Market movers today
The main event of the day is the US jobs report for January, which we expect to continue to paint an upbeat picture of the US labour market situation and we look for growth in non-farm payrolls of 175,000 and wage growth of 3.0% y/y.
In Scandinavia, focus is on the Norwegian GDP data for Q4. We expect growth to have slipped to 0.3% q/q relative to 0.7% q/q in Q3.
German industrial production will also attract some attention, as soft indicators have pointed to a pick-up in Germany’s manufacturing sector recently.
Russia’s central bank will deliver its rate decision, where consensus expects a 25bp cut as inflation is hovering well below the central bank’s target.
Italy is up for review by Fitch: Italy is on a negative outlook, but we do not expect a downgrade.
Selected market news
Sentiment has changed this morning in the Asian equity markets after a very strong start in February 2020. Hence, the global rally in risky assets we have seen in February seems to have taken a pause. Furthermore, global bond yields dipped a few bp and the oil price was steady around USD51.
Focus is still on the impact on the coronavirus, where the number of infected continues to rise, but at a slower pace. In the US, Pete Buttígieg was declared the winner in Iowa, but with a very narrow victory over Bernie Sanders. The Democrats now move to New Hampshire, where the next vote will be on 11 February.
