Morning Update – 12/11/15 – 09:19:21

Morning all… Wall St started firmly but finished weakly with the S&P closing down 0.32% as falling oil prices weighed heavily again. WTI finished the session -2.90% to close back below $43/bbl for the first time since August 24th. Brent was weak too, finishing down over 3% and back below $46/bbl. It feels like most days at the moment we see fresh negative headlines suggesting the glut in prices is set to be prolonged and yesterday saw the latest American Petroleum Institute numbers show inventories increased by 6.3m barrels last week which was far higher than analyst expectations of 1.1m according to the WSJ, sparking the sell-off.  It was a mixed session in Asia with the Nikkei unchanged but China stocks higher. In FX AUD was the stand-out after some extraordinarily strong Unemployment data which was miles from expectations. . The number is simply too strong for investors to take at face value some suggest. Given the statistical issues with the jobs series over the past year, many investors may be inclined to take the reading as another aberration as opposed to an indication of sharp improvement in the labour market. This could act as a limiting factor for AUD gains. That said, the overall trend in Australian employment remains firm. This should help to reinforce the move towards higher interest rate expectations. Prospects for no change in policy in the months ahead are increasingly cemented. This should be supportive of AUD on the crosses. EUR was unchanged but the dollar very slightly lower in Asia but quiet. This morning we get French and Swedish CPI data and EU industrial production. Draghi is due to speak in front of the EU Parliament at 08:30 gmt. Good luck.