HERE'S OVERNIGHT DATA AND EVENTS: (market expectations, last...

HERE'S OVERNIGHT DATA AND EVENTS: (market expectations, last observation)

• US Factory Orders m/m (Oct) increased by a more than expected 0.6% (0.2%, 0.9%). Durable and nondurable consumer goods rose 0.6% and 2.3% respectively, which overshadowed the 2.1% drop in capital goods orders. Excluding demand for transportation equipment, US Factory orders advanced 0.5%.

• US Nonfarm Payrolls (Nov) decreased a far less than expected 11K (-100K, -111K) after last month’s figure (-190K) was revised up. Job losses shrank by the smallest amount in nearly two years, driven by a rise in temporary help services and health care employment which offset job losses in construction, manufacturing and information industries.

• US Unemployment Rate (Nov) unexpectedly declined to 10.0% (10.2%, 10.2%) from a 26.5 year-high, suggesting that the labour market is recovering.

• US Manufacturing Payrolls (Nov) dropped 41K (-45K, -61K).

• US Average Hourly Earnings m/m (Nov) inched up 0.1% (0.2%, 0.3%).

• US Average Weekly Hours (Nov) rose to 33.2hrs (33.1hrs, 33.0hrs), marking the biggest rise since March 2003

• UK New Car Registrations y/y (Nov) increased for the fifth consecutive month by 57.6% (31.6%). The growth in new car sales was mainly driven by the government`s Scrappage Incentive Scheme.

• CA Unemployment Rate (Nov) dropped unexpectedly to 8.5% (8.6%, 8.6%).

• CA Net Employment (Nov): The Canadian economy added 79.1K (15.0K, -43.2K) jobs, the most since September 2008. Full-time and part-time jobs increased 39K and 40K respectively and were driven by a 73K (-37K) jump in the service sector.

• CA Ivey Purchasing Managers Index (Nov) dropped more than expected to 55.9 (60.0, 61.2).

• US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the economy: “The key test is when you see companies across the country starting to create jobs and add to payrolls. We’re getting closer to that point -- that’s the important thing…You see pockets of real strength now in technology and exports and I think they are hopeful signs of progress.”

• Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said: “Asset sales should be considered if reasonably encouraging information on the economy arrives…Asset price bubbles are a very serious issue for monetary policy…This may mean that monetary policy should put more weight on asset prices going forward…The main problem is that it is hard to see what was ‘wrong’ with previous policy, given conventional ideas about what policy is trying to accomplish.”

• Head of Euro-area finance Ministers Jean-Claude Juncker on Dubai’s debt: “But it shows that the fragilities in the global economy remain great…The problem for the people in Dubai is great but there’s no real danger for the global economy.”

• ECB executive board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi commenting on when fiscal support should be removed: "All the indicators are pointing to a recovery but consumption and domestic demand are likely to be quite moderate over the course of 2010 and in 2011 we have to think that parts of fiscal supporting measures will have to be withdrawn."

• Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said: “No firm ought to be too big to fail… Not only does the too-big-to-fail badge generate moral hazard at these institutions, it also creates powerful incentives for other institutions to become large and complex and take risks at taxpayers’ expense.”