There are many issues up a head of this week about the US economy and Japanese economy that could shed some light on the how the prices of major commodities such as crude oil prices and gold prices will be affected. These events include the following (all times GMT):
- Tuesday 10th of December 17.30PM – Publishing the leading indictors from the past month on Japan’s economy: The http://www.esri.cao.go.jp publishes a complex index which is based on 12 economic indictors of the Japanese economy, such as production, employment etc. These indictors are used to asses the trend and movement in Japan’s business cycle. For the past several months it was recorded an upward trend in the Japanese economy which could explain the rise in the USD/YEN and consequently could have an effect on commodities prices such as gold prices.
- Wednesday 8th of December 15.30PM – EIA report about Crude oil inventories: The EIA will also issue its weekly report about the changes in the US vis-à-vis the inventories of crude oil and crude oil related products, such as gasoline and propane. These data will help understand the fluctuations in the crude oil prices and the changes in the demand for crude oil;
- Thursday 9th of December 15.30PM – EIA report about Natural gas storage: The EIA (Energy Information Administration) will issue its weekly report about the changes in the number of cubic feet of natural gas held in storage compare to the previous week in the US. This repot has an effect not only on the natural gas market in the US, but also in Canada (a major player in this market). It could explain how natural gas prices will fluctuate in the near future;
- Friday 10th of December 13.30PM – Report on American Trade balance: The American trade balance for the month of September showed a decrease of 2.4 billion UDS in its deficit balance from 46.4 billion USD during August, to 44 billion USD during September. In regards to Fuels & lubricants there was a decrease in the imports by 8.2% from 32.4 billion during August to 29.7 billion during September;
- Friday 10th of December 19.00PM – Report on American Federal budget balance: The Fed will examine the government’s balance between income and spending for the month of November. for the penultimate month (October), the total budget deficit was 1.3$ trillion in the fiscal year of 2010, which is 122$ billion less then the deficit incurred during 2009, and 140$ billion deficit for the month of October, which is 37$ billion less then the same month during 2009.