Macro
The most anticipated news in a week relatively poor in important data was December inflation in the US. It slowed as expected on an annual basis from 7.1% to 6.5%, with core inflation falling from 6.0% to 5.7%. In the end, the biggest upset was the 0.1% decline in prices for the month of December alone.
Also relatively positively received were data on weekly jobless claims, that fell to a three-month low of 205,000 and the University of Michigan’s preliminary reading of consumer sentiment that jumped much more than expected and reached its highest level since April.
In Europe, data showed that Germany’s economy grew by 1.9% last year after growing by 2.6% in 2021.
Unemployment in the Eurozone remains as expected at 6.5%, while GDP growth in the UK surprised, with the economy growing by 0.1% in November despite expectations of a 0.2% contraction.