Macro Roundup (Sep 23)

SHANGHAI, Sep 23 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last weekend and what is expected today.

Last weekend

The US dollar rose against a basket of currencies on Friday, prompted by hopes of progress in US-China trade talks and that the Federal Reserve would not lower rates aggressively.

US and Chinese deputy trade negotiators met in Washington during September 19-20 in an effort to lay the groundwork for high-level discussions in early October.

The Fed lowered key lending rates by a quarter point on Wednesday, but signaled a higher bar to further reductions in borrowing costs.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard explained in a note why he thought the Fed should have made a deeper cut, citing “signs that US economic growth is expected to slow in the near horizon.”

LME base metals closed mixed in Friday. Lead rose 1.1%, tin advanced 0.9% and nickel gained 0.5%, while aluminium fell 0.5%, copper shed 0.7% and zinc dropped 1.1%.

SHFE base metals also saw mixed performance on Friday night, with the biggest gain of 1.8% in nickel. Tin rose 1.3%, and aluminium inched up 0.2%, while lead dipped 0.1%, copper slipped 0.2%, and zinc declined 0.5%.

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake jolted Indonesia's eastern Maluku province earlier Sunday but there was no tsunami alert issued, the meteorology and geophysics agency said. SMM expects the earthquake to have little impact on local nickel ore supply.

Day ahead

Markit's flash composite purchasing managers index (PMI) for the eurozone and the US will be released today.

Other key things to watch include speeches from New York Fed President John Williams, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly as well as the European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi.