The Day at a Glance | July 23 2021

The Top

*The European economy continued to accelerate in July.

*Retail sales in Mexico increased more than expected during May (0.6% monthly vs. 0.3%e.; 29.7% annual vs. 28.7%e.).

*Christine Lagarde assured that the ECB has learned from its past mistakes and will not impede the recovery with an anticipated withdrawal of stimuli.

*Russia`s Central bank increased its interest rates in 100 basis points to 6.5% in order to fight inflation; it`s the highest since 2014.

*Economic indicators: PMIs are expected to be made public in the United States this morning (Manuf. 62e.; Serv. 64.8e.).

Economic environment

The European economy accelerated during July, although there are concerns about the future. According to timely PMI`s in the Eurozone – published by IHS/Markit – the European economy continued to accelerate during July; even though some businesses are less optimistic about the future. The Composite PMI, which measures activity in the entire economy, accelerated to 60.6, its highest level in 21 years. Services boosted a large part of the acceleration by recording a persistent recovery throughout the month, even exceeding estimates (60.4 vs 59.5e.). This is explained by the fact that restrictive measures carried out to control the virus`s spread were eased and progress was made on the vaccination front, which has boosted sectors such as tourism and hospitality. Manufacturing activities, for their part, once again logged more moderate growth (62.6 vs 63.4 prev.) due to more delays in supply chains that limit the capacity of production among factories and have driven up costs. Additionally, the optimism seen among surveyed businesses fell to its lowest level since February due to the delta variant`s fast spread and its negative implications for productive chains and prices. The survey revealed that a record level of acceleration was seen in prices of goods and services for producers, something that is believed could be translated into higher prices for consumers in the following months.