With the holiday season over in the middle of the week, the markets get back into full swing on Wednesday. China, the eurozone and the US will hit the spotlight with the release of their manufacturing PMI figures. And, of course, the New Year will kick off with Friday’s US NFP numbers.
On Monday, some of the markets around the world are closed and some will have a half day. But the US market will be open as usual and have a full trading day. In terms of economic data, during the early Asian morning, we got, what’s probably the only important data for that day, which are the Chinese manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMIs. The manufacturing sectors has contracted for the month of December, going from the previous 50.0 to 49.4, where the expectation was sat at 50.0, as the November number. The non-manufacturing sector performed slightly better in December. It managed to beat, not only expectations, which were at 53.2, but also the previous figure of 53.4. The number came out 53.8, which means that the non-manufacturing sector is still performing well.
On Tuesday all the markets are closed. Happy New Year!
Wednesday will start off with the release of the Caixin manufacturing PMI number from China, which measures the state of the country’s manufacturing sector. China needs a reading above 50, in order to see the sector expanding. The previous number came out at 50.2, but it is forecasted that the December figure could come out by a tick higher, at 50.3, which is a good sign.
Some other big European countries will deliver their manufacturing PMI numbers for the December as well. Countries like Germany and the United Kingdom will show if their manufacturing sectors have grown or contracted. The German figure is expected to come out the same, at 51.5, whereas the UK one is forecasted to have dropped from 53.1 to 52.6, which is something that the British government doesn’t want to see right now, given all the tensions around Brexit. In addition to that, the eurozone will provide its overall manufacturing PMI, which is expected to have stayed the same at 51.4. This means that the sector, overall, is still expanding. Later on in the day, the US will release their manufacturing PMI number, which is currently expected to come out the same as previous, at 53.9.
Thursday should be an interesting day for UK, as the country will tell us how its construction sector has performed in the last month of 2018. According to the estimates, economists and analysts expect a small decrease in the number, going from the previous...
Read the full financial markets weekly outlook on JFD Research.