Thanksgiving Day 2014
November 27, 2014
Markets will lack the usual leadership of the U.S. trading presence, but some interesting data were released earlier.
Germany’s unemployment stayed at a record low of 6.6% in November. 14K fewer workers were without work, which was a surprise to forecasters.
German consumer price inflation slowed to 0.6% in November from 0.8% in the three previous months. Saxony, Hesse, Brandenburg, and North Rhine Westphalia reported lower inflation. In the case of NRW and Saxony, inflation hadn’t been so low since the first half of 2010. The harmonized index of German consumer prices was unchanged on month and up 0.5% on year, down from 0.7%.
M3 money in the euro area posted a 2.5% on-year rise in October, same as in September. M3 on-year growth in August-October was 2.3%, a tenth of a percentage point lower than forecast. Loans to the private sector fell 1.1% on year, including a 1.8% drop in loans to firms and a 0.2% dip in mortgage lending.
Euro area economic sentiment edged up to a reading of 100.8 from 100.7. That was the best reading since July despite a 9-month low in consumer confidence. Industrial sector sentiment rose to a 4-month high, and confidence in the retail sector was at a 3-month peak. The business climate index printed at 0.18, up by 0.12 points and the best result since June.
Italian business confidence edged up 0.2 to a reading of 96.3, beating expectations.
German consumer confidence improved to 8.7 last month from 8.5 in September.
Austria’s manufacturing purchasing managers index rose a half point but remained well below the 50 no change line at 47.4. Exports orders had the lowest score in 20 months.
Spanish GDP advanced 0.5% on quarter and 1.6% on year in 3Q. Spanish consumer prices fell 0.5% between November 2013 and November 2014.
Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, called monetary union incomplete, lacking of reforms that must occur to secure a successful experiment with shared monetary policy and currency.
Capital spending in Australia climbed 0.2% last quarter, the first increase of 2014, and was led by a 4.4% increase in machinery and equipment.
Aussie new home sales jumped 3.0% in October. New Zealand posted a NZD 908 million trade deficit in October, the fourth red-ink result in a row but only 2/3rds the size of September’s deficit.
Filipino GDP rose 0.4% last quarter, trimming on-year growth to 5.3% from 6.4% in 2Q.
Canada’s current account deficit narrowed 15% to C$ 8.4 billion in the third quarter and was associated with a merchandise trade surplus of C$ 2.9 billion.
OPEC oil ministers are meeting in Vienna today. WTI oil prices are meanwhile down another 1.6% overnight to $72.54 per barrel.
Gold is pretty steady at $1,196.20 per ounce.
The dollar shows a gain of 0.5% relative to the loonie and 0.3% versus sterling. In the absence of U.S. leadership, other dollar changes have been limited to dips of 0.1% against the yen and Australian dollar, upticks of 0.1% versus the euro, Swissie, and kiwi. The yuan is unchanged.
But Chinese stocks rose 1.2% in spite of a report that corporate profits fell 2.1% in the year to October, their largest on-year drop in 27 months. In other equity markets, share prices rose 0.5% in Taiwan but dropped that amount in Hong Kong. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.8%. European markets have risen by 0.6% in Germany, 0.7% in Spain and Italy, and 0.3% in France. The British Ftse is off 0.1%, however.
And the 10-year British gilt yield has fallen four basis points to 1.94%. The 10-year Japanese JGB, 0.42%, has dipped by a further basis point.
Copyright 2014, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: Canadian current account, Euroland sentiment, Ezone M3 money