February 2017 cable raw materials (rubber) monthly report

1.
Macroeconomic news

1.
Data released by the US Department of Labor on the 2nd showed that the number of initial jobless claims in the United States fell to 246,000 last week, and the US job market continued to improve
.
Seasonally adjusted, initial jobless claims in the U.
S.
stood at 246,000 in the week ended Jan.
28, down 14,000
from the previous week's revised figure, the data showed.
The less volatile four-week moving average of initial jobless claims rose 2,250 to 248,000
from the previous week's revised figure.

2.
The ECB announced that it would keep the main refinancing rate unchanged at 0.
0%, the overnight lending rate unchanged at 0.
25%, the overnight deposit rate unchanged at -0.
4%, and the asset purchase scale unchanged at 80 billion euros in January, all in line with expectations
.
In addition, the bank said that the monthly quantitative easing (QE) measures will remain unchanged at 80 billion euros until the end of March, and from April to December it will be 60 billion euros per month, while emphasizing that the ECB interest rate is expected to remain at the current or lower level until the end of QE, which can increase the size and duration
of QE if the outlook deteriorates.

3.
Affected by the Spring Festival and low base factors, the year-on-year growth rate of CPI and PPI in January both hit new highs in recent years
.
The market generally expects that as seasonal factors fade, the CPI may decline significantly year-on-year in February, while the year-on-year growth rate of PPI will continue to climb to more than 7%, but it is expected to peak and fall
in the second quarter.
Analysts believe that stable and tight is still the main tone
of monetary policy.

4.
According to the latest data released by the central bank, in January 2017, the scale of China's foreign exchange reserves was US$2,998.
2 billion, down US$12.
3 billion, or 0.
4%, from the end of December 2016, and has fallen below the US$3 trillion mark
.
This is the seventh consecutive month that China's foreign exchange reserves have shrunk, hitting a new low since February 2011, and the first time in nearly six years that it has "broken 3
.
"