Moody’s said the top credit ratings for the U.S. and Britain are not under threat of a downgrade at the moment, though a worst-case scenario could see a cut by 2013. Moody’s classifies the U.S. and the U.K. as “resilient” rather than “resistant.”
This week in the UK, we have CPI data on Tuesday, which is forecast to be 0.2% MoM and 1.8% YoY. Also on Tuesday, of importance is the German Zew Report. UK RPI data is released as well. Wednesday is data regarding the unemployment rate is released and European CPI data. Thursday is retail sales, and Friday is Public finance and M4 money supply data.
In the coming week, the Fed holds its final meeting of the year, and inflation data, industrial production, jobless claims and housing reports will dominate the economic news. They also expect the coming week will see even fewer players participating in the markets ahead of year end.
The dollar rose on the week, with the dollar index finishing 0.8% higher at 76.53. The S&P 500 is just 4 points from its year closing high of 1110, set on Nov. 25. The Dow is within a fraction of a point from its 2009 high, set on December 1st.
The euro lost 0.7% against the dollar in the past week and weakened to $1.4623 per euro. At the same time, many commodities fell. Oil was 7.4% lower at $69.87 per barrel, and gold dipped 4.2% to $1,119.90 per troy ounce.
The UK market and the European markets have opened in positive territory up around 1%. US futures markets are pointing to a positive start to trading with the Dow opening up 68 points.
© Brooks Macdonald Asset Management 2009
Sources: Reuters: BBC, Bloomberg, Lawshare, Deutsche Bank (db), Proquote, Financial Times, Wall Street
Journal, CLSA, Sharescope, Market News, Capital Economics, CNBC, Wikipedia.
Please note this report provides a guide to some of the relevant areas that individual investors should consider discussing with an authorised adviser in relation to their specific circumstances, it does not constitute individual advice. As a result no action should be taken or refrained from being taken as a result of its content.
