The Chinese trade balance came in yesterday at 376.20 billion Yuan, with an expected value of 292.41 billion Yuan, versus a last reading of 368 billion Yuan. China Customs, quoted by Bloomberg (Reuters), declared that the decay in exports means a fall in the goods momentum, warped also by a still struggling foreign trade.
On the UK side, the ONS (Office for National Statistics) released latest results over the cost of living measured through the CPI (Consumer’s Price Index). According to officials, the CPI has fallen 0.1% mom (month-on-month) in the month of September, with previous flat outcome in August. We should remember that this year’s April was the first month with a negative CPI since the 1960’s. The annualized figure of the index also fell 0.1%, but the core value remained unchanged at 1.0% as last month and missing the expected 1.1% threshold breach. As main factors, the report states the slow in the growth pace of clothing prices and the fall in fuel price. The inflation measured through retail prices decreased to 0.8% from the latter 1.1% the smallest value since 2009’s November. BOE (Bank of England) declared last week that regarding the outlooks, CPI will stay under 1% until the spring of 2016.
At the moment of writing, the EUR/USD left the 1.1400 area to settle around the 1.1370 threshold. This setback coincides with the release of the German ZEW Survey bringing poor results for the month in progress, with under-anticipated values for the Current Situation and the Economic Sentiment gauges, respectively 55.2 and 1.9. The Euro-zone’s sentiment triggers even lower marks, at 30.1 for the time being, down from September’s 33.3.
The crude had some ups and down during the last couple of days. On Monday, the week started with a sharp fall in prices, the WTI (West Texas Intermediate) barrel going down more than 4% during the US session. The opening price for Monday was near the psychological $50.00 threshold, but bottomed at $47.20, lowest since the 6th of September. Tuesday’s trend-map is the opposite of Monday’s, prices being able to march well above the $47.00 mark/barrel. The IEA’s (International Energy Agency) report over the supply glut still lingering in the international economy and the poor trade balance figures revealed by the Chinese economy are the main reasons which drive the sentiment since early in the trading sessions. WTI prices started to incorporate the information as soon as it hit the press, the barrel managing to recover most of the loss on Monday.
