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Week ending 12th January 2018.

15th January 2018

Global equity markets continued their upward trend this week helped by economic data.

While US CPI inflation slowed in December to 2.1% from 2.2% in November, the core rate was slightly hotter than expected, rising to 1.8% from 1.7% previously. However, US wholesale prices fell in December for the first time in more than a year on declining costs for services; a potential sign that inflation pressures may start to ease going forward.

World Markets at a Glance
In Europe, minutes from the ECB’s last monetary meeting sparked some currency market anxiety as it showed that policymakers may review their policy language. This follows a number of comments from some policymakers calling for an end to its monetary stimulus. However, these comments were made before last week’s CPI inflation data (please see here), which showed that inflation in the eurozone remains well below the ECB’s target – so it will be interesting to see if the doves set the record straight during the next monetary meeting on 25 January 2018.

This week coming we have the Fed’s Beige Book, while US jobless claims will give a clearer signal as to whether the December hiring lull has carried on. In addition we have UK CPI, PPI and retail sales and eurozone CPI.

Ian Copelin, Investment Director

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