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

Last night

The US dollar fell 0.47%, to a three-day low of 97.03, as comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell bolstered expectations for an interest rate cut by the US central bank this month.

Base metals closed mostly higher as LME zinc climbed 1.52%, lead grew 1.03%, copper increased 2.44%, aluminum advanced 1.62%, nickel expanded 2.08%, while tin lost 0.36%. SHFE zinc rose 0.68%, copper went up 1.66%, aluminium grew 1.05%, lead climbed 1.32%, nickel gained 1.30%, while tin eased 0.04%. 

In testimony to the House Financial Services Committee, Fed Chair Powell said business investments across the US have slowed “notably” recently as uncertainties over the economic outlook linger.

“Many FOMC participants saw that the case for a somewhat more accommodative monetary policy had strengthened,” Powell said. “Since then, based on incoming data and other developments, it appears that uncertainties around trade tensions and concerns about the strength of the global economy continue to weigh on the US economic outlook.”

China's consumer prices continued stable growth while inflation at the factory gates weakened.

The consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 2.7% year on year in June, the same expansion as that of May, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday.

For the first half of this year, CPI increased 2.2% compared with the same period last year, according to the NBS.

NBS official Dong Yaxiu said price hikes of certain fruits resulted from the heavy rainfall in southern areas. 

The carry-over effects resulted in a rise of 1.5 percentage points in the CPI growth in June, while new factors contributed to 1.2 percentage points, Dong added. 

NBS data on Wednesday also showed that China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 0.3% year on year in the first half of 2019. 

PPI showed no growth in June from a year earlier, compared with a 0.6% rise in May and an expected gain of 0.2%.

US wholesale inventories rose in May amid a strong increase in the automotive sector, but the accumulation pace is slowing, supporting views that inventory accumulation could be a drag on economic growth in the second quarter.

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday wholesale inventories increased 0.4% in the month in May after advanced 0.8% in April. Wholesale inventories increased 7.7% on a year-on-year basis May.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday reported that US crude supplies declined by 9.5 million barrels for the week ended July 5. They were expected to fall by 2.1 million barrels, according to analysts at IHS Markit. 

The EIA data also showed that gasoline inventories were also down by 1.5 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles climbed by 3.7 million barrels last week.

Day ahead

Economic data slated for release today include China’s social financing, M2 money supply for June, German and US CPI for June, as well as US weekly unemployment claims.