The Day at a Glance | January 2 2024

*The Eurozone´s final manufacturing PMI and China’s Caixin index both logged readings with a positive bias in December.

*China lifts its bank loan policy, raising expectations of support for the real-estate sector.

*Oil prices rise due to fears of disruption following the latest attacks in the Red Sea.

*The number of victims of the earthquake in Japan approaches 50, and there are concerns that many may be trapped.

*All passengers and crew escaped the fire on the Japan Airlines plane after a collision at Tokyo airport.

Economic environment

The Eurozone and China are reporting figures with a positive bias in their manufacturing PMI indexes. On one hand, the Caixin index recorded a 50.8 point figure in December of 2023, higher than the 50.7 the previous month. Meanwhile, the Eurozone´s PMI index slightly increased to 44.4 points in December, setting just above the 44.2 point figure recorded in November. It´s worth noting that these PMI indices are designed to forecast the economy´s performance, and a reading above 50 points is associated with expansion, while any figure below that threshold indicates a contraction. The information for both PMI indices was collected between December 5^th and 15^th, so the new disruptions in global trade in the Red Sea are not captured in the reported data.