Macro Roundup (Mar 27)

SHANGHAI, Mar 27 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.

Last night

The US dollar inched higher against its rivals as benchmark US 10-year Treasury debt yields rebounded from 15-month lows due to stock gains as investors brushed aside disappointing domestic data on housing starts and consumer confidence.

Base metals ended mostly higher as LME zinc led the increase and jumped 1.37%. LME nickel gained 1.16%, aluminium rose 0.9%, copper went up 0.26%, while lead lost 0.79%, and tin slid 0.19%. SHFE zinc and nickel gained more than 1.8%, copper nudged up, while aluminium, tin, and lead edged down. 

The US House of Representatives failed to override President Trump's veto on a congressional resolution blocking his national emergency declaration. The vote was 248-181, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed. 

German consumer sentiment is set to face its first setback of the year in April after the indicator's positive start to 2019, market research group GfK said on Tuesday.

GfK's forward-looking confidence index fell from the expected 10.8 and came in at 10.4 in April after a downwardly revised 10.7 in March, GfK said. The first reading for March was 10.8.

"We nevertheless assume that consumption will be an important pillar of economic developments in Germany this year, too," GfK said in its monthly survey.

US homebuilding fell more than expected in February as construction of single-family homes dropped to a low of a year and a half, but the outlook on the housing market is improving amid declining mortgage rates.

Housing starts decreased 8.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.16 million units last month, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. The drop was the largest in eight months, and could be largely due to bad weather last month.

Building permits fell 1.6% to nearly 1.3 million units in February. While that was the second straight monthly decline in permits, permits are now outpacing starts, which suggests a pickup in homebuilding in the months ahead.

The US consumer confidence fell sharply in March, extending a recent volatile pattern that reflects greater concerns about the US economy.

The consumer confidence index slid to 124.1 from 131.4 in February, the Conference Board said on Tuesday.

"Confidence has been somewhat volatile over the past few months, as consumers have had to weather volatility in the financial markets, a partial government shutdown and a very weak February jobs report," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the board.

"Despite these dynamics, consumers remain confident that the economy will continue expanding in the near term," she added. "However, the overall trend in confidence has been softening since last summer, pointing to a moderation in economic growth."

The American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday that US crude supplies climbed by 1.9 million barrels for the week ended March 22. The API also reportedly showed stockpile declines of 3.5 million barrels for gasoline and 4.3 million barrels for distillates. 

Day ahead

China will release its profits of industrial enterprises, above a designated size, for February. The US will release its trade balance for January, and weekly crude inventory from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).