ECONOMETER

US and China went ahead with their tariffs implementation over the weekend, with the US adding 15% tariffs on around $110bn of Chinese imports, mainly aimed at consumer goods. Another $160bn of goods will be hit by 15% tariffs on December 15, with the implementation delayed to avoid a big impact on holiday spending.

China retaliated by implementing $75bn of tariffs on US goods on Sunday, much of which was aimed at agricultural goods including 10% on various meat, an additional 5% on top of the existing 25% on soybeans and a further 10% on sorghum and cotton and 5% on crude oil.  Chinese tariffs on US autos will resume in December.  China’s currency is likely to continue to weaken further given the tariffs intensification.

Against this background markets will closely monitor comments from both China and the US on the potential for trade talks over coming weeks, with President Trump stating that face to face talks are “still on”.  Meanwhile Chinese economic data continues to worsen, with China’s official August manufacturing PMI released on Saturday dropping to 49.5 in August from 49.7 in July, indicating ongoing contraction in China’s manufacturing sector.

There are plenty of events and data on tap this week including the August US ISM manufacturing survey, August non-farm payrolls and a slew of Fed speakers including Fed Chairman Powell.   The ISM index is forecast to remain steady around 51.2, reflecting the pressure on US manufacturers, although the index is still likely to remain in expansion.  Meanwhile consensus forecasts look for a 158k increase in August payrolls and for the unemployment rate to remain at 3.7%.

Events in the UK will also garner plenty of interest as parliament returns from their summer break, albeit only for a few days as Parliament will be prorogued in the following week.  The opposition Labour Party will aim to present legislation to prevent the country from crashing out of the EU without a deal against the background of protests against the decision to suspend parliament.  The potential for fresh elections is also in prospect.  GBP will remain volatile against this background.