New week starts with caution after China shivers

The macro calendar is quite muted on Monday, providing an opportunity for badly hit equity markets to stabilize, as traders had to cope with another China induced weekly storm.

More importantly, the economic calendar in China will stay quiet until Wednesday, when the Ministry of Commerce will publish the much anticipated Trade Balance for December, forecast to show a further drop in surplus to 51.55 billion yuan, according to the market survey.

As mentioned, traders will face a rather subdued kick-off on Monday, starting with a second tier update from the Australian labor market as AZN will release its monthy update of job advertisements, following a minor 1.3% growth in November.

Later on, Spanish industrial production is expected to marginally rise to 4.1% on an annual basis in November, copying the 4.0% hike booked a month ago, seasonally adjusted.

In addition, the Federal Reserve (Fed) will publish the update of labor market conditions in December and Atlanta Fed President and FOMC voting member Dennis Lockhart will speak about the economic outlook in Atlanta.

Finally, investors will assess Canadian housing starts for the final month of last year, taking into account a solid rebound from the three-month low to 211,900 seen in November.