Yahoo Finance

Earlier in the Day:

It was a busy start to the week on the economic calendar through the Asian session this morning.

The Japanese Yen and Aussie Dollar were in action in the early part of the day.

Australian manufacturing, building approvals and company gross operating profit figures along with manufacturing PMI numbers out of China provided direction early in the day.

Of less influence was 3^rd quarter capital spending figures out of Japan.

On the geopolitical front, the markets continued to wait out for China’s reaction to Trump’s signing of the HK Bill.

For the Japanese Yen

Capital spending surged by 7.1% in the 3^rd quarter, year-on-year, following a 1.9% increase in the 2^nd quarter. In the 1^st quarter, spending had risen by 6.1%.

The Japanese Yen moved from ¥109.562 to ¥109.527 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Japanese Yen was down by 0.19% to ¥109.7 against the U.S Dollar.

For the Aussie Dollar

The AIG Manufacturing Index fell from 51.6 to 48.1 in November. Following on from a slide from 54.7 back in October, the index fell to its lowest level since August 2016.

According to the latest AIG Report,

• A faster rate of contraction in new orders weighed and points to a weak Christmas period ahead.

• It was not industry-wide, however, with firms in the large food and beverage sector reporting buoyant conditions.

Building Approvals slid by 8.1% in October, partially reversing a 7.6% jump in September. Economists had forecast a 0.4% increase.

According to the ABS,

• The slide was attributed to an 11.3% tumble in the approval of private dwellings excluding houses.

• Approvals for private sector houses fell by 7%.

Company gross operating profits fell by 0.8% in the 3^rd quarter, following a 4.5% rise in the 2^nd quarter. Economists had forecast a 1.5% increase.

According to the ABS,

• Weighing on the headline number were falls in company profits in the following sectors:

  • Arts and recreation services (-16.6%).

  • Financial and Insurance Services (-28.0%).

  • Mining (-2.1%).

  • Other services (-4.4%).

  • Rental hiring and real estate services (-11.2%).

  • Transport, postal and warehousing (-6.6%).

• While company profits declined in the quarter, wages (+1.0%) were on the rise in the quarter.

The Aussie Dollar moved from $0.67674 to $0.6750 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Aussie Dollar up by 0.15% to $0.6773.

Out of China

The Caixin Manufacturing PMI rose from 51.7 to 51.8 in November. Economists had forecast a fall to 51.4. According to the Markit Survey,

• New business rose strongly, supporting another solid rise in production.

• Notably, new export orders saw a 2^nd consecutively monthly rise for 1^st time in over 18-months.

• Staffing levels held steady following 7 consecutive monthly declines, while capacity pressures led to a pickup in backlogs.

• In spite of the pickup in new orders and output, positive sentiment towards the 12-month outlook fell to a 5-month low.

• The fall in optimism was attributed to stricter environmental policies and continued market uncertainty.