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China Services PMI Strengthens To 51.9 In November





The services sector in China continued to expand in November, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.


That's up from 51.2 in October, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.


The bureau also said that its composite index climbed to 51.6 in November, up from 51.0 in the previous month.


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Australia Retail Sales Jump in October





Australian retail sale jumped in October following months of weak demand, which is a positive indication for spending in the upcoming holiday season.


According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, retail sales increased 0.5 percent in October from September, the highest since May. Sales in September only rose by a revised 0.1 percent.


Sales grew across every sector with clothing and eating out particularly strong.


The country's brick-and-mortar retailers have been struggling amid cutthroat competition and as fierce price discounts fail to attract customers facing meager wage growth and mountains of debt.


However, the ABS does not yet include online data in its headline retail series despite it accounting for over seven percent of overall sales.


Figures for gross domestic product, set to be released on Wednesday, are expected to show Australia's economy growing by 0.7 percent in the third quarter from the quarter earlier.


This would see annual expansion picking up to three percent, with a rare contraction from the third quarter of 2016 falling out of the calculation.


The acceleration is a major reason the Reserve Bank of Australia is considered certain to keep interest rates at 1.5 percent at its last policy meeting of the year on Tuesday.


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COLOMBIA: Colcap Trades Down As Tax Reform In The U.S. Weighs





Colcap, the main index of the Colombian Stock Exchange, traded down 0.42% at 1,440.31 points Tuesday, weighed by the perception that the tax reform in the United States would lure investors to the country, with a detrimental effect on emerging markets, according to Erika Baquero, an analyst at Alianza Valores.


Avianca shares ended stable after the company announced that it signed a code-share agreement with Air China. Grupo Energ?a Bogot? (GEB) (-0.72%) reported that the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit of Colombia, authorized an External Loan Agreement with a group of banks of up to US$ 749 million.


The shares of Canacol (+0.40%), and ?xito (+0.24%) are rising, while Cemex (-2.55%), ISA (-1.43%), Sura (-1.21%), and Ecopetrol (-0.56%) are falling.


The locally traded U.S. dollar closed at 2,996.50 Colombian pesos, marking a 0.15% rise, due to the expectation of a rate hike by the United States Federal Reserve Bank in 2018. Daniel Escobar, an analyst at Alianza Valores, noted that the market expects three rate adjustments in 2018, from two, which would have favored the greenback rebound.


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Bitcoin Breaks Through $12, 000 Mark for the First Time





In early Asian trading, Bitcoin's value rose above the $12, 000 mark, as the digital currency continued its rally. The digital currency last traded at $12, 123.98, according to CoinDesk.


The digital currency started the year at less than $1, 000 per token, but in recent months has shown a stellar upward movement: it reached $5, 000 in October and rose above $11, 000 for the first time less than two months later, CoinDesk data showed.


The most recent surge brings the cryptocurrency's total market value to around $203 billion.


The digital token's rally comes amid widespread criticism from Wall Street analysts and financial institution personalities.


Despite this, many elements of the financial world have welcomed the new crypto asset class. Major exchanges such as CME and CBOE have legitimized the cryptocurrency's investment credentials by announcing their plans to introduce future contracts to their respective exchanges in the near future.


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ARGENTINA: Vehicle Production Rises 3.1% On Month In November





Vehicle production in Argentina hit 45,228 units in November, 3.1% more than in October, but 3.7% less than in the same month last year, said the country's Association of Automotive Manufacturers (ADEFA).


The sector exported 19,122 vehicles - 9.7% less than in the previous month, and 11.2% below the volume recorded in the same month of 2016.


In wholesale sales, the sector sold 78,631 units, a volume that was 5.7% over the previous month's record, and 26% higher compared to November last year.


Year-to-date, the automotive sector produced 438,878 units, 1.4% more than in the same period of the previous year.


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Australian Dollar Slides to Two-Week Low after Trade Data Miss Estimates





The Australian dollar declined to a two-week low on Thursday after published economic data showed its trade surplus contracted in October, clocking in below estimates as exports weakened.


According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the country's balance of goods and services was a surplus of A$105 million for October. The figure was down from A$1.6 billion in September and missed estimates of A$1.4 billion by economists


Exports declined 3 percent in October compared to the prior month's A$903 million, missing estimates of 3 percent growth. Outbound shipments of non-rural goods declined 5 percent while rural goods slid 2 percent.


Imports increased 2 percent month on month, defying expectations that inbound shipments would be flat.


The Aussie declined 0.3 percent versus the greenback to its lowest since November at $0.7544 after the data publication.


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RBNZ’s Spencer Warns About Bitcoin’s Bubble Qualities, Instability





Reserve Bank of New Zealand Acting Governor Grant Spencer warned that Bitcoin's remarkable rally looks like a speculative bubble and its instability makes it unuseful in the future.


