Weekly Chartbook

• Push-pull forces. US shutdown still in place. Geopolitics outside US generates some vol. EUR & JPY lose ground. AUD & NZD edge up a little.• Japan politics. Shock leadership selection jolted Japanese markets. Nikkei surged & JPY weakened on prospect of fewer rate hikes & fiscal stimulus.• RBNZ meeting. RBNZ expected to cut rates tomorrow. Debate is on the size with markets split between...

The dollar is again winning the cleanest-dirty-shirt contest this morning as mounting political turmoil in Japan and the euro area casts a pall over currency markets. The yen is down almost 2 percent and Japanese equity markets are soaring after Sanae Takaichi unexpectedly triumphed in the Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership race, defying polls that had put her rival, Shinjiro Koizumi, ahead among...

Rumours of the dollar’s shutdown-inflicted death have been greatly exaggerated. The greenback is holding firm against its major rivals this morning despite confirmation that the US government will remain crippled into a second week, indicating that traders don’t expect the political impasse to result in any meaningful diminishment in the global appetite for American financial assets. On a week-to-date...

• Holding on. Markets take the latest US shutdown in stride. US equities edged up while bond yields slipped back. USD & AUD tread water.• US shutdown. No real sense of urgency to strike a deal quickly. US shutdown could drag out. This might be a negative for US growth & the USD.• Data void. US government shutdown also means US economic data, such as Friday’s non-farm payrolls report,...

• Holding firm. US equities ticked up overnight, while bond yields consolidated & USD weakened. AUD rose with AUD also outperforming on the crosses.• RBA holds. No change by RBA. Comments leant more ‘hawkish’. Sticky inflation & improving growth means another rate cut isn’t guaranteed.• US shutdown. Without a last minute deal another US government shutdown will kick off today...

As widely anticipated, particularly after last week’s hotter monthly Australian CPI figures, the RBA kept the cash rate at 3.6% at today’s meeting. The Board’s decision was unanimous, and there was little firm guidance suggesting any degree of urgency to lower interest rates again in the near-term, in our view. From our perspective key comments within the post meeting statement leant relatively more...

• Risk uptick. US equities ended a 3-day losing streak on Friday. USD eased back. AUD & NZD tick up. No change expected by RBA this week.• US shutdown. US politics in focus with another shutdown looming. Last minute deal needed. A shutdown could see US data releases put on hold.• Event Radar. In addition to the risk of a US government shutdown the RBA meets (Tues). China PMIs also out (Tues) as...

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure climbed as expected in August and personal income and spending numbers beat forecasts, making it more difficult to justify an aggressive course of rate cuts in the coming months. Data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis this morning showed the core personal consumption expenditures index rising 0.2 percent from the prior month, closely matching...

The dollar is trading near a two-week high this morning as traders pull back on overly-optimistic monetary easing expectations and adjust positions amid heavy quarter-end rebalancing. The Canadian dollar, British pound, euro, and Japanese yen are all holding near the lower ends of their technical trading ranges, Treasuries are holding steady, and equity markets are licking their wounds after a modest...

• Market swings. US equities dipped again, while US yields & USD rose. NZD remains on backfoot. AUD unwound yesterday’s CPI induced gains.• AU CPI. Inflation hotter than expected in August. Data raises doubts about further RBA rate cuts. Relative policy trends can be AUD supportive. Global Trends There were a few more market wobbles overnight with US equities declining modestly for the second...