China Press Conference Preview (A New Headwind?)
What’s in Today’s Report:
- China Press Conference Preview (A New Market Headwind?)
- EIA and Oil Market Update
Futures are modestly lower as markets digest the week’s gains ahead of the China press conference and Powell speech.
Economic data was mixed overnight as German Retail Sales beat estimates (-5.3% vs. (E) -11%), while Japanese IP and Retail Sales both missed expectations.
U.S./China tensions continue to tick higher as China said it would retaliate to any sanctions over the Hong Kong law.
Today the big event is the Trump/China press conference, and the key is this: As long as there’s no reason for the markets to think the “trade truce” is in jeopardy, any market fallout from more sanctions on China should be relatively modest.
Away from China, we get two notable economic reports today, Core PCE Price Index (E: -0.3%) and Consumer Sentiment (E: 73.9) and a speech by Fed Chair Powell (11:00 a.m. ET). But, that’s unlikely to move markets unless there’s a surprise revealed (and that’s not likely as Fed policy is pretty well known at this point).