MNI US Morning Briefing

     LONDON (MNI) - A busy calendar to end the week with several key US

releases, across the Atlantic the first release of the day will be closely

watched, the US NFP Employment Report is on the docket at 1330GMT.

     Nonfarm payrolls are forecast to rise by 190,000 in December after an above

expectation reading in November. The unemployment rate is expected to stay at

4.1%, still very low by historical standards. Hourly earnings are forecast to

rise 0.3% after a 0.2% gain, while the average workweek is expected to stay at

34.5 hours after climbing to that point in November.

     It is a busy period at 1330GMT, US Trade Balance data as well as Canadian

Labour Force Survey will also be released.

     The US international trade gap is expected to widen to $49.5 billion in

November after widening sharply to $48.7 billion in October. The advance

estimate of the Census goods trade gap widened to $69.7 billion, with exports up

3.0% and imports up 2.7%, so the forecast for the headline number suggests

analysts expect a wider services surplus.

     At 1400GMT CREA Canadian Home Sales will hit the wires.

     At 1500GMT US Factory New Orders and the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index with

both be published, while Canadian Ivey PMI is also on the docket.

     Factory orders are expected to rise by 1.1% in November. Durable goods

orders rose 1.3% in the month on a jump in aircraft orders, while nondurables

orders are expected to post another modest gain. Factory orders are expected to

be softer excluding the transportation component. Durable orders excluding

transportation fell 0.1% in the advance estimate.

     The ISM non-manufacturing index is expected to rebound to a reading of 57.7

in December after a decline to 57.4 in November. The Philadelphia

nonmanufacturing index rose to 25.3, while the flash Markit Services index fell

to 52.4.

     At 1515GMT Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker is to

speak about the economic outlook at the "2018 ASSA Annual Meeting - American

Economic Association" in Philadelphia, with audience and media Q&A.

     At 1600GMT the St. Louis Fed release their Real GDP Nowcast swiftly

followed by the New York Fed GDP Nowcast at 1615GMT.

     Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester will participate in

the "Coordinating Conventional and Unconventional Monetary Policies for

Macroeconomic Stability" panel at the Allied Social Sciences Associations Annual

Meeting in Philadelphia, with audience Q&A at 1730GMT.

     Rounding off the first week of 2018 is US Treasury STRIPS data at 2000GMT.

--MNI London Bureau; +44 203 865 3809; email: kieran.williams@marketnews.com