NZD

• Equities higher. Yesterday’s lift in Asian equities flowed through to other markets. The S&P500 rose, while US bond yields eased & the USD consolidated.• AU retail. Australian retail sales exceeded expectations, with spending related to the women’s World Cup supportive. AUD a bit firmer.• US data in focus. There is a string of US labour market releases over the next few days. Will the US’ relative economic strength continue? At the start of a week jam-packed with important economic data, particularly in the US, equities have risen over the past 24hrs while US bond yields have eased, and the...

• Wall of worry. China worries, sticky UK inflation & a hawkish tone in the Fed minutes weighed on risk sentiment, pushed up US yields & supported the USD.• AUD pressure. The backdrop has exerted more pressure on the AUD. The AUD is in rarefied air. Since 2015 AUD/USD has only been lower in ~2% of trading days.• AU jobs. July labour force report released today. The labour market is a lagging indicator. Consensus is looking for unemployment to tick up slightly to 3.6%. Familiar themes have continued to drive markets. On the one hand concerns about the state of...

• Choppy markets. Developments in China weighed on risk sentiment yesterday, but things settled down overnight. US equities & bond yields higher.• Stronger USD. Higher US yields & China-related nerves pushed the USD to year-to-date highs against the CNH, JPY, SGD, NZD, & AUD.• Data focus. RBA meeting minutes, Q2 AU wages, China activity data batch, UK labour stats, & US retail sales due today. It has been a choppy start to the week for markets. Negative sentiment around developments in China weighed on sentiment during yesterday’s Asian session with investors appearing somewhat concerned about potential fallout from troubles in...