Global

Global Economy To Expand At Solid Pace In Fourth-Quarter: PMI. The global economy will expand at a solid pace in the final quarter, albeit less strongly than during the summer months after inflows of new business slowed in November, a survey showed on Wednesday. JPMorgan's Global All-Industry Output Index, produced with Markit, fell to a seven-month low of 53.2 from October's 53.5 but has now held above the 50 mark that divides growth from contraction for more than two years. "The survey therefore implies that global GDP (gross domestic product) will expand at a solid pace over the final quarter as a whole, albeit cooler than during the summer months." A global PMI covering the services industry dipped to its own seven-month low of 53.5 from 53.6. Global manufacturing activity expanded at its weakest pace in over a year in November, a sister survey showed on Monday. (Reuters)

Global Semicon Sales To Grow 3.4% In 2015 To US$344.5bil. Global sales of semiconductors rose 9.6% to US$29.7bil in October, charting nearly double-digit growth for 2014 before expanding at a moderate pace in 2015 and 2016. The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organisation predicts 3.4% growth globally for 2015 (US$344.5bil in total sales) and 3.1% growth for 2016 (US$355.3bil). “Year-over-year global semiconductor sales increased for the 18th straight month in October, and the industry is well-positioned for a strong close to 2014,” said SIA president and CEO Brian Toohey. (The Star)

Asia Pacific

Growth In China's Services Sector Quickens In Nov. China's services sector grew slightly faster in November, two surveys showed on Wednesday, a welcome respite to a run of underwhelming data but still unlikely to allay concerns about the softening Chinese economy. The official non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, rose to 53.9 in November from October's 53.8, well above the 50-point line that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis. A separate services PMI published by HSBC/Markit inched up to 53.0 last month from October's 52.9, as new orders rose at their quickest pace in 2-1/2 years. (Reuters)

Thailand's PM Expects GDP Growth Of 2-3% Next Year. Thailand's prime minister said on Wednesday he expected economic growth of 2-3% next year as the global economy recovers. General Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters that the economy was expected to grow around 1% this year, as suggested by the state planning agency. But his 2015 growth projection is much lower than the 3.5-4.5% predicted by the planning agency and 4.8% by the central bank. (Reuters)

World Bank raises Vietnam's 2014 growth forecast to 5.6%. The World Bank said on Wednesday it has revised its forecast for Vietnam's economic growth this year to 5.6% from 5.4% previously, after the government said it expects the economy to accelerate this year. The revision is part of the World Bank's bi-annual report reviewing Vietnam's economic performance ahead of a meeting between donors and the government on Friday. On Tuesday, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said economic growth this year could be more than 5.9%, supported by exports, quickening from 5.42% in 2013. (Reuters)

Australia's Economic Growth Slower Than Expected. Australia has reported weaker-than-expected economic growth between July and September, due largely to a drop off in mining investment. Its economy grew 0.3% in the third quarter, compared to the previous quarter, and was up 2.7% year-on-year, according to official numbers. Economists had expected quarterly growth of 0.7% for the period and year-on-year growth of 3.1%. (BBC)

Americas

ADP Says Companies In U.S. Added 208,000 Workers In November. Companies in the U.S. added 208,000 workers in November, indicating steady progress in the labor market, a private payrolls report showed. The increase in employment followed a revised 233,000 gain the prior month, figures from the Roseland, New Jersey-based ADP Research Institute showed today. The median forecast of 47 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for an advance of 222,000. Payrolls have climbed by at least 200,000 in seven of the last eight months. (Bloomberg)

Services Growth Near Nine-Year High Propels U.S. Service providers from U.S. retailers to builders expanded in November at the second-fastest pace in more than nine years, indicating the world’s largest economy is forging ahead through a global slowdown. The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index rose to 59.3, the secondhighest level since August 2005, from 57.1 in October, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said today. The figure exceeded the highest projection in a Bloomberg survey of 78 economists. (Bloomberg)

U.S. Third-Quarter Productivity Revised Up, Wages Slashed. U.S. nonfarm productivity grew a bit faster than initially thought in the third quarter, while sharp downward revisions to compensation pointed to muted wage inflation that should give the Federal Reserve room to keep interest rates low for a while. The Labor Department said on Wednesday productivity expanded at a 2.3% annual rate instead of the previously reported 2.0% pace. Unit labor costs, the price of labor for any given unit of production, fell at a 1.0% rate in the third quarter. They had previously been reported to have increased at a 0.3% pace. (Reuters)

Fed Beige Book Shows ‘Widespread’ Job Gains Across U.S. The Federal Reserve reported broad-based employment gains across U.S. industries and regions, two days before the Labor Department issues its highly anticipated monthly jobs data. “Employment gains were widespread,” the Fed said today in its Beige Book business survey, which is based on reports gathered on or before Nov. 24. “A number of districts also noted that contacts remained optimistic about the outlook for future economic activity.” (Bloomberg)

Bank Of Canada Cites Growth And Oil Risk As Rate Kept 1%. The Bank of Canada said signs of a broadening recovery may be threatened by plunging oil prices, as policy makers kept their policy interest rate at 1%. The risk from lower crude prices comes as the central bank sees less economic slack than it anticipated and signs of rising exports and investment. The decision, which kept the lending rate where it’s been since September 2010, was anticipated by all 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. (Bloomberg)

Brazil Doubles Pace Of Rate Increase To Meet Inflation Vow. Brazil doubled the pace of the interest rate increases as the government of re-elected President Dilma Rousseff pledges to slow inflation to its 4.5% target, a level unseen for more than four years. The bank’s board, led by its President Alexandre Tombini, voted unanimously today to raise the benchmark Selic by half a point to 11.75% after a quarter-point increase Oct. 29, as forecast by 31 of 55 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Twenty-four analysts forecast a quarter-point increase. (Bloomberg)

