Sunday, July 23, 2017

QUICK OVERVIEW



  • World's most populous city Shanghai just registered highest temperature of 40.9C (105 F) in recorded history.

  • U.S. Housing starts rose for the first time in four months in June, increasing 8.3% to an annual rate of 1.215 million.

  • The euro zone's public deficit dropped in the first quarter of the year to its lowest level in nearly a decade, driven by a widening surplus in Germany.

  • China has raised its 2017 annual GDP projection to 6.8% YoY from 6.6 % previously.

Saturday, July 15, 2017

QUICK OVERVIEW



  • US and retail sales fell for a second straight month.

  • U.S. business inventories rose 0.3% after an unrevised 0.2% decrease in April.

  • Sales fell 0.2%, the biggest decline since July 2016, after being unchanged in April.

  • U.S. Consumer prices were unchanged in June.



  • Chances of a U.S. rate hike in December fell to 47% from 55%.



  • All this points to tame inflation and subdued expectations of strong economic growth in the second quarter.




  • CAD derived extra support after the Bank of Canada raised its overnight rate target by 25 bp to 0.75%.




  • Drill, baby, drill. Baker Hughes says the worldwide rig count for June was 2,041, up 106 from May and up 634 from June 2016



Sunday, July 09, 2017

QUICK OVERVIEW



  • U.S. Non-farm payrolls rose by 222,000 jobs last month, driven by hefty gains in healthcare, government, restaurants and professional and business services sectors, the Labor Department said on Friday. Beating economists' expectations for a 179,000 increase.

  • Department of Labor said that Average hourly earnings in the U.S. rose to a seasonally adjusted 0.2%, from 0.1% in the preceding month whose figure was revised down from 0.2%. Analysts had expected Average hourly earnings to rise to 0.3% last month.

  • German Industrial Production rose 1.2% vs. 0.3% forecast

  • MoM Canada's PMI rose to 61.6 from 53.8.

  • The Canadian unemployment rate fell to 6.5%, from 6.6% MoM.

  • MoM U.K. industrial production fell to -0.1%, from 0.2%. Analysts had expected U.K. industrial production to rise 0.4% last month.

  • After a record 17.55 million units sold in 2016, the U.S. auto industry has posted declining sales for the last four months, with high consumer discounts and inventory levels posing concerns.

  • Not much for the gold bulls to be excited about. Central banks are not so accommodating anymore and inflation - so far - isn't an issue.


  • The current Australian drought may be responsible for a YoY plunge in wheat production of more than 40% - smallest crop in a decade.

  • Minneapolis wheat, a specific focus of grain market attention since the drought began, is leading the way. Temperatures in the northern plains spring wheat belt have seen temps above 100 and more heat may be on the way.