Key Weekly Data Points – week commencing 29/06/2020

Daniel Casali provides a round-up of key market activity during the week of 29th June.

Monday 29th

• Economic sentiment in Europe rose to a three-month high in June, according to the European Commission’s Economic Sentiment Indicator. This was driven by France, Austria and Portugal.
• In the US, pending home sales rose by 44.3% in May suggesting that pent up demand in the housing market may be stronger than initially thought.

Tuesday 30th

• Boris Johnson pledged £5bn of capital spending to help Britain remerge from the coronavirus crisis.
• Deposits held by households rose to £25.6bn in May, giving hope to increased consumption as shops begin to reopen. However, mortgage lending dropped to its lowest level on record as the housing market remained stagnant.
• UK GDP dropped 2.2% quarter on quarter in Q1 of 2020, the biggest fall since 1980.

Wednesday 1st

• The Bank of England’s chief economist, Andy Haldane has said Britain is on track for a V-shaped economic recovery, despite the UK economy contracting more than expected in Q1 of 2020.
• Italy is preparing a 20bn EUR plan that would push the 2020 budget deficit to around 11.6% of GDP

Thursday 2nd

• Police in Hong Kong made their first arrests under the new national security law
• Tesla became the world’s most valuable car manufacturer, in a boost for electric cars and Elon Musk
• Non-farm payrolls in the US increased by 4.8m in June. Whilst unemployment remains at 14.7m, the economic recovery has been stronger than initially anticipated.

Friday 3rd

• The Composite (services and manufacturing) Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in the Eurozone rose to 48.5 in June, which was stronger than expectations and supports a V-shaped recovery, although activity remains below crisis levels
• In China, the June Caixin/Market services PMI showed a 10 year high, suggesting a strong recovery in the services industries as lockdown begins to ease

Source: Bloomberg.com; Citi; JP Morgan; Capital Economics 

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