The New Zealand central banker said that the bitcoin is looking 'remarkably like a bubble forming'. He said that there have been bubbles over the centuries, but bitcoin looks like a classic case. He also warned that with such a bubble, there is no telling how far it will go before it drops.


So far this year, the cryptocurrency has surged more than 1,500 percent and around 85 percent in just the last two weeks, as people clamber to acquire the digital currency on hopes that it will be a widely-accepted and legitimate alternative to gold or traditional cash. Trading in bitcoin futures starts this week.


Spencer said that in his view, bitcoin is highly similar to gold, which also has to be mined, has a fixed quality and the price is very volatile.


RBNZ is currently doing research on the demand for the kiwi or the New Zealand dollar and whether it would be possible at some point in the future to replace the currency with a digital alternative, however, Spencer said that bitcoin should not a basis for this scenario. He said that given bitcoin's lack of stability, it would not be useful.


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New Zealand Govt Appoints Adrian Orr As Central Bank Governor





The New Zealand government appointed Adrian Orr as Reserve Bank Governor for a five year term.


"Following the Reserve Bank Board's unanimous recommendation to me, I have appointed Adrian Orr for a five-year term at the completion of Acting Governor Grant Spencer's term," Finance Minister Grant Robertson, said.


The appointment will take effect on March 27, 2018.


Robertson said Orr has the technical and leadership qualities required to be Governor and CEO of the Reserve Bank.


He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, a position he has held since 2007.


Orr is set to oversee the bank through the government's planned review of the Reserve Bank Act.


Orr has the standing and ability to manage this process of change as Governor of the Bank, Robertson said.


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Australia Q3 House Prices Ease 0.2% On Quarter





Residential property prices in Australia fell 0.2 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2017, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.


That missed forecasts for a gain of 0.5 percent following the 1.9 percent jump in the previous three months.


On a yearly basis, house prices were up 8.3 percent - again missing forecasts for 8.8 percent and down from 10.2 percent in the three months prior. The capital city residential property price indexes fell in Sydney (-1.4 percent), Perth (-1.0 percent), Darwin (-2.6 percent) and Canberra (-0.2 percent) and rose in Melbourne (+1.1 percent), Brisbane (+0.7 percent), Adelaide (+0.7 percent) and Hobart (+3.4 percent).


Annually, residential property prices rose in Hobart (+13.8 percent), Melbourne (+13.2 percent), Sydney (+9.4 percent), Canberra (+6.9 percent), Adelaide (+4.8 percent) and Brisbane (+3.5 percent) and fell in Darwin (-6.3 percent) and Perth (-2.4 percent).


"The fall in Sydney property prices this quarter was consistent with market indicators," said ABS Chief Economist Bruce Hockman.


The total value of residential dwellings in Australia was A$6.779 trillion at the end of the September quarter, rising A$14.843 billion over the quarter.


The mean price of residential dwellings fell A$1,200 to A$681,100 and the number of residential dwellings rose by 40,200 to 9,954,100 in Q3.


Also on Tuesday, the latest survey from National Australia Bank showed that consumer confidence in Australia slowed in November with an index score of +6.


That's down from the upwardly revised +9 in October (originally +8).


Business conditions also slowed in November with index coming in at a score of +12, down sharply from +21 in the previous month.


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Canadian Dollar Little Changed Ahead of Fed Meeting, Poloz Speech





The Canadian dollar was nearly flat versus the US currency as investors turned their focus on this week's Federal Reserve interest rate hike decision as well as a speech by Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz.


The loonie fell 1.3 percent the previous week after the central bank delivered a more dovish tone than investors had anticipated. The Bank of Canada kept its benchmark interest rate at one percent.


The Canadian central bank is concerned about a number of uncertainties that could impact the nation's economy, which includes renegotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement.


NAFTA talks convene in Washington next week for a limited round of negotiations aimed at demonstrating progress toward closing easier chapters.


The U.S. central bank is widely expected to hike interest rates at its two-day policy meeting, and is seen possibly tightening rates two or three times next year.


The Canadian dollar traded in a narrow range of C$1.2832 to C$1.2868. On Friday, it reached its weakest level in a week, at C$1.2880.


According to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data and Reuters calculations, speculators reduced bullish wagers on the Canadian currency.


Canadian government bond prices were lower across much of a flatter yield curve, with the two-year off by 1.5 Canadian cents to yield 1.512 percent and the 10-year dropping 1 Canadian cent to yield 1.862 percent.


The gap between Canada's two-year yield and its U.S. equivalent widened by 1.5 basis points to a spread of -31.1 basis points.


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