Macro Roundup (Feb 21)

SHANGHAI, Feb 21 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.

Last night

LME base metals traded higher across the board on Wednesday. Nickel increased by 1.9%, copper climbed 1.5%, zinc and lead advanced 1.3%, aluminium rose 1% and tin gained 0.5%.

SHFE base metals, except for tin, performed similarly overnight. Nickel saw the biggest gain of 1.5%, zinc grew 0.9%, copper crept 0.8%, aluminium gained 0.3% and lead popped 0.4%.

The US dollar index rose on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting appeared more hawkish than the market had expected.

The Federal Reserve said the US economy and its labour market remained strong, growing some expectations of at least one more interest rate hike this year. The Fed also emphasised the need for patience over monetary policy.

China's yuan rose on the back of the Tuesday report that Washington is requesting that Beijing take action prevent a sharp weakening of its currency as part of the trade deal.

The European Commission said on Wednesday that the flash consumer confidence indicator in the euro area rose by 0.5 point to -7.4 in February and came in slightly better than the market expectation of -7.8.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Wednesday reported an increase of 1.26 million barrels in the US crude oil inventories for the week ended February 15.

In the previous week ending February 8, API reported a drop of 998,000 barrels, the first fall in a four-week period.

Gasoline inventories declined 1.55 million barrels last week, and distillate inventories decreased by 758,000 barrels, according to the API report.

Day ahead

Economic data slated for release today include Germany’s consumer price index (CPI) for January, US durable goods orders for December, existing home sales for January as well as weekly unemployment claims and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly crude stocks report.

Markit February manufacturing purchasing managers’ indexes (PMI) for Germany, the Eurozone and the US are also due today.