Macro Roundup (Jan 18)

SHANGHAI, Jan 18 (SMM) — This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.

The dollar clung to a late week bounce on Monday as investors braced for January’s U.S. Federal Reserve meeting and raised bets it will chart a year ahead containing several rate hikes, while China cut borrowing costs to support a stuttering economy.

A Bank of Japan meeting which concludes on Tuesday, British inflation data on Wednesday and Australian jobs figures on Thursday are also in view as traders gauge the global policy outlook.

An unexpected cut to some key lending rates in China highlighted it as the outlier, though it only briefly weighed on the yuan.

The dollar was 0.3% higher at 114.47 yen late in the Asia session, about 0.8% above a Friday low. It also edged a fraction firmer on the euro to $1.1421.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally ended the session up by 0.8%, with media stocks climbing 1.9% to lead the gains with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.

Investors in Europe and Asia Pacific were digesting the latest gross domestic product data from China on Monday, with official data showing the world’s second largest economy grew faster than expected between October and December.

U.S. markets are closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

U.S. stock futures were little changed Monday night as traders braced for the latest batch of corporate earnings reports.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked higher by 33 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped marginally. U.S. markets were closed Monday due to the Martin Luther King holiday.

Gold prices held steady on Monday as market participants gauged the global economic policy outlook, with inflation-based demand for bullion countering hawkish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials, supporting the dollar and Treasury yields.

Gold is considered an inflationary hedge, but the metal is highly sensitive to rising U.S. interest rates, which increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Spot gold was steady at $1,819.34 per ounce, as of 0615 GMT. U.S. gold futures edged up 0.2% to $1,819.70.

European stocks closed higher on Monday as investors digested a string of corporate news and the latest growth data out of China.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally ended the session up by 0.8%, with media stocks climbing 1.9% to lead the gains with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.