While the partial government shutdown delayed some key economic reports, those released on time mostly pointed to sustained growth momentum. Job market remained solid following stronger-than-expected growth in December. Initial claims for unemployment benefits continued to decrease in the first two weeks of January. Consumer Price Index slipped 0.1% month on month in December, but managed to rise 1.9% year on year. Producer Price Index softened 0.2% month on month, but increased 2.5% year on year. It suggested that inflation pressure remained moderate. Therefore, more and more Fed officials suggested to slow down the pace of rate hikes, which fanned market expectations that the bank would raise rates merely two times in 2019. In the past two weeks, Euro depreciated 0.7% against USD, while Euro Stoxx 50 equities index advanced 3.0%. In China, CSI 300 increased 2.1%. Elsewhere, Russia’s MOEX recovered 3.3% and India’s NSE CNX Nifty gained 1.8%.

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