Weekly Chartbook

• Upbeat tone. No news has been good news. US equities rose, while bond yields & USD slipped back. AUD a bit higher at start of new week.• RBA guidance. RBA meeting minutes out today. Governor Bullock speaks later in the week. Will the RBA support expectations looking for multiple cuts?• Data flow. Global PMIs due later this week. US corporate earnings also in focus with over 100 companies in S&P500...

Amid a quiet start to the week, the Japanese yen is finding modest support even after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s governing coalition lost its majority in the Upper House, suggesting that currency markets had largely priced in the outcome ahead of yesterday’s vote. The Liberal Democratic Party—dominant in Japanese politics for all but five of the past seventy years—shed 16 of the 66 seats it defended,...

• Hanging on. A quieter end to last week. US equities consolidated. USD a bit softer. AUD & NZD ticked up but still lost ground over the week.• US trends. US data has generally been a bit better than anticipated recently. Will this trend continue & will the USD’s rebound extend?• Event Radar. RBA Gov. Bullock speaks (Thurs) & the ECB meets (Thurs night). The global business PMIs are...

The dollar is resuming its upward climb and bond markets are stabilising after suffering a short-lived bout of extreme volatility early in yesterday’s session on speculation surrounding the potential firing of Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell. Most major currencies are down between 1 and 1.5 percent against the greenback this week as the world’s most central currency enjoys a technical recovery...

• Market jolt. Reports & denials about whether Chair Powell may be removed generated a burst of volatility. On net, US equities rose & USD weakened.• Fed changes. Fed Chair can’t be fired ‘without cause’. Disagreement over rates not enough. Potential change another example of US policy uncertainty.• AU jobs. Volatile Australian jobs report released today. Will it show cracks...

Bond yields and the dollar are giving back some of yesterday’s gains after US wholesale prices flatlined in June, helping assuage fears of a sharp acceleration in the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation indicator—the core personal consumption expenditures index—when it is reported at the end of the month. The producer price index for final demand remained unchanged last month after rising 0.3 percent...

• US CPI. Uptick in US inflation has seen Fed rate cut expectations fall. USD firmer on the back of higher yields. AUD & NZD lose some ground.• US data flow. US producer prices out tonight. US import prices & retail sales due tomorrow. More signs of tariff impacts could give USD more support.• AU jobs. Australian jobs report also released tomorrow. The data has been volatile the past few months....

US inflation printed below expectations for a fifth consecutive month in June as tariff-led price increases in core goods categories were offset by softness in the services sector and in automobile costs. According to data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning, the core consumer price index – with highly-volatile food and energy prices excluded – rose 2.9 percent in June...

Financial markets are beginning the week in a remarkably-calm state after the Trump administration spent the weekend escalating its trade war and stepping up its assault on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell. The dollar is trading on a slightly firmer footing after posting its best performance since February last week, Treasury yields are up incrementally, and equity futures are pointing to modest...

Currency markets are headed for another bruising open when trading begins in Asia tomorrow afternoon after President Donald Trump delivered another set of letters threatening to impose higher tariffs on Mexico and the European Union. In two missives posted to his social media platform, the president said taxes on imports from two of America’s most important trading partners would rise to 30 percent...