Macro Roundup (Jun 24)

SHANGHAI, Jun 24 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected in the day ahead.

The US dollar continued to edge lower on Tuesday, hitting the lowest level in more than a week, as US President Trump boosted investors’ optimism after he tweeted that the trade deal with China was “still intact”.

This followed an increase in the greenback when the markets were unsettled by surprise comments from White House trade adviser Peter Navarro who said the hard-won deal was “over”.

The euro recovered after data showed that a downturn in the euro zone economy eased again in June. 

Investors weighed better-than-expected economic data against the continued rises in new coronavirus cases in certain areas across the globe.

LME and SHFE base metals ended mostly lower overnight, with LME zinc leading the losses with a drop of 2.23%. LME aluminium slipped 0.59%, tin fell 0.35%, lead lost 1.55%, while copper advanced 0.27% and nickel added 0.52%. 

SHFE zinc declined 1.39%, aluminium shed 0.4%, lead fell 0.45%, nickel eased 0.4%, while copper continued to edge up by 0.19% and tin climbed 0.38%. Rebar inched down 0.06% and stainless steel shed 1.36%.

On the data front, IHS Markit's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the eurozone rose further from an all-time low of 13.6 seen in April and surged to 47.5 in June from 31.9 in May. 
Meanwhile, the services PMI jumped to a 4-month high of 47.3, as compared to 30.5 in May.

The economic downturn in the US was also losing steam, as the flash US service sector PMI rose to a 4-month high of 46.7 in June from 37.5 in the previous month, IHS Markit said Tuesday. he flash manufacturing sector PMI also climbed to a 4-month high of 49.6 from 39.8 in May.

Though an improvement, the readings remain slightly below 50 which separates expansion from contraction. 

Sales of newly-built single-family houses in the US occurred at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 676,000 in May, the government reported Tuesday.

That marked a 16.6% increase from the downwardly-revised pace of 580,000 in April. On a yearly basis, new home sales were up 12.7% in May.

“The jump in new home sales is a nice indicator of what’s to come because it’s based on contract signings, a somewhat early stage of the homebuying process,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. 

“A similar surge in next week’s pending home sales, which cover the much larger existing homes market, will be good confirmation that the low point in home sales is likely behind us.”

Key economic data slated for release today include Germany’s ifo business climate index for June, the US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) house price index for April and the US weekly crude oil change surveyed by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).