1) U.S. retail sales surged 1.7% in October
U.S. retail sales surged 1.7% in October as consumers started the shopping season early this year to avoid empty shelves when the holiday comes amid shortage on some products due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Core retail sales for October rose 1.6% and manufacturing production rebounded 1.2%.
2) Janet Yellen expected the U.S. to hit the debt ceiling on Dec. 15
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen revised her estimate of the U.S. reaching its debt limit from December 3 to December 15.
“While I have a high degree of confidence that Treasury will be able to finance the U.S. government through December 15 and complete the Highway Trust Fund investment ($118 billion), there are scenarios in which Treasury would be left with insufficient remaining resources to continue to finance the operations of the U.S. government beyond this date (Dec. 15),” wrote Janet Yellen.
3) Pfizer submitted Covid pill application to FDA
Pfizer submitted its application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to request for emergency authorization of its Covid-19 treatment pill. The pill could help fight against infected people with the Covid-19 virus to take an oral antiviral drug at home.
4) Japan’s October exports slowed down to 9.4% growth
Japan’s exports growth slowed down in October after an acceleration of double-digit growth for the previous seven month as car shipments slowed down due to global supply constraints that had a huge impact on its major manufacturers. Exports in October rose 9.4% YoY, compared to a 13% growth in September.
