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US inflation cross-currents

• Mixed signals. US equities a bit lower, bond yields mixed, while oil rose. EUR rebounded following a ‘hawkish’ news article. AUD consolidates.• US inflation. The latest US CPI report is released tonight. Headline inflation is set to jump because of oil, but core inflation is predicted to slow.• Diverging trends. Australian consumer sentiment remains low, but business conditions improved. The local jobs data is released tomorrow. Markets were generally well contained overnight as participants await tonight’s US CPI report (10:30pm AEST). In bonds, the US 2yr yield drifted a bit higher (+3bps to 5.02%), while long end yields moved...

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Shock and awwww….

Oil prices have risen more than $20 from their lows earlier this year and US gasoline prices have jumped, raising fears of another seventies-style “energy shock” that weakens the economy and forces the Federal Reserve into further monetary tightening. Higher energy costs certainly could add to other factors – ebbing excess savings, student loan repayments, and slowing wage growth – in slowing consumer spending, particularly near the bottom of the US income distribution. But when we put oil prices in real terms – adjusting them for the rate of overall inflation over time – it is clear that today’s surge...

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Markets flat-line into US inflation report

Currency traders are so bored, they’re working just to pass the time this morning. Foreign exchange market ranges remain remarkably tight ahead of tomorrow’s US consumer inflation report, equity futures are pointing toward an incrementally-softer open, and Treasury yields are inching lower into what could be a news-light trading day. The pound is holding below the psychologically-important 1.25 threshold against the dollar after British wage growth stayed hot in the three months through July – making a compelling case for more Bank of England tightening – even as the broader labour market showed signs of easing, suggesting that a growth...

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