Daily Market Briefing, Asia Pacific

• Market wobbles. A small bout of risk aversion overnight. US equities declined while the USD ticked up. AUD & NZD lost some ground.• RBNZ meeting. RBNZ expected to cut rates again today. Will it flag even more easing down the track? NZD & AUD/NZD volatility likely to lift today.• Fed speak. Markets focused on Fed Chair Powell’s upcoming Jackson Hole speech (Fri night AEST). Will Chair Powell be more ‘dovish’ than priced? Global Trends A few risk-off wobbles across markets overnight. There was no new major news driving the moves, rather a pullback in some markets with stretched valuations...

• Consolidation. US equities drifted back a bit on Friday, but still rose over the week. USD a little softer. AUD & NZD ticked up modestly.• Event Radar. RBNZ expected to cut rates again (Weds). Global PMIs are due (Thurs). US Fed Chair Powell speaks at Jackson Hole (Fri night AEST). Global Trends A subdued end to last week across markets as macro and geopolitical forces pushed and pulled on various asset classes. On net, US equities drifted back a bit from record highs on Friday (S&P500 -0.3%), though it wasn’t enough to stop the S&P500 from posting its 6th...

• US PPI. Much stronger than expected US producer prices rekindled inflation fears. US yields rose, as did the USD. AUD back below 1-month average.• AU jobs. Employment report broadly inline with forecasts. Unemployment hovering just above 4%. Supports the case for gradual RBA easing.• Data flow. China activity data due today. In the US, retail sales & industrial production out tonight. Data could generate more USD volatility. Global Trends There was a bit of a ripple across markets overnight on the back of resurfacing US inflation fears. US Producer Prices were much stronger than forecast with the 0.9% monthly...

• US CPI. Not as bad as feared US inflation supported sentiment overnight. US equities rose, as did US rate cut expectations. USD softer. AUD rebounded.• RBA change. RBA finally delivered another 25bp rate cut yesterday. A few more moves look to be in the pipeline based on the RBA’s new forecasts.• Data flow. AU wages out today & jobs report due tomorrow. China data released on Friday. US producer prices & retail sales on the radar later this week. Global Trends The latest read on US CPI inflation was in focus overnight and another ‘not as bad as feared’...