Macro Roundup (Apr 16)

SHANGHAI, Apr 16 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected today.

Last night

LME base metals, except for lead, traded lower on Monday. Zinc saw the biggest loss of close to 1%, tin fell 0.4%, copper and nickel lost some 0.2%, aluminium edged down 0.05%.

SHFE base metals saw no better performance overnight. Zinc dropped close to 0.9%, tin declined 0.4%, copper lost 0.2%, aluminium sank 0.1% and nickel dipped 0.02% while lead gained 0.7%.

The US dollar rebounded against a basket of foreign currencies on Monday.

Although the greenback tends to underperform when risk appetite grows, data on Friday April 12 showed that speculators bolstered their net long dollar position in the latest week. It now stands at its highest since December 2015.

Despite a dovish shift in the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy outlook, the dollar remained firm on  upbeat US economic data.

It was reported that the European Union on Monday gave the green light to start trade negotiations with the US, after both economies threatened each other with tariffs over a 14-year-old aviation dispute.

China's central bank said on Monday that it would strengthen coordination between monetary, fiscal and other policies to keep growth stable and forestall risks.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) will continue its counter-cyclical adjustments while fine-tuning monetary policy, it said in a statement issued after a quarterly meeting of the monetary policy committee. The central bank will not adopt strong stimulus policies, the statement added.

PBOC has continued to skip open market operations for 18 consecutive trading days as of Monday, citing abundant liquidity in the banking system.

Day ahead

Economic data slated for release include the ZEW economic sentiment index for the Eurozone and Germany, as well as US industrial production for March and weekly crude inventory data from the American Petroleum Institute (API).