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UK Employment Notched Record Peak but Pay Remains Under Pressure





British employment reached a record peak, but workers' wages are still being squeezed as productivity drops.


Official statistics that were recently published signified the resilience of the UK jobs markets and its constant underlying problem. The workforce has been less productive than it was a decade ago, while employers are reluctant to increase salaries.


In the three months to the end of June, another 125,000 people have found jobs. This means that 75.1 percent of all people between the ages of 16 and 64 were in work, the highest employment rate since records started in 1971.


The jobless rate dropped from 4.5 to 4.4 percent in the quarter, the lowest marked rate since 1975.


The majority of new jobs were full-time, while the count of people on insecure zero-hours contracts fell by 20,000 to 883,000.


The productivity of Britain's workers dropped 0.1 percent in the second quarter after a 0.5 percent decline in the first.


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European Markets as Banks, Energy Stocks Drop





European shares broke their three-day winning streak on Thursday as banks declined after a cautious minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve, while energy stocks were also under pressure.


The pan-European STOXX 600 index dropped 0.6 percent as eurozone blue chips fell 0.7 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.6 percent while Germany's DAX was down 0.5 percent.


European lenders, which benefit from higher interest rates, were the worst-performing sector as it fell 1.6 percent. Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank dropped which led the DAX lower with declines of 2.8 to three percent.


Societe Generale, Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas weighed on th France's CAC, tumbling 1.6 to 2.3 percent.


Energy stocks are the worst-performing European sectors so far in 2017, declining one percent.


Geberit led construction firms to the third-worst performance among Stoxx 600 groups, dropping 5.8 percent after its quarterly earnings fell short even of their lowest analyst estimate.


Hikma Pharmaceuticals plunged ten percent after the company trimmed its guidance for the generics business.


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Malaysia GDP Growth Improves Unexpectedly In Q2





Malaysia's economic growth accelerated unexpectedly in the three months ended June, figures from the Department of Statistics showed Friday.


Gross domestic product advanced 5.8 percent year-over-year in the second quarter, faster than the 5.6 percent rise in the Mach quarter. Meanwhile, economists had expected the growth to ease to 5.4 percent.


During the fourth quarter of the previous year, the rate of expansion was 4.5 percent.


Malaysia's economy remained its uptrend momentum since second quarter of 2016.


On the expenditure side, private final consumption expenditure grew 7.1 percent annually in the second quarter and gross fixed capital formation rose by 4.1 percent.


Both exports and exports climbed by 9.6 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively.


Quarter-on-quarter, the seasonally adjusted GDP increased at a slower pace of 1.3 percent in the June quarter, following a 1.8 percent growth in the preceding three-month period.


Separately, the statistical office revealed that the current account surplus of the country rose to MYR 9.6 billion in the second quarter from MYR 5.3 billion in the first quarter.


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Canada Wholesale Trade Down 0.5% in June





The value of Canadian wholesale trade dropped 0.5 percent in June following eight straight months of growth, weighed down by lower sales of food and motor vehicles, according to Statistics Canada.


Five of the seven sub sectors, representing 73 percent of wholesale trade, reported declines as sales dropped in six provinces. In volume terms, sales fell 0.7 percent.


The food, beverage and tobacco subsector dropped 1.0 percent. Motor vehicles and parts dealers were also down 1.0 percent.


Sales in the western energy-producing province of Alberta tumbled 3.7 percent, its first decline in nine months.


Inventories reported their 10th increase in 11 months, climbing 0.6 percent to hit a record peak on the back of a 3.2 percent growth in the personal and household goods subsector.


The Canadian dollar remains strong against the U.S. dollar despite the sharp drop in oil prices. Last week, the loonie hit a two-week peak against the greenback pulled down by political uncertainty, after Canadian data revealed a rise in the rate of underlying inflation while oil prices increased.


In Canada, investors will also pay attention to the release of the retail sales data due on Tuesday.


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European Economics Preview: Germany's ZEW Economic Confidence Data Due





Economic confidence from Germany and public sector finance from the UK are due on Tuesday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.


At 2.00 am ET, Switzerland's foreign trade data for July is due. The trade surplus totaled CHF 2.8 billion in June. In the meantime, Statistics Finland releases unemployment data for July.


At 4.30 am ET, the Office for National Statistics is slated to issue UK public sector finance data. The budget deficit is forecast to narrow to GBP 1 billion in July from GBP 6.9 billion in June.


At 5.00 am ET, Germany's ZEW economic confidence survey results are due. The economic confidence index is seen at 15 in August versus 17.5 in July.


At 6.00 am ET, the Confederation of British Industry is scheduled to release Industrial Trends survey data. The order book balance is forecast to fall to 8 percent in August from 10 percent in July.


At 8.00 am ET, Hungary's central bank is set to announce the outcome of its monetary policy meeting. Economists expect the bank to hold its key rate at 0.90 percent.


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Japan Manufacturing PMI Climbs To 52.8 In August - Nikkei





Economic confidence from Germany and public sector finance from the UK are due on Tuesday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.


The manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in August, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed on Wednesday with a Manufacturing PMI score of 52.8.


