020 7898 0500It was a slow day yesterday in the states in terms of tangible data releases. The one major release was the crude oil inventory data, which was expected to come in at 2.815 million barrels, but came in at 2.840 million. The oil inventories have a knock on effect to the price of products and therefore inflation.
From the early morning we saw dollar (USD) weakness, with no positive data to stem the tide. By 5pm we had seen it loss nearly 1% against sterling (GBP, pound) and an uncertain day versus the euro (EUR). With the Trump presidency up and running we have seen investors flock to US stock, with the DOW JONES breaking 20,000 points for the first time. The BBC interviewed the man hotly tipped to be US ambassador to the European Union, Professor Ted Malloch, who revealed he will be “shorting the euro”. He also informed us that a UK US trade deal could be completed in as little as 90 days.
Today we have new home sales data, which is forecast to hit 588,000 for December. We also have services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) and jobless claims, expected at 54.4 and 247,000 respectively. The US goods trade balance for December will also be released and is expected to come in at at -$64.5 billion.
