SHANGHAI, Aug 13 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last weekend and what is expected today.
Last weekend
The dollar index logged a new high in over one year, settling at 96.45 on Friday night, while the Turkish lira fell over 20% against the greenback, reaching a record low of 6.87, after US President Donald Trump announced he was doubling metals tariffs on Turkey.
LME base metals, except for aluminium, fell across the board on Friday night. LME zinc tumbled over 2%. SHFE aluminium nudged up 0.07% while copper edged down 0.22%. Zinc dropped 1.32%, nickel slipped 0.64%, tin slid 0.4%, and lead dipped 0.11%.
US consumer prices rose in July and the underlying trend continued to strengthen, pointing to a steady increase in inflation pressures that keeps the Federal Reserve Board on track to gradually raise interest rates.
The Labor Department said on Friday its consumer price index (CPI) advanced 0.2% last month after it rose 0.1% in June, which was in line with the expectations. On a yearly basis, the CPI increased 2.9%, matching the forecasts and the increase in June.
Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the CPI rose 0.2%, the same gain as in May and June. The annual increase in the so-called core CPI was 2.4%, the largest rise since September 2008, from 2.3% in June.
Inflation pressures are seen continuing to build amid low unemployment and increasing difficulty reported by employers in filling positions. Rising raw material costs are also expected to push up inflation as manufacturers pay more, in part because of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on lumber, aluminium and steel imports.
US drillers added 10 oil rigs in the week ended August 10, bringing the total count to 869, the highest level since March 2015, according to data from energy service firm Baker Hughes. For the same week, total active US rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, increased by 13 to 1,057 from 1,044.
Day ahead
Key things to watch today include China’s July social financing and M2 money supply and the July OPEC report.
