It will be a relatively full week for the first week of the New Year. In the US, the focus will be on the results of the two important Georgia Senate runoff elections this week. The results will determine which party will control the US Senate. The focus over the next few weeks will be on the transition to the new Democrat-led administration.
News of the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines is now starting to reflect a slower pace of vaccination than planned. At the same time, new infections continue to increase, and numbers are extremely elevated. Restrictions remain in place across many countries, mostly affecting services sectors this time around.
On the data front, global PMI’s for Dec will be released this week – providing some insight into the rebound across countries and regions. Restrictions across many countries are likely to see further depressed activity across services sectors.
In the US, the key data releases will be non-farm payrolls and employment for Dec, initial and continuing claims, and ISM PMI’s for manufacturing and services for Dec.
The minutes of the latest FOMC meeting will also be released this week.
The latest schedule of US Fed purchases of Treasuries and MBS has been released and purchases will be elevated relative to benchmarks. The Fed plans to purchase $26.4bn in US Treasury securities this week. The Fed will also continue to purchase MBS at a faster rate this week buying $28.8bn in MBS. The Fed target for MBS purchases is approx. $40bn/mth.
US Treasury issuance will be lighter this week. The US Treasury will settle approx. $285bn in ST Bills this week, with zero net new money raised for the week.
This week, approx. $19bn in Bills will mature on the Fed balance sheet and will be rolled over.
More detail (including a calendar of key data releases) is provided in the briefing document – download the file here;
Comments and feedback are welcome. Please email me at kim.mofardin@marscapitalpartners.net.
