conference Board this morning.
Copyright 2017, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.