The yen sold off by 1.4% today on Fed tapering and is now trading at the lowest level versus the USD since mid-2008. This result produced a near instantaneous vertical ramp in Nikkei futures, which are currently trading up 2.4% off the session lows.
Read MoreWe had three month’s worth of housing starts data released this morning due to the government shutdown in October. The number of new units started broke the million level for the first time since 2008. Three of the four regions saw increases in November (the Northeast remains the weakest).
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South Korea’s KOSPI stock index is often viewed as a barometer for global growth because of the country’s important position in the global supply. Thus, the KOSPI index is often referred to as Dr. KOSPI. So what is Dr. KOSPI’s prognosis of the global economy today?
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The NAHB Housing Market Index increased to 58 to post the highest number since August, which is also the highest level of the recovery. The HMI correlates pretty well with house prices. And house prices, in turn, tend to lead CPI Owner’s Equivalent Rent.
Read MoreOver the last four years. movements in the direction of stocks have been well correlated with movements in the size of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet. Additionally, the magnitude of the moves in stocks have been well correlated with changes in the Fed’s balance sheet.
Read MoreIn a relatively light data day in Asia, some important statistics were released that point to more the same in Asia. In Japan, the all important Tankan survey revealed that business conditions continue to show improvement. In China, the Flash PMI indicates a further slowing in the overall growth rate of manufacturing.
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Important survey data out of Europe today points to a growing disparity between the region’s two largest economies.
Read MoreOver the last month, the information technology sector has been, on average, the best performing sector in the MSCI Europe index. Within the European tech sector, the internet software and services industry has been, on average, the best performer.
Read MoreIndustrial production rose 1.1% in November, a much stronger gain than forecasters had expected (consensus was for 0.6% gain). The stronger gain in November to took the overall level of industrial production above 2007 highs for the first time. While Utilities helped to push industrial production upwards, the manufacturing component had a solid 0.6% gain.
Read MoreEven as the Japanese stock market is hanging near recent highs, there has been a fairly good amount of new intermediate-term lows being made in stocks across the Asia-Pacific region.
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