Macro Roundup (Dec 11)

SHANGHAI, Dec 11 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.

Last night

LME base metals ended in negative territory across the board overnight. Lead dropped over 2%, nickel fell close to 1.6%, copper slipped close to 0.9%, aluminium slid over 0.8%, zinc lost some 0.3% and tin edged down close to 0.2%.

SHFE base metals, except for tin, also traded lower across the board overnight. Zinc tumbled over 1%, nickel and lead lost some 0.5%, copper sank close to 0.4% and aluminium fell close to 0.3%.

The pound slid to its lowest in 18 months against the dollar on Monday December 10 as British Prime Minister Theresa May postponed a parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal, rekindling doubts about the UK's departure from the European Union in March.

The greenback, however, recovered to 97 following its steepest weekly drop in three months last week.

German exports rose by 0.7% in October, compared to the previous month, while imports rose by 1.3%, in calendar and seasonally adjusted terms, according to provisional results published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Monday. That narrowed the trade surplus to 17.3 billion euros ($19.74 billion) in October, from 17.7 billion euros in September.

Eurozone investor confidence declined for a fourth month in December, with expectations for economic prospects at the lowest since 2012.

An index measuring sentiment in the 19-nation region slid to -0.3 from 8.8 in November, Sentix said in a statement on Monday. A gauge for current conditions also slipped.

"The economy is slimming down at a considerable pace, again challenging politicians and central banks," Frankfurt-based Sentix said. "Whether trade disputes, the Italian crisis, unrest in France and Belgium or Brexit: it's coming from all corners at the moment."

The number of available jobs exceeded the number of unemployed workers by about 1 million in the US, according to the most recent government count of job openings, according to a Labor Department release on Monday.

US total available jobs stood at 7.08 million for October, the second-highest level surpassed only by the 7.3 million in August, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed. By comparison, there were just 6.08 million Americans classified as unemployed for the month.

Day ahead

Economic data slated for release today include China’s total social financing (TSF) and M2 money supply for November, Germany’s ZEW economic climate index for December and US producer prices for November and the American Petroleum Institute (API) weekly crude oil inventories.