Kaohoon Morning Brief – 17 September 2021

1) U.S. jobless claims slightly higher, retail sales beats expectations

U.S. weekly jobless claims ended September 11, 2021, increased to 332,000, slightly higher than the Dow Jones estimate of 320,000.

Meanwhile, The Census Bureau reported that August’s retail sales increased 0.7%, coming in as a surprise against the estimate of a 0.8% decline. However, the initial estimate for July was revised down in terms of month-over-month from a gain of 0.5% to a decline of 1.8%.

 

2) ECB’s chief economist expects inflation at 2% by 2025

In a private meeting with German economists, European Central Bank (ECB) chief economist Philip Lane revealed that the central bank expects its inflation rate to hit 2% by 2025, according to the Financial Times.

 

3) Gold drops to 5-week low as U.S. retail sales rise

Gold futures for December dropped to a five-week low beneath $1,750 an ounce during the session on Thursday after U.S. retail sales were reported higher in August. The New York’s Comex settled with a drop of $38.10 or 2.1% at $1,756.70 per ounce.

 

4) S&P says El Salvador’s bitcoin adoption has immediate negative implications

S&P Global said that El Salvador’s legal tender on bitcoin has immediate negative implications for its credit rating as the main risks were that it could threaten the possibility of securing a support programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Meanwhile, Moody’s cut El Salvador rating to Caa1 and kept the rating on a downgrade warning.