Yesterday's session brought Australian Home Loans figures. The trend estimate for the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions was flat. Owner occupied housing commitments rose 1.9% while investment housing commitments fell 3.1%. In seasonally adjusted terms, the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions fell 2.0%. In trend terms, the number of commitments for owner occupied housing finance rose 0.8% in October 2015. Overall, Home Loans fell 0.5% in October, beating forecasts on 1.3% fall.
However, the focus of the session was on China's CPI and
PPI data. China's consumer
inflation picked up slightly in November but remained well under the government's 2015 price target of 3%.The data has increased calls from some economists for more stimulus and
interest rate cuts to spur growth and prices, even though
the November consumer price index (CPI) surprised on the upside, rising 1.5% on-year from 1.3% in October. Economists had expected a 1.4% rise. Wednesday's release from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) also showed factories were plagued by producer price deflation, with the
producer price index (PPI) down 5.9% in November from year earlier, in line with expectations and flat from October's drop. It marked the 45th straight month of declines in the index.
Focus of tomorrow's session will be on Australian job data. Number of employed should fall by 10,000, while Unemployment Rate is forecasted to rise to 6.0%. In the US session Unemployment Claims figures will be released. Decrease to 266,000 is expected.
Figures to watch:
Employment Change/Unemployment Rate (Thursday 1:30)
Unemployment Claims (Thursday 14:30)