Basis Points The Australian dollar is likely to be supported this year by the country's relatively good growth outlook, and in recent weeks there have been signs of China loosening its ban on Australian coal imports, Rabobank forex strategist Jane Foley said in a note. (Dow Jones Newswires) The Bank of Japan raised its economic assessment for four of the nation's nine regions as recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic continued. In its quarterly regional economic report, the bank said Japan's local economies were affected by rises in commodity prices. (DJN) Brazil retail sales fell in November for the first time since July after purchases of fuel and electronic and office equipment dropped. Sales declined a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in the month and rose 1.5% from a year earlier, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics said. In October, sales increased a revised 0.3% in the month and climbed 2.7% from a year earlier. (DJN) Mexican industrial production was unchanged in November from the previous month with gains in construction and utilities offsetting lower mining and manufacturing output, the National Statistics Institute said. Industrial production rose by 3.2% unadjusted from a year earlier and by 3.2% in the first 11 months of last year. (DJN) The U.K. construction industry took a hit in the fourth quarter amid a challenging macroeconomic environment, according to the latest data from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Headline workloads dropped to a net balance of minus 1% in the final three months of the year, from a positive net balance of 17% in the third quarter and 30% in the second quarter, according to the professional body. (DJN)

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This newsletter is compiled by James Christie in San Francisco.

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-12-23 0715ET