UK CPI highlight of announcements

September 12, 2017

A busier day for markets, with data from the UK set to dominate interest.

The USD strengthened over the Euro overnight as markets digest news that Donald Trump was able to strike a deal with the Democratic Party to lift the debt ceiling for the nation. This allows the government to fund ongoing expenses and basically keep the country running. The Euro has dipped back below the $1.20 level, to sit at its current level of $1.1961. The AUD is stubbornly staying above 80 US cents, currently sitting at 0.8026.

The US indexes all posted strong gains of at least 1.1%. The Dow gained almost 260 points to break back through the 22k barrier, finishing at 22,057.37, or up 1.19%. The S&P 500 was up 26.68 points (1.08%), while the NASDAQ up 72.07 points (1.13%), to finish at 2,488.11 and 6432.26 respectively. Europe had s strong session right across the board, with its weakest performer, the FTSE, still posting a 0.49% gain. The DAX was one of the stronger performers, up 171.26 points, or 1.39%, to finish at 12,475.24.

Gold continues its lacklustre performance over the last couple of days, currently down another $2.80, to sit at $1,332.90. This can partly put down to a strengthening dollar and traders returning to equities, where returns are generally higher. An ease in tensions with North Korea can also be seen as a contributing factor.

Looking ahead to tonight and the major figure to be released is the UK CPI. Inflation is vital to economic growth, as it indicates demand of product and services through price increases. Controlled inflation is critical for any economy as it also indicates consumer confidence (confident consumers generally spend more money).

Also for release today:

UK – PPI, RPI, Core CPI, HPI and PPI Output

Europe – French Final Private Payrolls, Italian Quarterly Unemployment

Australia – NAB Business Confidence

US – JOLTS Job Openings, NFIB Small Business Index