Investors worry the Fed interest rate hike will raise the corporate credit burden

On Friday the US stocks were edging down for the second day in a row. No important macroeconomic news was released. Investors are being concerned that the Fed interest rate hike will raise the corporate credit burden. The trading volume on the US stock exchanges was 64% higher the average for the last 20 trading days amounting to 11.85bn shares. The US dollar index edged lower on Friday amid the Bank of Japan decision to correct the parameters of the asset-buying programme without increasing its volume. Today in the US no important macroeconomic data is expected to come out. According to the statistics since 1950, the US stock market is usually growing. But now the S&P 500 index fell 3% since the start of the month. If we consider the period of the last 5 trading sessions in December and the first two in January, the data since 1969 indicate the average growth of 1.4% in this period. Some investors expect the “New Year rally” to happen this time once again.

Today the European stock indices are in the black after the fall on Friday. The only index in the red is the Spain’s IBEX 35 because of the parliamentary elections results in this country. The mobile maker Ericsson stocks increased 7% after it settled the patent arguments with Apple. Today at 16-00 СЕТ the consumer confidence index in Eurozone will come out, the outlook is neutral.

Nikkei edged lower on Friday after the yen strengthened following the Central Bank decision to leave the bond-buying programme parameters unchanged. The high exchange rate of the national currency reduces the competitiveness of the Japanese exporters. The Toshiba stocks tumbled 9.8% after the news it may suffer $4bn losses this year. The Panasonic stocks edged down 2.7% as it is planning to acquire the US refrigerators producer Hussmann for 150-200bn yens. Note that on Thursday the important inflation and unemployment data for November will come out in Japan.

Brent oil prices slumped to the lowest since 2004. In December oil showed the record monthly decline since 2008 which is already around 19%. The US WTI crude oil hit a new low since 2009. The slump in prices was mainly triggered by the high oil production volumes in Russia and OPEC countries. Amid falling oil prices, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait had no options but to increase their base rates to prevent the sharp weakening of their currencies. Saudi Arabia announced its export volume increased in October by 253 thousand barrels a day to 7364mln. The production amounted to 10,276 barrels a day. Last week hedge funds raised the volume of net longs in oil by third approximately, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The increase was recorded for the first time since this November. The number of active oil rigs edged up by 17 units in a week which was their first increase in 5 weeks.

Copper prices edged up on the news its production volume fell in China. The news came from 9 companies simultaneously. Gold is on the increase for the 2nd straight day amid the weaker US dollar and the falling stocks on Friday. The SPDR Gold Trust assets rose 3% in a week. At COMEX exchange the record net short position in gold has formed. For copper it is the biggest since April 2013. Some market participants do not exclude the rally in those two metals in case of the massive closure of the shorts. They believe the number of big players may have a stake in it.

The November placements of cattle in US feedlots are 11% down since last year and are the lowest since 1996, according to the USDA. In theory, this factor may contribute to the beef prices growth.