Over the weekend, both China and U.S released better than expected economic data. In the U.S on Friday, non-farm payrolls increased more than expected while China’s export figures on Sunday was also larger than estimated.

U.S non-farm payrolls boosted by most in a year
Last Friday, the U.S Labour Department announced non-farm payrolls data and consumer spending that surpassed projections, giving a boost to U.S indices and halting a five-day slide.
 
The 203,000 increase in payrolls followed a revised 200,000 advance in October, and was 10% higher than Bloomberg’s median forecast for a 185,000 advance.
 
On top of the faster wage gain statistics, a separate report showed consumer spending rose more than forecast in the month of October. Household purchases, which account for approximately 70% of the U.S economy, climbed 0.3%.
 
China surplus widens to largest in more than four years
On Sunday, China released trade figures for November that showed a US$33.8bn surplus, its largest in more than four years as exports exceeded estimates.
 
Exports rose 12.7% from a year earlier, beating the 7.1% estimates from Reuters while imports rose 5.3%, below the median forecast of 7.2%, leaving the $33.8bn trade surplus against forecasts for US$21.7bn. The stronger than expected export figure comes as a boost for China after exports have been a drag on the economy so far this year, subtracting 1.7% from the GDP growth in the first three quarters (Reuters).
 
The trade figures kick off a series of November data releases, including the inflation report later this morning and industrial production as well as retail sales figures on Tuesday.
 
Key Macro Data this week

• Mon 09 Dec:China CPI & PPI (Nov)
• Tue 10 Dec:China Industrial Production & Retail Sales (Nov),US Small Business Optimism (Nov), Retail Sales Advance (Nov)
• Thu 12 Dec:ECB Monthly Report
• Fri 13 Dec:US PPI (Nov)

Source: Macquarie Research - 9 Dec 2013