Fundamental Analysis

Weekly RoundUp Report 28/08/2017

• August 28, 2017

EVENT RECAP: WEEK ENDING 25^th AUGUST 2017   North America   At The Jackson Hole Symposium, Janet Yellen addressed comments made by U.S. President Trump regarding the Frank-Dodd rule which he claims has restricted lending to businesses. The Fed Chair argued that the regulation had provided stability and safety to the banking system after the global recession of 2008. The Manufacturing sector was buoyed by a better than expected rise in Core Durable Goods orders as sales rose 0.5% in July. There were some disappointing developments in the U.S. housing market in July, with both new and existing home sales missing expectations. However, the number of homeowners defaulting on mortgage payments fell during the month.     Asia Pacific   National Core CPI rose by 0.5% in July as consumer prices have continued to climb since the beginning of 2017. The rise in July represents a two year high for the index; however, it still remains below the 1.1% forecast set by the Bank of Japan.     United Kingdom   Economic growth for the second quarter remains at 0.3% with no revision from initial estimates. However, business investment during the quarter showed flat growth compared with a 0.4% forecast.     Europe   ECB President Mario Draghi highlighted some improvements in global economic recovery in his Jackson Hole speech on Friday. He did state, however, that significant monetary policy intervention is still required in the Eurozone, given the inflation rate is still some way from the 2% target. The German Ifo Business Climate report indicates that although optimism is slowing there is still positive sentiment among German business executives.