US markets continued the ‘Trump Rally’, despite weaker economic data and deteriorating Geo-Political issues around the world. US employment is under the spotlight, this week and the latest ADP (Private Sector Jobs) report, was weaker than expected. Non-Farm Payrolls is the big one and that is expected this coming Friday. Services and Composite PMI data out of Europe and the US was slightly weaker than expected, following contraction in Manufacturing PMI across Europe. Tensions in South Korea remain, as hot spots in the world continue to explode, following the South Korean Presidential ‘imposition and withdrawal’, of a State of Emergency. In France political turmoil continues, as the Government uses constitutional measures to pass the Budget, but the minority Government will now face a vote of no-confidence in Parliament. The US Dollar eased allowing the EUR to break back above 1.0500, while the GBP regained 1.2700.Asian markets are being disrupted by the political crises in South Korea and the latest growth data out of Australia failed to impress. Australian Q3 growth missed expectations, coming in at 0.3% for Q3, but this does not tell the real story. Mass immigration has propped up GDP growth data and on a per capita basis, growth has contracted for 7 straight quarters. This is a severely dysfunctional economy, and markets sold off the AUD, tumbling down to 0.6400, while the NZD trades around 0.5850. Markets are focused on growth and the US labour markets, although Geo-Political hotspots around the world, threaten.
