SHANGHAI, Dec 4 (SMM) – This is a roundup of global macroeconomic news last night and what is expected in the day ahead.
Last night
The US dollar extended its decline on Tuesday against a basket of its rivals as disappointing manufacturing data and new developments in global trade tensions rattled greenback investors.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday indicated he might delay a trade deal with China until after the presidential elections in November 2020, which dashed hopes that an agreement could be reached before another round of tariff hikes take effect on December 15.
Further hurting market sentiment, Washington also threatened duties on French goods in response to France’s decision to apply a tax on digital companies.
Global trade tensions escalated on Monday after Trump announced tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Brazil and Argentina.
LME base metals, except for tin, closed lower on Tuesday. Nickel led the losses with a 2.5% drop, aluminium tumbled 1.3%, copper and zinc slid 0.7%, and lead fell 0.3%.
The SHFE complex traded mixed overnight. Nickel lost 3.1% to be the worst performer, lead shed 0.7% and copper slipped 0.3%, while tin gained 0.1%, zinc rose 0.2% and aluminium increased 0.3%.
On the data front, US crude stocks fell while gasoline inventories rose and distillate stocks increased last week, data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday.
Crude inventories fell by 3.7 million barrels in the week to November 29 to 445.9 million, compared with analysts’ expectations for a fall of 1.7 million barrels.
Gasoline stocks rose by 2.9 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.8 million-barrel gain.
Distillate fuels stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, rose by 794,000 barrels, compared with expectations for a 1.1 million-barrel gain, the data showed.
Day ahead
Automatic Data Processing’s (ADP) report on US employment change and the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) index on activity in the US services sector for November, as well as the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) weekly US crude inventory data are slated for release today.
Caixin November purchasing managers’ index on China’s services sector is also due today.