Europe

Euro-Area Economy Weakens as ECB Considers Stimulus. Euro-area services and manufacturing grew less than initially estimated last month, leaving the economy facing near-stagnation as the European Central Bank considers its options on further stimulus. A composite Purchasing Managers Index fell to 51.1 from 52.1 in October, London-based Markit Economics said today. The reading is the lowest in 16 months and points to economic growth of just 0.1% this quarter, according to Markit. (Bloomberg)

UK Service Sector Growth Picked Up In November. Activity in the UK's dominant services sector grew at its fastest rate for a year in November, a leading survey has indicated, helping to alleviate fears that the economy may be slowing. The closely watched Markit/CIPS services purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 58.6 in November, up from 56.2 in October. A reading on the index above 50 indicates expansion in the sector. (BBC)

German Private Sector Grows At Slowest Pace In 17 Months In November: PMI. Germany's private sector grew at the slowest pace in 17 months in November as new business and output prices fell, a survey showed on Wednesday, pointing to a meager expansion in Europe's largest economy in the fourth quarter. Markit's final composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which tracks activity in the manufacturing and services sectors that account for more than two-thirds of the economy, fell to 51.7 in November from 53.9 in October. That was still above the 50 line dividing growth from contraction but down from an initial reading of 52.1 for November, far below levels seen earlier in the year. (Reuters)

French Business Activity Shrinks At Fastest Pace In Nine Months In November: PMI. rench business activity contracted in November at the sharpest pace in nine months, with the dominant services sector also posting its weakest level of activity in that time, a survey showed on Wednesday. Data compiler Markit's composite purchasing managers index covering manufacturing and services fell to a final reading of 47.9 in November from October's 48.2, well below the 50 mark denoting expansion. That was below an initial flash estimate of 48.4. In the services sector alone, the final reading was also 47.9, far below an initial estimate of 48.8. (Reuters)

France Sees Deficit At 4.1% Of GDP In 2015 After Extra Savings. France confirmed on Wednesday that it would cut its public deficit to 4.1 pct of economic output in 2015, revising down a previous 4.3% target following extra savings it had announced to avoid EU sanctions. France was given another two years in 2013 to cut its deficit down to the EU limit of 3% of GDP, but it said in September its 2015 deficit would miss that target and only fall from 4.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year to 4.3% next year. It had since offered to trim its deficit by another 3.6-3.7b euros, but had so far not officially announced the impact of the extra savings on the deficit. (Reuters)

Irish Consumer Sentiment Stalls In November. Irish consumer sentiment appeared to stall in November, recouping none of October's 7%age point fall from a near eight-year high, a survey showed on Wednesday. The results show that the fall in the wake of the 2015 budget announcement last month was "more than an aberration" as consumers fail to see their financial situation improve as the broader economy recovers, the survey's authors said. The KBC Bank Ireland/ESRI Consumer Sentiment Index slipped to 85.3 in November from 85.5 in October, down from 92.8 in September. (Reuters)

Greece Rejects EU/IMF Demands For Tax Rises, Income Cuts. Greece has rejected its international lenders' demands for tax rises and income cuts next year, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Tuesday, arguing such measures would be disastrous for the country which has emerged from a deep economic recession. Talks with EU/IMF inspectors have dragged on for weeks without agreement on next year's budget, leaving Athens short of time to wrap up its final bailout review by a Dec. 8 deadline and pave the way for an early exit from the bailout by the end of the year. "Greece has done a lot already," Samaras said during an economic conference. (Reuters)

Currencies

Dollar Index Hits Highest Level Since March 2006. The ICE U.S. dollar index rose Wednesday to its highest level since March 2006 as the dollar rally gained momentum, spurred in part by a strong gauge of service-sector growth in the U.S. economy, ahead of a policy statement from the European Central Bank. The dollar index which measures the greenback’s value against a basket of six currencies, was up 0.34% to 88.94. The euro traded at $1.23, its lowest level since July 2012. It traded at $1.24 late Tuesday. Elsewhere, the dollar rose to 119.80 yen, its highest level since July 2007, as speculators drove the currency nearer to the psychologically significant ¥120 level. It traded at ¥119.22 late Tuesday. The pound traded at $1.57 Wednesday afternoon, having recovered most of its losses from Tuesday’s session after U.K.

Treasury Chief George Osborne said Wednesday he is planning additional austerity measures, like cutting welfare spending, during his closely watched Autumn Statement. The pound traded at $1.56 Tuesday. (Market Watch)

Commodities

Brent Rebounds Above $71 In Turbulent Oil Market. Brent rose to $71 a barrel on Wednesday, recovering some of its losses from the previous session as a turbulent market searched for a price floor after a nearly 40% fall since June. Brent for delivery in January LCOc1 rose 62 cents to $71.16 a barrel by 0839 GMT (03:39 a.m. EST) after falling $2 on Tuesday. It was slightly off a day high of $71.46. U.S. crude for January delivery was at $67.54 a barrel, off the day's high of $67.97, but up 66 cents from the previous session when prices dropped more than $2. (Reuters)

Gold Rises 1 Pct As Firmer Oil Brings Back Investors. Gold rose 1% on Wednesday, holding above $1,200 an ounce, boosted by firmer oil prices that prompted investors to shuffle positions while largely shrugging off the firm U.S. dollar. Spot gold rose to a session high of $1,214.50 an ounce in volatile trading and was up 0.9% at $1,209.11 by 3:26 p.m. EST (2026 GMT). Platinum rose 0.6% to $1,219.00 an ounce. Silver was down 0.5% at $16.35 an ounce and palladium fell 0.4% to $795.47 an ounce. (Reuters)