The UK’s labor market data showed that average earnings index rose 3.4% for the three months ending November. The unemployment rate fell to 4.0% amid forecasts of an unchanged print at 4.1%. The employment level rose 141,000 to a record high of 32.54 million in the three months ending December.
The GBP posted gains on the day, following the strong employment figures.
Existing home sales report, released by the National Association of Realtors showed a sharper than expected decline. Existing home sales fell 6.4% on an annual basis in December 2018. The decrease was more substantial than forecast and follows November’s revised figures of a 2.1% increase.
Compare to the same period from the previous year, existing home sales are down 10.3%.
Canada’s factory sales decreased by 1.4% in November compared to the month before. This was bigger than the forecasts of a 1.0% decline. However, on a year over year basis, factory sales were up 2.7%.
The markets look a busy Asian session. The of Japan held its monetary policy meeting earlier today. No changes occurred to the interest rates as they currently stand at -0.10%. The BoJ governor, Kuroda will be holding a press conference shortly.
The Bank of Japan lowered its inflation forecasts at today’s meeting as it noted that it expects the core consumer prices to rise to 0.9% in the year ending March 2020.
The European session is quiet with not much going on.
Data from Canada will see the release of the monthly retail sales report. Next is the housing price index data from the U.S. which should show a 0.2% increase. This marks a slower pace of expansion in home prices compared to a 0.3% increase previously.
The Eurozone’s consumer confidence report is due later in the evening. The report should show that consumer confidence remained flat at -6, unchanged from the previous period.
