Daily update
Daily update
- The data calendar is quiet. Italian November retail sales numbers are likely to show a drop in demand, but Italian retail sales are not necessarily a huge focus for investors. Instead, there is a waiting game ahead of the US consumer price inflation data, due tomorrow.
- Consumer durable goods prices caused the 2021 transitory inflation, when US consumers discovered that without a 102-inch television in every room of their home, life was not worth living. As that surge in demand faded, consumer durable goods prices have experienced dramatic disinflation. The delivery company FedEx announced it is scaling back Sunday deliveries “to better align… with current consumer demand.” Translating US corporate babble into King’s English, this suggests demand for goods continues to soften.
- French President Macron has controversially proposed the population continue working until 64 years of age. Demographics are becoming an increasingly important growth issue—China, Germany, Italy, and Japan are all experiencing a drop in working age populations, making negative growth more likely. Japanese workers are more likely to continue working after retirement.
- Several ECB speakers are jostling each other for media attention today. However, the ECB’s policy peak is likely to be later than that of the Anglo-Saxon central banks, so their remarks are less of a market focus.
