Macroeconomic/ geopolitical developments
- Comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday in a speech at the Brookings Institution, signaled smaller interest rate hikes going forward and saw risk assets rally.
- The US Employment report was released Friday and the non-farm payrolls data showed that the U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in November, above consensus estimates of around 200,000. The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7%.
- Chinese stocks were positive for the week despite initial losses following civil unrest in major cities in reaction to COVID restrictions, amid signs that Beijing was moving closer to reopening the economy, easing pandemic controls.
Global financial market developments
- Another solid week for the major US stock averages, building on the November surge after the US CPI release.
- European equity indices were also up last week, rising for a seventh straight week, Asian averages were higher too.
- US Treasury yields pushed lower to new multi-month yield lows.
- The US Dollar pushed even lower to new multi-month lows across this FX board.
- Gold advanced, building on the November surge from a multi-month low to another new multi-month high.
- Oil prices bounced, easing negative pressures.
- Copper staged a strong bounce for a positive bias in a braided range/ bottoming phase.
Key this week
- Central Bank Watch: We get the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) interest rate decision on Tuesday and the same from the Bank of Canada (BoC) on Wednesday
- Macroeconomic data: A quiet data week, with the standout the global Services and Composite PMI data from S&P Global and US ISM Service PMI on Monday.
| Date | Key Macroeconomic Events |
| 05/12/22 | Global Services and Composite PMI data from S&P Global and US ISM Service PMI; EU Retail Sales |
| 06/12/22 | RBA interest rate decision |
| 07/12/22 | Australian GDP; EU GDP; BoC interest rate decision |
| 08/12/22 | Japan GDP |
| 09/12/22 | US PPI; Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index |
