Equity Wobbles Continue
December 7, 2022
Warnack won the Georgia senatorial runoff election, giving the Democrats a narrow senate majority plus the presidency for the coming two years, but Republicans now control the U.S. House of Representatives and have a solid grip on the Supreme Court for the foreseeable future.
The dollar overnight dropped 0.5% against sterling, 0.4% relative to the euro and Swiss franc and 0.3% vis-a-vis the Chinese yuan. A relaxation of Chinese Covid restrictions has been confirmed, but risks surrounding the Russian-Ukraine war remain great.
Equity markets in Hong Kong, Australia, and Japan closed down 3.2%, 0.9% and o.7% today. European and U.S. share prices are somewhat weaker. Oil, gold and Bitcoin prices are respectively up 0.2%, up 0.7%, and down 1.6% so far today.
3Q Real GDP in the euro area grew 0.3% on quarter and 2.3% on year, revised up from a quarterly 0.2% uptick estimated initially. Net exports exerted a 1.1 percentage point drag on the quarterly growth rate. There were positive contributions of 0.7, 0.4, and 0.2 percentage points from business investment, personal consumption and inventories.
The Reserve Bank of India‘s repo rate was increased 35 basis points to 6.25%. That was the fifth hike this year from a starting level of 4.0% that had prevailed since May 2020. Indian CPI inflation, although down to 6.8% in October from 7.4% in September, remains well above target. The 6.25% new interest rate is at its highest level in 45 months.
Recent weakness in the dollar was the factor behind reported increases in Chinese and Japanese international reserves last month.
German industrial production dipped by a less-than-forecast 0.1% in October and was at the same level as in October 2021.
Swedish industrial production and orders respectively rose 0.1% but fell 1.2% in October.
Italian retail sales declined 0.4% on month in October, trimming the 12-month increase to 1.3% from 4.0% in the prior month.
France’s current account deficit narrowed from a 27-month high in September to a 3-month low of EUR 3.8 billion in October.
Consumer confidence in Spain eroded to a 7-month low in October.
Britain’s Halifax house price index posted the smallest on-year increase (4.7%) in 28 months during November.
China’s $69.8 billion trade surplus in November was the smallest in seven months, as both exports and imports printed below October levels.
Japan’s leading and coincident economic indices were at a 2-month high and a 3-month low in October.
Copyright 2022, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: China trade balance, Euroland GDP, German industrial production
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