Macro Roundup (May 6)

SHANGHAI, May 6 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last weekend and what is expected today.

Last weekend

The US dollar decreased sharply in afternoon trade on Friday, surrendering early gains after an employment report for the month of April that topped economists’ expectations.

LME base metals ended mostly higher as copper and zinc climbed over 1%, lead rose 0.53%, nickel grew 0.29%, while aluminium lost over 1%, and tin fell 0.38%.

SHFE metals closed mixed on Tuesday April 30, the last trading day before the Labour Day holiday. Zinc jumped 0.58%, tin increased 0.39%, copper increased 0.16%, while nickel declined 0.66%, aluminium slid 0.35%, and lead went down 0.15%. 

The US Labor Department reported that the economy added 263,000 jobs in April, up from the expected 190,000, while unemployment fell to a 49-year low of 3.6%. This marks the 103rd straight month the US economy has added jobs and the 31st straight month that unemployment has stayed below 5%.

"Leaving aside month-to-month fluctuations, the labour market is still very strong, adding almost double the number of workers needed to keep pace with new entrants to the labour force in any given month," said Eric Winograd, AllianceBernstein's senior economist. 

"Wages may have been slightly tepid this month relative to expectations but are still growing at just about the highest rate this cycle, and the unemployment rate is at multi-generational lows."

Eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) final figures for April came in better than the expected 47.8, standing at 47.9. This increased from 47.5 in March, seeing a small rebound after continuing declines since July 2018. The figure is the second lowest since April 2013 and as unemployment and growth remained stagnant, its influence on the ECB’s next rate decision is likely to be minimum.

The European Union's statistics agency said on Friday that consumer price index (CPI) was 1.7% higher in April than a year earlier, a pickup in the annual rate of inflation from 1.4% in March, but below the sub-2% targeted by the ECB.

The core inflation rate, which excludes volatile prices such as those for food and energy, increased to 1.2% from 0.8% in March, reaching its highest level since October 2018.

Day ahead

China's Caixin will release the Caixin Services PMI for April. The eurozone will release data on its retail sales for March and the Sentix investor confidence index for May.