The Day at a Glance | November 11 2020

The Top

· Mexican industrial sector did not record growth during September.

· European Parliament reached a budgetary agreement for 2021-2027, which includes fiscal stimulus to face the pandemic.

· OPEC cuts its demand for crude oil estimates for the 4Q20 because of the virus`s second wave (-960 million daily barrels, to a total of 26.61 million).

· Southeastern Asian countries, along with China, prepare to sign the largest trade agreement in history: The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

· PEMEX and CFE will maintain 15.2% of federal spending in 2021.

· Unemployment in the United Kingdom sees its largest rise since 2009.

Economic environment

The Monthly Industrial Activity Indicator did not record any changes with respect to the previous month, according to INEGI figures. With this, industrial production set 7.5% under levels seen in September of last year. Meanwhile, manufacturing (2.4% monthly) and mining (0.2%) increased, and important setbacks were seen in construction (-5.6%) and public services (-3.1%). Figures set under the estimated 1.8% expansion and the 3.3% growth seen last month. This is the first month that the industrial sector does not record growth since the economy`s recovery started in June, a sign of a slowdown in the recovery`s momentum.

President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde assured that adjustments made to the bank`s monetary stimulus will be made through its emergency asset purchasing program and long term loans given to the banking sector. In the central bank`s annual forum, Lagarde said that the ECB is considering new possibilities to extend monetary stimuli in the eurozone after the slowdown seen in September due to the virus`s new wave. However, she confirmed the ECB is inclined towards increasing the emergency asset purchasing program because of the virus and easing conditions regarding long term loans given to the banking sector as both programs have proven to be very effective this year. The comments reinforce optimism among European markets and confirm the expectation of seeing greater monetary stimuli in December. Additionally, the EU approved its 2021-2027 budget yesterday. The European Parliament finally reached an agreement with the European Commission to carry forward the fiscal package, which considers allocating resources (750 billion euros) to the block`s countries in order to face the economic crisis triggered by the pandemic.