Macro Roundup (Jun 12)

SHANGHAI, Jun 12 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.

Last night

The US dollar index dipped on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump again rebuked US interest rates for being too high, in a series of tweets that also accused Europe of devaluing the euro.

Bolstered by hopes that China will pump money into building metals-intensive infrastructure, LME base metals closed higher across the board on Tuesday, with the biggest gain of 2.4% in nickel. Zinc rose 1.8%, lead climbed 1.6%, copper advanced 0.2%, tin and aluminium gained some 0.1%.

SHFE base metals traded mixed overnight. Nickel increased by 1.5%, zinc gained 0.6%, and aluminium crept up close to 0.3%, while copper dipped, tin edged down close to 0.1% and lead fell 0.3%.

Beijing on Monday said it will allow local governments to use proceeds from special bonds as capital for major investment projects to support economic growth.

On the data front, US producer prices rose for a second straight month in May, though pressure on prices remained tepid.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that its producer price index for the American economy, a gauge of prices that businesses receive for their goods, rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in May from a month earlier, boosted by higher costs of hotel accommodation and gains in other services. In the 12 months through May, the PPI climbed 1.8%, slowing from 2.2% in April.

Investor morale in the eurozone deteriorated sharply in June as the US-China trade dispute escalated, a survey showed on Tuesday.

Eurozone June Sentix investor confidence index came in at -3.3, compared with the expectations of 2.9 and the previous reading of 5.3.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported Tuesday that US crude inventories climbed by 4.9 million barrels for the week ended June 7, after rising 3.6 million barrels in the previous week. The API data also showed a stockpile increase of 829,000 barrels in gasoline, while distillate inventories fell by 3.5 million barrels.

Day ahead

China will release its consumer and producer inflation as well as financial data for May, while the US will publish its consumer inflation numbers for May and weekly crude inventory data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).