China's exports rose for the first time in six months

Australia's trade surplus

Australia's trade surplus widened in October. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the balance on goods rose to A$7.13 billion, up from A$6.2 billion the previous month and broadly in line with market forecasts. Exports edged up 0.4%, helped by an increase in iron ore and other metals. Imports fell 1.9%, led by a drop in industrial transport equipment.

Chinese exports

China's exports grew for the first time in seven months in November. China's exports increased by 0.5% in November from a year earlier, beating expectations of a 1.1% decline. This follows a fall of 6.4% in October. Imports unexpectedly fell by 0.6%, following a 3% increase in October. Economists anticipated a 3.3% rise.

Halifax house price index

After Nationwide last week, the Halifax house price index rose more than forecast in November, by 0.5% month-over-month (MoM). The economist anticipated a 0.3% rise.

Eurozone GDP

In the eurozone, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate is forecast to fall by -0.1% in Q3. The EUR trades at a three-week low against the dollar, a six-week low against the JPY, and remains near a two and a half-month low against the GBP. Traders are intensifying their bets that the CB will start cutting rates in March next year.

European Central Bank

There is now around an 85% chance that the European Central Bank (ECB) cuts interest rates at the March meeting, with almost 150 basis points worth of easing priced by the end of next year. Over in the US, investors await weekly initial jobless claims. Yesterday, an automatic data procecsing (ADP) survey revealed that private businesses in the US hired 103,000 workers in November, below a downwardly revised 106,000 in October and missing expectations of 130,000. As for Friday's non-farm payrolls, economists expect 180,000 job creations. The unemployment rate is seen staying at 3.9%, and average hourly earnings are forecast to rise by 0.3% month-over-month (MoM) and 4% year-over-year (YOY).

Frasers Group

British retail company Frasers Group released its first half results this morning. Pretax profit came in at £310.2 million, on revenue of £2.68 million. Frasers Group said it was well on track to reach its profit target. Earlier in July, it said it anticipated a profit before tax ranging from £500 million to £550 million for the current financial year.

Dollar General

Dollar General is due to report its quarterly earnings before the opening bell. Revenue is expected to rise, but earnings per share (EPS) is seen dropping. Earnings are expected to fall by nearly 50% to $1.20 per share. Revenue should rise by 1.9% to $9.65 billion. Broadcom will also report tonight. The chip and software maker is forecast to post earnings of $10.96 per share on revenue of $9.28 billion.

Oil prices

Oil price reclaimed some ground on Thursday after falling to a six-month low the day before. The market was shocked by Energy Information Administration (ElA) data that showed production rising across the board. On the inventory side, the data was mixed. Crude and distillate stocks fell, but gasoline stocks rose by 5.4 million barrels.