UK unemployment data continues to grow. Average earnings misses estimates
- Australia Westpac consumer sentiment 4.2% vs. -5.6%
- Japan PPI y/y -3.9% vs. -3.9%
- China CPI y/y 1.6% vs. 1.8%; PPI y/y -5.9% vs. -5.9%
- France CPI m/m -0.4% vs. -0.4%
- UK average earnings index 3.0% vs. 3.1%
- UK Claimant count change 4.6k vs. -2.3k
- UK Unemployment rate 5.4% vs. 5.5%
- Swiss ZEW Economic expectations 18.3 vs. 9.7 previously
- Eurozone industrial production m/m -0.5% vs. -0.4%; y/y 0.9% vs. 1.8%
- US Core retail sales m/m -0.3% vs. -0.1%; retail sales m/m 0.1% vs. 0.2%
- US PPI m/m -0.5% vs. -0.2%; Core PPI m/m -0.3% vs. 0.1%
The Asian markets were busy with the Kiwi staging early gains across the board. The gains in Kiwi came on Fonterra’s upward revision by S&P ratings agency, which upgraded the outlook to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’. The NZDUSD is up 1.87% for the day despite RBNZ Governor Wheeler warning of OCR rate cuts on slowing growth from China and the depreciation of the CNY. He also noted that there was little monetary policy could do to lower the exchange rate. New Zealand also posted a first operating surplus in nearly 7 years. The Aussie was trading subdued however as bets increase on a possible RBA rate cut in November. AUD was however trading strong, gaining 0.44% against the Greenback.
The Japanese Yen was weaker on the risk on sentiment but remained strong against the US Dollar as USDJPY was down -0.31% for the day. The equity markets in Asia closed in the Red with the Nikkei225 losing -1.89% and the Shanghai Index down -0.95% for the day.
Data from China included the annual inflation rate which grew less than expected at 1.6%, below estimates of 1.8%. The producer price index remained weak losing -5.9% as expected. The markets expect to see possible easing from the PBoC in the near term.
The European session saw the release of the French inflation data which fell -0.4%. The Euro was however trading stronger keeping eyes on the US retail sales numbers. At the time of writing, EURUSD was trading at 1.1445 gaining 0.58% for the day.
The UK jobs report for the month of September showed the unemployment rate declining to 5.4%. The average earnings index increased 3.0%, but fell below estimates of 3.1%. The GBP was second strongest currency today gaining 1.11% on the news and supported by a weak Greenback. The European equity markets were all trading in the Red with the German DAX down -0.67% and the London FTSE100 down -0.63%.
The US trading session saw the release of the retail sales numbers which disappointed both on the headline and the core. Retail sales for the month of September increased at 0.1%, less than expected while core retail sales fell -0.3%. The Greenback took a nosedive on the data as the US treasury yields on the 10 year note fell below the 2% mark. In pre-market trading, the US equities were looking to a mixed open with the Dow futures down -0.04% while the Nasdaq100 and the S&P500 futures were both up 0.05% and 0.04% respectively. The remainder of the evening is quiet with no major data releases scheduled.
