Weekly Report - 31/12/2018
The U.S. President Donald Trump received a message from Kim Jong-Un related to the delayed nuclear discussions, according to South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper. This statement took place on Monday.
The newspaper reported that Kim Jong Un’s letter to President Trump was delivered last Friday in an unspecified way. The statement did not incorporate any details about the core of the message. Nevertheless, they stated that the message is related to U.S-North Korea talks. The focus will now be on the programmed resumption of trade talks on 7 January.
Asian markets were confused due to the weak holiday trading situation over the past week. On Tuesday the Japanese Nikkei fell more than 4.8% while European markets were closed for holidays. The EU Markets moved about 20% below their peak. The Kospi was dragged down by weakness in the technology area that was led by Samsung Electronics and was the biggest loser in the area losing about -1.30%.
The week starts in a very slow mode but it gets more interesting in the second half with important economic drivers coming up. A notable impact to the markets could also be the Government shut down and FED Chair Powell with his scheduled speech at the end of the week. The economic releases include finalized Market survey PMI numbers expected on Wednesday and Friday. The important December’s ADP employment change figures and ISM Manufacturing PMI on Thursday and also the government’s labor market numbers on Friday. But markets attention is on the wage growth, ISM Manufacturing PMI and the most popular nonfarm payroll figures. The Dollar Spot Index closed the week down 0.60% to $96.378.