That's up from 52.1 in July, and it moves farther above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.


Individually, output, new orders, new export orders, employment, input prices and stocks of purchase all expanded at an accelerated rate.


Future expectations remained positive, although the optimism was weaker.


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Bitcoin Recover after Shortly Sliding into Correction Territory





Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash prices regained footing on Tuesday, while its peer ethereum continued to be pressured, further sliding from recent record-highs.


Bitcoin rallied by 2 percent on the day at $4,139.87 after falling to as low as $3,687 in morning trade. During session lows, the digital currency has briefly fallen into correction territory. This is defined by analysts as a 10 percent or steeper decline from a recent record level in an asset.


The cryptocurrency skidded to $3,687 earlier on the day, denoting a 16.7 percent drop from its mid-August record of closing above $4,425, according to Coindesk.com. At its current trading levels, it is 8 percent lower from its peak level.


The ethereum's ether token declined, climbing down from a recent peak, falling 0.5 percent at $322.33 on the day. It hit a record high in mid-June at around $380 per token. Industry experts tried to downplay the decline across digital currencies, as the drop is mainly seen as due to profit-taking.


The trend in bitcoin price comes as the industry found a resolution for the so-called scaling issues, enabling bigger transaction sized in the blockchain network.


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BRAZIL: Ibovespa Rises On Privatizations, Auctions And TLP Approval





The Brazilian government announcement on new privatizations, concessions and auctions under the Investment Partnerships Program (PPI), in addition to the approval of the Long-Term Rate (TLP) in a Congress' joint committee, made the Ibovespa high (+0.66%), closing at 70,477.63 points. That was the highest closing level of Ibovespa, the benchmark stock index in Brazil, since January 19, 2011 (70,058 points).


In addition to announcing its intention to privatize Eletrobras, the Mint and Lotteries were included on the privatization list today. The Brazilian government is also expected to grant 14 airports, 15 port terminals, highways and to auction oil exploration areas and energy distributors.


Earlier, the market was already optimistic for the approval of the provisional measure that deals with the Long Term Rate (TLP). The measure is expected to help in reducing the country's structural interest rate and the functioning of Brazil's National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES).


Among the highlights of today were the shares of miners and steelmakers, such as Vale (VALE +2.13%), Gerdau Metal?rgica (GOAU4 +7.42%) and Usiminas (USIM5 +3.85%).


Meanwhile, the locally traded U.S. dollar closed down 1.1%, at R$ 3.1440 in the sale, influenced by TLP's approval.


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Wall Street Declines after Trump Threatens Government Shutdown





U.S. equities dropped on Wednesday after President Donald Trump said he is willing to let the government shutdown if Congress fails to fund a Mexico border wall.


The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.40 percent to 21,812.09, as Boeing and Johnson & Johnson contributed the most losses. The S&P 500 slipped 0.35 percent to 2,444.04, as consumer discretionary and industrials led losses.


The Nasdaq composite shed 0.30 percent to close at 6,278.41, with huge tech stocks like Amazon and Facebook retreating.


The CBOE Volatility index, a broadly-followed measure of market anxiety, rose 6.0 points to 12.03, its first increase in four days.


The consumer discretionary closed 0.8 percent lower, pulled down by a 3.71 percent loss in Lowe's Companies following weak results and forecast.


Home Depot fell 0.54 percent to $149.10.


Wal-Mart climbed earlier in the session after it announced a partnership with Google to offer voice shopping.


Advertising company Omnicom fell over 6.94 percent to $72.71 and Interpublic Group tumbled 6.32 percent to $72.71 after WPP trimmed its sales forecast after consumer goods giants tightened spending.


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Japan Inflation Climbs 0.4% On Year In July





Overall consumer prices in Japan advanced 0.4 percent on year in July, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday - in line with expectations and unchanged from the June reading.


Core inflation, which excludes food prices, advanced an annual 0.5 percent - again unchanged and matching forecasts.


Individually, prices for fuel climbed 4.3 percent on year, while food prices gained 0.6 percent.


On a monthly basis, overall CPI and core CPI were both flat. Clothing prices fell 2.8 percent on month, and furniture prices dipped 0.4 percent.


Overall consumer prices for the Tokyo region - considered a leading indicator for the nationwide trend - climbed 0.5 percent on year in August. That exceeded expectations for 0.3 percent and was up from 0.1 percent in July.


Core CPI for Tokyo gained 0.4 percent, beating forecasts for 0.3 percent and up from 0.2 percent in the previous month.


Individually, fuel prices spiked 5.7 percent on year and medical care jumped 1.7 percent.


On a monthly basis, overall and core CPI for Tokyo both added 0.2 percent. Recreation costs climbed 2.3 percent on month and medical care gained 1.8 percent.


Also on Friday, the Bank of Japan said that producer prices were up 0.6 percent on year in July. That was beneath expectations for 0.8 percent and down from the downwardly revised 0.7 percent gain in June (originally 0.8 percent).


Individually, prices were up for leasing rental and employment, while they were down for advertising.


On a monthly basis, producer prices gained 0.3 percent after falling 0.2 percent a month earlier.


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