Shuffling demand around

Daily update

China’s November retail sales disappointed. Some of this can be blamed on the timing of the singles shopping festival. The pattern of sales showed consumers spending in areas with government support, but in doing so cut back on areas without government support. This demand switching in an overall subdued demand environment has parallels to Japan’s “spending voucher” initiatives in the 1990s. The data keeps up pressure for fiscal policy to tackle consumers’ apprehensions about the future.
The impeachment of South Korea’s President Yoon moves to the Supreme Court (a trial is scheduled for 27 December). The impeachment probably reduces the risk of significant strike action, which had been threatened by some labor unions.
Assorted business sentiment polls are due out. With the rise of social media, sensationalism, and political polarization, a skeptical filter of “they would say that, wouldn’t they?” should probably be applied to these numbers. A sense of general disquiet may be reported as individual catastrophe, even if individual circumstances are fine.
The Federal Reserve is in speaker blackout ahead of this week’s policy decision—but European central bankers (fearlessly led by ECB President Lagarde) are rushing to fill the void. Markets are not likely to care to much what ECB speakers say.