British retailers reported lacklustre sales in November, according to industry data on Tuesday affected by the timing of the Black Friday sales, although it still pointed to weakening consumer confidence.

Sales volumes dropped by 3.3% in the 12 months to November, the weakest reading since April when they fell 4.0%, and below an increase of 0.6% in the year to October, the British Retail Consortium said. (RTRS – Continue Reading) 

Crude oil prices have come off their earlier highs after starting the day brightly following some stronger-than-expected activity data out of China at the weekend. This could be a pivotal week for the crude oil market.

With key US economic data on the horizon and the OPEC+ meeting later this week to discuss oil production targets, market participants are bracing for significant developments.  

Persistent concerns over demand and rising supply from non-OPEC sources have pressured prices. So, unless OPEC+ makes a substantial announcement, it’s unlikely that another delay in planned production increases will offer long-term support to prices. (StoneX – Continue Reading) 

Major Asian chip stocks outside of China rose Tuesday, shrugging off a new round of U.S. semiconductor export curbs on Beijing aimed at impairing the country’s capability to produce certain high-end chips.  

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company — the world’s largest contract chip supplier — saw shares rise 2.42%. 

Several Japanese chip-related stocks also gained. Tokyo Electron rose 4.7%, Lasertec climbed 6.7%, Advantest gained 3.9% and Renesas Electron advanced 2.2%. (CNBC – Continue Reading) 

Australia’s current account balance rose by $2.2 billion to a deficit of $14.1 billion in the September quarter 2024 (seasonally adjusted, current prices), according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The surplus on trade in goods and services fell $3.3 billion to $3.3 billion. This was offset by the net primary income deficit which narrowed $5.5 billion to $17.3 billion.

Tom Lay, ABS head of International Statistics, said: "The trade surplus fell to its lowest level since June 2018 reflecting continued falls in Australia’s terms of trade.”  

“The net primary income deficit narrowed to its smallest level since September quarter 2021 due to a fall in dividends paid by Australian firms to overseas investors.” (ABS – Continue Reading) 

New Zealand’s total exports of goods and services for the September quarter amounted to $22.2 billion, up $700 million on a year before.

Stats NZ today said total imports for the quarter were $29.1b, the same as in the September 2023 quarter. 

Some of the biggest increases in exports were for travel services, up $172m to $2.8b, and for intellectual property services, up $74m million to $498m. (NZH – Continue Reading)