Macro Roundup (Aug 9)

SHANGHAI, Aug 9 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.

Last night

The dollar index slipped 0.07% to 95.098 overnight, while the pound dropped to its lowest level in almost a year on Wednesday as investors ramped up bets on Britain leaving the EU without an agreement with Brussels.

China announced on Wednesday that it would levy additional import tariffs of 25% on $16 billion worth of US goods ranging from oil and steel products to autos and medical equipment on August 23. That came in response to the US decision of imposing the same tariff on an equal amount of Chinese imports on the same day.

LME base metals closed mixed on Wednesday. Aluminium surged 4.1%, nickel rose 1.2%, zinc and copper inched up 0.44% and 0.26%, respectively, while lead edged down 0.12% and tin lost 0.74%. SHFE metals also saw mixed trading. Aluminium jumped 2.2%, nickel rose 0.73%, lead was up 0.55% and zinc up 0.28%. Copper and tin dipped 0.26% and 0.3%, respectively.

China's foreign trade maintained steady growth in the first seven months of this year despite escalating tensions with the US. Customs data showed the country’s goods trade went up 8.6% year on year to 16.72 trillion yuan ($2.45 trillion) during January-July.

Exports rose 5% year on year while imports grew 12.9%, resulting in a trade surplus of just 1.06 trillion yuan, narrowed by 30.6%.

In July, China's exports rose 12.2% from a year earlier, beating forecasts of a 10% increase, and up from a 11.2% gain in June. Imports also grew 27.3%, beating a forecast of 16.2%, and it compared with a 14.1% rise in June.

China's trade surplus with the US dipped only slightly to $28.09 billion last month from a record $28.97 billion in June.

Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that US crude inventories fell by 1.4 million barrels for the week ended August 3, smaller than an expected drop of 3 million barrels. Meanwhile, stockpiles of gasoline and distillates rose more than expected and registered increases of 2.9 million barrels and 1.23 million barrels, respectively.

Day ahead

Key things to watch today include China’s consumer and producer inflation, total social financing and M2 money supply in July, US producer inflation in July, initial jobless claims last week and wholesale inventories in June.