Monday Rundown
August 7, 2017
Comparatively small changes can be seen so far in U.S. and European stocks. Likewise, the dollar shows a dip of 0.1% against the yuan and resilient euro but gains of 0.3% versus the loonie, 0.2% against the Australian dollar and 0.1% relative to the yen, Swissie, and sterling. Bigger dollar advances of 0.7% against the kiwi and 0.4% versus the peso have happened.
Equities rose 0.9% in Australia, 0.7% in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and 0.5% in China and Japan. Stocks have dipped 0.4% in Germany but risen 0.3% in the U.K. and 0.4% in Italy. The U.S. S&P is 0.1% higher.
10-year sovereign debt yields are up a basis point in Japan and the United States, unchanged in Germany, down a basis point in Italy and Spain and off 2 bps in Britain.
WTI oil has dropped 0.5% to $49.34 per barrel. Gold is 0.1% softer at $1,263.50 per ounce. Industrial metal prices are firmer, in contrast.
Today’s biggest data surprise has been news of a 1.1% drop in German industrial production in June, its first slide since December. But output in the second quarter still surpassed the 1Q mean by 1.8% and showed a 2.4% advance between June 2016 and June 2017.
China’s current account in the second quarter totaled $52.9 billion, nearly three times bigger than in 1Q but down from $65.1 billion in the second quarter of 2016 and $88.0 billion in 2Q15. The first-half surplus equaled 1.3% on Chinese GDP.
Chinese international reserves climbed $23.9 billion in July and $71.6 billion over the past four reported months.
Japanese reserves rose $10.19 billion last month and $29.7 billion over the past four months.
Japan’s index of leading economic indicators advanced 1.6 points to 106.3 in June, the highest reading since March 2014, while the index of coincident economic indicators improved to its best score since February 2008.
A 0.4% rise in the British Halifax house price index in July reversed a same-sized slide in June, leaving the April-July average 0.1% under the mean in the prior three months and just 2.6% higher than a year earlier.
Swiss consumer prices posted a second straight on-month decline, this time of 0.3%, which left the CPI just 0.3% higher than a year earlier.
Australia’s purchasing managers index for the construction sector jumped 4.5 points to 60.5 in July, the best reading in this data series that goes back to 2005.
Austrian wholesale prices rose 0.3% on month in July and accelerated to a 3.2% 12-month rate of increase.
The euro area Sentix indicator, a gauge of investor confidence, slipped 1.2 points to a score of 27.1 in August, lowest since April.
Norwegian industrial production rose 0.3% in June, but production in Denmark and the Czech Republic fell back 3.7% and 3.8%. Compared to a year earlier, output rose 5.4% in Norway, 2.3% in Denmark and 2.2% in the Czech Republic.
Indonesia real GDP rose 4.0% in the second quarter and was 5.0% higher than in 2Q16.
Canada is observing localized holidays in several of its provinces today. The U.S. labor market conditions index and consumer credit figures will be released.
Copyright 2017, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: Chinese current account and reserves, German industrial production