Plunging Commodity Prices and Other Leftovers
November 28, 2014
At $69.10 per barrel, WTI crude oil has fallen 6.2%. OPEC failed to cut production quotas.
Comex gold is down over 1% at $1,182.20 per ounce.
Share prices are higher in the United States, Japan, China and India. European equities are little changed.
Dollar/yen has risen further. The euro is lower against the dollar but up on some crosses.
Sovereign debt yields are soft.
Euro area unemployment stayed at 11.5% for a third straight month in October, and youth unemployment ticked up 0.1 to 23.5%.
CPI inflation in Euroland slid 0.1 to 0.3% in November, matching September’s low.
Canadian GDP growth slowed to an annualized 2.8% in 3Q from 3.6% in 2Q. Monthly GDP rose 0.4% in September. Producer prices fell 0.5% last month on a 4.6% plunge in energy.
Japanese CPI inflation slowed to 2.9% in October from 3.2% and posted a 0.4% seasonally adjusted on-month decline. Core inflation of 2.9% was at a 7-month low. Excluding energy as well as fresh food, consumer prices dropped to a 12-month rate of 2.2%.
Japanese unemployment dipped 0.1 percentage point to 3.5% in October. Jobs were 0.4% greater than a year earlier.
On-year growth in Japanese retail sales slowed to 1.4% in October from 2.3% in September but matched the average 3Q pace.
Real consumption expenditure in Japan, which has posted on-year declines each month since April, was 4.0% lower in October.
Japanese housing starts sank 12.3% on year in October, but construction orders swung back into the black with a 15.7% 12-month gain.
Japanese motor vehicle output recorded a fourth straight on-year drop, this time of 6.3%.
Japanese industrial production firmed 0.2% in October but was 1.0% below its year-earlier level.
British consumer confidence printed at minus 2 in November, same as October’s reading. The U.K. Nationwide house price index showed a 12-month rise of 8.5%.
German retail sales increased 1.9% on month and 1.7% on year.
Copyright 2014, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.