Key Macroeconomic Indicators for Base Metal Prices (2017-1-10)

SHANGHAI, Jan. 10 (SMM) – China’s annualized December CPI and PPI, annualized M0, M1 and M2 supply in December and new RMB loans and informal financing will be released today. NFIB small enterprise confidence index in December, wholesale inventory in November and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey’s (JOLTS) job openings in November will also be announced. Fed chairmen will speak today and may change environment for the US dollar. Base metals will diverge today.

Boosted by the weather and high-demand season, rising food prices will keep December CPI above 2%, rising 2.3% or falling slightly. December PPI will jump to 4.6%. If the index rose for 4 months in a row, China’s inflation is expected to improve. China’s annualized M0, M1 and M2 supply in December is expected to fall short of or stabilize at November’s, meaning slower economic growth.

Base Metals to Diverge, SMM Says

NFIB small enterprise confidence index is expected to top market expectations in December, meaning optimism of small enterprises toward US economy. Wholesale inventory in November will hold largely stable. JOLTS’s job openings are expected to decrease in November. Fewer job openings mean good job market conditions. Iraq’s crude oil exports and US output continued growing, and this will undermine effects from output cut by OPEC countries, weighing down oil prices.