Daily Market Briefing, Asia Pacific

• Headline noise. Conflicting Middle East news generated a few bursts of volatility. US bond yields & USD ticked up. NZD & AUD lost a bit of ground.• Macro events. Eurozone CPI tonight. US non-farm payrolls due later this week. Australian Q1 GDP out on Wednesday. RBA Gov. Bullock also speaks (Thurs). Global Trends Middle East-related headlines knocked markets around a little overnight. Uncertainty about a durable peace deal remains and skirmishes between opposing forces continued over the weekend. Conflicting comments generated a few intra-session bursts of volatility yesterday. On the one hand, Iranian media reported the country would suspend...

• Market swings. Conflicting US/Iran reports generated volatility. US equities a bit higher. USD whipped around. Local/offshore factors push/pulled the AUD.• AU jobs. Weak jobs report in April. Employment fell. Unemployment at multi-year high. RBA rate hike expectations trimmed. Domestic headwinds growing. Global Trends The ‘will they, won’t they’ situation regarding a US/Iran peace deal continues to generate bursts of market volatility. Risk sentiment, and bellwether indicators like oil prices, swung around overnight on the back of conflicting reports. One the one hand the latest 14-point framework was reported by Iranian media as having “narrowed the gap” and US Secretary...

• Market wobbles. Inflation concerns & rising bond yields dampen sentiment. USD firmer. AUD & NZD underperform. AUD now ~2.2% from recent high.• Data flow. UK CPI inflation out today. FOMC minutes due tomorrow. Australian labour report also out on Thursday. Will holiday timing impact the jobs data? Global Trends After a brief respite there was another bout of ‘risk-off’ sentiment across markets overnight. Concerns about inflation and fiscal positions remain with oil prices elevated (brent crude is up at ~US$111/brl) and no real movement with respect to an end to the Middle East conflict or reopening of the Strait...

• Inflation worries. Higher oil prices & central bank rethink push up bond yields. Equities dipped on Friday. USD firmer. AUD & NZD fall back.• Macro pulse. Concerns about the global economy & inflation remain. China data due today. Monthly Australian jobs report released later this week. Global Trends A few wobbles across cyclical assets at the end of last week with European and US equities losing ground, industrial metals prices falling, and the USD strengthening on Friday. The US S&P500 shed ~1.2%, its largest one-day slide since late-March. Copper (-4.5%) and iron ore (-1.3%) also went backwards. By contrast,...

• US data. Solid US retail sales underpinned sentiment. Upshift in US interest rate expectations & weaker GBP boosted the USD. AUD slipped back.• Macro pulse. Markets toying with the idea the US Fed may hike interest rates. More US/Iran related volatility possible. China data batch due Monday. Global Trends A mixed performance across asset classes overnight, though there was a hint of US outperformance on the back of positive US economic data. US consumer spending (the engine room of the economy) remains resilient in the face of higher gasoline prices with retail sales growing 0.5% in April after a...