Thursday, September 16 is loaded with important economic reports from all around the world.
First off, the day began with a disappointing report on the trade balance of Japan for the month of August. The forecast was for a balance of -.47.7 billion Japanese yen, but the actual result was -635.4 billion, or over ten times worse than expected.
Furthermore, Australia published slightly higher consumer inflation expectations for September (4.4%), a better than expected unemployment rate (4.5%), and a somewhat disappointing employment change statistic (-146K).
The United States today published its retail sales report for August, which pleasantly surprised investors, coming in at 0.7% against a forecast of -0.8%.
Continuing jobless claims in the US were also slightly lower than expected, which is good news for the labor market, but initial claims narrowly missed the mark this week.
As far as the stock market is concerned, today major US indices are trading slightly lower due to the influx of economic data, especially the jobless claims reports.
Companies worth keeping an eye on are virtually all major carmakers, because sales in that sector are dropping massively due to component shortages and how that is affecting pricing. Within the European Union, there was a 14% drop in Germany, a whopping 35% in France, and by 30% in Italy. Car sales are also down 19% in the United Kingdom.
In addition, Covid-19 vaccines manufacturers Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna will also be of interest to investors as the discussion of third booster shots continues. The pharmaceutical companies have now admitted that the protection granted by the initial two-dose cycle will start weakening after about six months. The prospect of them selling more vaccines is likely going to boost their stock value.
In commodities, the price of natural gas continues to rise due to the spike in demand in Europe and the United Kingdom, so it is still a viable investment option.
