Over the weekend we got data from China, the trade balance for November and also inflation data:
- China trade balance (Nov.), exports and imports fall from Oct. and miss median
- China inflation data was out over the weekend, CPI 2.2% for Nov., from 2.5%
The trade data disappointment was enough to send currencies a little lower in very early Asia, but the gap was soon filled.
A snippet from the trade data that may have slipped by unnoticed:
- copper imports in November dropped for the first time this year
- iron ore and soybean imports also fell
Dr. Copper is a cliché … but maybe 'cause its effective as a bellwether. Indeed, as Goldman Sachs highlighted last week:
Other signs of weaker economies came from Japan's sliding GDP in Q3, much worse than originally thought:
